The first edition of the newly-established Central European League concluded recently and BSC Prague was crowned the first champions in this innovative competition.

The initial idea behind the competition was for three clubs from three countries – Prague from the Czech Republic, Wroclaw from Poland and Budapest from Hungary – to establish an international blind football league for B1-B3 players. Romanian team ANVR Bacau then joined the concept but unfortunately was forced to drop out a week before the start of the season for financial reasons.

In the end the original three teams remained in the competition, and it was agreed each would host one match weekend using a round-robin system.

The final standings were decided recently when match day three was held in Prague. The hosts BSC Prague won its first game to secure its first title ever in its 5-year-long history. Sprint Wroclaw won six points over the weekend to take second place, and third was LASS Budapest to secure bronze.

Caption: BSC Prague celebrates with the trophy.

A lot of gifted players with great potential appeared in the league, and some of the outstanding performances came from Lukas Valer, who scored all 8 goals for BSC Prague to lead the team to its first title, and new Prague rising star Tomas Sustr (14-years-old), who was amongst the biggest surprises of the league. There were tough defensive performances from Gabor Toth from Budapest, and goalkeeping saves from Ondrej Kricfalusi and Robert Mkrtchian helped Wroclaw to take second place at the end of the league.

“I am very happy we made this concept happen and that everything went so smoothly. Everyone enjoyed it and we all are looking forward to next year. Maybe some new teams will joint this league as we are open to league expansion. I am convinced that it is absolutely necessary for the development of blind football in the Central and East European region”, said Zdenek Barlok, chairman and player of BSC Prague who, together with Szabolcs Forgacs from Budapest and Lubomir Prask from Wroclaw, set the milestone of the league.

Complete results and final standings

Match day one, Budapest, Hungary

LASS Budapest-BSC Prague 0:0, 1:0 on pen.
Sprint Wroclaw-LASS Budapest 1:1, 2:1 on pen.
BSC Prague-Sprint Wroclaw 2:0

Match day two, Wroclaw, Poland

Sprint Wroclaw-BSC Prague 0:2
LASS Budapest-Sprint Wroclaw 1:1, 1:0 on pen.
BSC Prague-LASS Budapest 3:1

Match day three, Prague Czech Republic

BSC Prague-LASS Budapest 1:0
Sprint Wroclaw-BSC Prague 1:0
LASS Budapest-Sprint Wroclaw 0:2

Final table

1 BSC Prague 13 points
2 Sprint Wroclaw 10 points
3 LASS Budapest 4 points

Individual awards

Best goalkeeper: Ondrej Kricfalusi (BSC Prague)
Best defender: Gabor Toth (LASS Budapest)
Top scorer: Lukas Valer (BSC Prague)
League most valuable player: Robert Mkrtchian (Sprint Wroclaw)
BSC Prague best player: Tomas Sustr
Sprint Wroclaw best player: Lukasz Byczkowski
LASS Budapest best player: Isztvan Szabo

Go to the BSC Prague Facebook group for more pictures from the 1st Blind Football Central European League.