Toasting Tomas is the bard of Firhill
Lambie and Charnley had a way with words... but there’s no language barrier for Cerny as he reveals passion for the poetry of Robert Burns
PARTICK Thistle have had a long-standing association with some of the finest wordsmiths in Scottish football. From John Lambie’s expertise in throwing a knockout verbal haymaker, to Chic Charnley’s unerring ability to talk his way into a red card from 50 paces, having a certain way with words seems to be a prerequisite of the job at Firhill.
But Tomas Cerny might just top the lot. Despite a hectic schedule spent trying to keep clean sheets for Thistle, the Czech goalkeeper is preparing to host his very own Burns Supper on January 25. And he’s yet to decide in which language he’ll deliver his recitation, given that he’s fluent in four.
‘It’s something I’ve always tried to do every year since I came to Scotland,’ he told Sportsmail. ‘I’ve even got my own wee book of all the famous Robert Burns songs and poems.
‘When I first came to Scotland, I wanted to do it properly and learn about the culture. First of all, I had to learn the language from scratch. Then I wanted to visit as many places as possible. Ben Nevis and Loch Lomond, for example, I’ve done them a few times.
‘I remember my first Burns Supper a few years ago. I thought I was doing OK with learning the language, but then suddenly there were strange men in kilts getting up and shouting at each other across a table in a language I did not understand.
‘So I wanted to learn about it and find out as much as I could. The whisky and haggis were nice, too, of course. I read that a big part of Scottish history is the tradition of Burns Suppers. I decided to try to learn some of the poems and I started hosting my own Burns Supper for my friends.
‘My personal favourite is Tae A Haggis. My friends can look forward to that one this year, but my pronunciation of some of the Scottish words is probably a bit dodgy.’
It may well be, with the odd phrase of Glaswegian slang occasionally popping up in his native Czech accent, but his linguistic capabilities are beyond question.
‘I’m fluent in four languages — Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian and English,’ he explained. ‘I can also speak a wee bit of German and Spanish.’
As a multilingual student of poetry and literature, as well as having a degree in sports science and psychology, Cerny offers a compelling case for being the most intelligent footballer in Scotland, let alone inside the Firhill dressing room.
He has a love affair with Scotland, so much so he considers it to be his second home. His wife Laura is Scottish, and the couple now have a young son together after meeting in Glasgow a few years ago while Cerny was with Hamilton. Cerny goes on to explain his own journey in football began way back on the Communist streets of the former Czechoslovakia, prior to the dissolution of the country in 1993.
‘I was born in 1985 and the Communist Party ruled until 1989, so although I was too young to remember it, my parents and older brother have some pretty bad stories,’ he said. ‘Then the country broke up completely in 1993, so it was a strange place to grow up in. I remember eggs being thrown at certain politicians, which was quite funny.
‘My dad took me along to my first training session when I was four years old and, somehow, I ended up as goalkeeper — but I always wanted to make a career as a striker. I was good up front. There was one season where I played in two different positions for two teams. I played in goal for the Under-16s, but played up front for the Under-15s and scored 32 goals.
‘Football and ice hockey were my two passions as a kid. I would play ice hockey during the winter when it was freezing, then in summer I would get back to football.’
It was to be in football where the young Cerny would find his true calling. At just 11 years old, he was inspired by what he saw at Euro ’96 as a golden generation of Czech Republic footballers set the tournament alight.
‘Euro 96 was massive for me and for the country in general,’ he recalled. ‘It was our first tournament since the break-up three years earlier. We were really unlucky to lose the final in extra time to Germany.
‘We had players like Pavel Nedved, who went on to great things at Lazio and Juventus. We also had Karel Poborsky and Patrik Berger, who got signed for Manchester United and Liverpool because of how well they did at Euro ’96.
‘These guys were role models for my generation of young Czech guys because they showed you can live your dream as a footballer.
‘But the big one for me personally as a goalkeeper was Pavel Srnicek. He had already been in England for a long time and was a legend at Newcastle. I was really upset when he passed away recently because I looked up to him when I was young.’
The success of that national team and the generation of Nedved, Srnicek and Co. made it clear to Cerny that he wanted to pursue a career within professional football. How he attained it, though, was anything but straightforward.
‘It was ridiculous because it got to a point where I had actually played more games for the Czech Under19s and Under-21s than I had for my club Sigma Olomouc,’ he said.
‘I had helped the Under-21s qualify for the European Championships but it was stupid because my club wouldn’t play me. I was frustrated and wanted to leave for first-team football because all of the national coaches kept telling me I was good enough.
‘One of my old friends from university had found work here in Scotland and was living in Blairgowrie. I emailed him and asked if I could come over and live with him for a couple of months while I looked for a club.
‘He played for Lochee United in the Juniors, so I went along to training with him a few times. It was there I got in touch with someone from Hamilton Accies and I was told to go there for a trial game.
‘They took me on loan initially and I ended up spending five great years there. I’ve got a lot to thank them for, because it was while I was living in Glasgow that I met my wife. We have been together ever since and have a little boy now.’
The £180,000 Billy Reid and Accies paid for Cerny’s services still stands as a club record. But he left Hamilton in the summer of 2012, only for his career to take another twist and
Pavel Srnicek was my hero and I was really upset when he passed away recently
land him in the middle of one of the most notoriously violent derbies in world football.
Cerny signed with CSKA Sofia in Bulgaria and, when asked about the rivalry with Levski, he simply said: ‘It’s mental — absolutely mental. It’s like the Old Firm of Bulgaria except far more crazy, if you can imagine that. It was so violent, I couldn’t believe it. We played Levski in the Cup once and our striker Mamady Sidibe missed the deciding penalty in the shootout.
‘When we got back to the team bus, there were about 200 fans going mental and trying to break into the bus to fight Mama because he had missed the penalty.
‘The games always had to be played in the national stadium as a neutral venue, because the authorities would not let each team play in the other one’s stadium because of violence and safety concerns.
‘If the game was on a Saturday, we would arrive at our hotel on the Wednesday and just stay there because it wasn’t safe for us to go out in public. But the lifestyle could also be great in Sofia when it wasn’t derby week. My wife moved over there with me and she loved it. She is asking if we can go there for a couple of weeks on holiday this summer.’
After leaving Sofia in 2014, Cerny’s next destination was to be the Greek island of Crete with Ergotelis. But he cites that period as arguably the most difficult of his career, prior to his return to Scotland and a short stay at Hibs last season before finally settling at Firhill last summer.
‘Greece was pretty awful for football,’ he declared. ‘I like Crete a lot. It felt like a holiday. But we were constantly flying to our away games because we were on an island and then we weren’t being paid our wages, which was the big thing.
‘I consider Scotland my second home. I had no doubt I wanted to come back if I was given the chance and I’ve really embraced it once again, and want to give something back if I can because of how good the country has been to me.
‘For instance, a couple of months ago I did some presentations at John Paul Academy in Glasgow on the benefits of literature and reading for kids. It’s so important to try and educate yourself to give yourself a chance in life. There are a lot of negative paths kids can take, so it’s important to offer them guidance.
‘I set them the challenge of reading 52 books over the 52 weeks of the year. We have a system set up online where we can check what each other is reading and to make sure nobody is cheating. So far, most of us are on target to reach the 52.
‘You never know, maybe I will try to get them to read some Robert Burns.’