František Fadrhonc was a football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 manager

Coach (sport)

In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...

, who was born in Nymburk

Nymburk

Nymburk is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic, located 45 km east of Prague on the Elbe River. It is also home to the Czech men's basketball team ČEZ Basketball Nymburk...

, Austria–Hungary, present day Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

. He performed his coaching wonders, however, in the West, mostly in the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. After winning the Dutch championship with Willem II Tilburg

Willem II Tilburg

Willem II , also known as Willem II Tilburg, is a football club based in Tilburg, North Brabant, Netherlands. The team was founded on 12 August 1896 as Tilburgia...

 in 1952 and 1955, he coached SC Enschede and Go Ahead Eagles

Go Ahead Eagles

The Go Ahead Eagles are a football club from Deventer, Netherlands, currently playing in the Eerste Divisie. The club's home stadium is De Adelaarshorst. To date, the club has won the national championship four times...

.

In 1970, he took over the Netherlands national football team

Netherlands national football team

The Netherlands National Football Team represents the Netherlands in association football and is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association , the governing body for football in the Netherlands...

 and was their coach as they qualified for the 1974 FIFA World Cup

1974 FIFA World Cup

The 1974 FIFA World Cup, the tenth staging of the World Cup, was held in West Germany from 13 June to 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the current trophy, the FIFA World Cup Trophy, created by the Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga, was awarded...

, besting, among others, their eternal rivals Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

. However, it was Rinus Michels

Rinus Michels

Marinus Jacobus Hendricus Michels OON was a Dutch association football player and coach...

 who took over in 1974 and who led them in the finals of that tournament.

Fadrhonc left Holland for Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 to coach AEK Athens FC

AEK Athens FC

AEK Athens F.C. , the Athletic Union of Constantinople, is a Greek association football club based in the city of Athens, Greece. Outside Greece, the club is also known as AEK Athens, however, the word Athens is not part of the club's official title.Established in Athens in 1924 by Greek refugees...

 in the 1975 football season. He stayed until the beginning of 1978. During that period, he led AEK to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup

UEFA Cup

The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

 in 1976 and the Greek Championship title in 1978.

In the UEFA Cup campaign of 1976, he is credited with the substitution of regular goalkeeper Lakis Stergioudas with veteran Nikos Christidis in extra-time of the 2nd leg of the encounter against QPR

Queens Park Rangers F.C.

Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...

. His move was justified when Christidis stopped two penalties and AEK went through to the semi finals. He died aged 66 in Nicosia

Nicosia

Nicosia from , known locally as Lefkosia , is the capital and largest city in Cyprus, as well as its main business center. Nicosia is the only divided capital in the world, with the southern and the northern portions divided by a Green Line...

, Cyprus

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

.