Čech named Czech player of the year again

Chelsea FC goalkeeper Petr Čech has been voted Czech footballer of the year for a seventh time.

The 31-year-old finished ahead of Arsenal FC's Tomáš Rosický and SC Freiburg midfielder Vladimír Darida in the annual poll, and he says this means as much to him as the first in 2005. "It never gets boring regardless that it is for the first or seventh time," he said. "It is always appreciation of my work and further motivation especially as it comes from the people who follow football very closely.

"Apart of a few exceptions I kept my performances at the same high level. There were matches when I made mistakes, but not many," added Čech, also a recipient of the accolade in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. "I would like to warn those of you who might be bored and tempted to switch TV channels at the sight of me standing here again: I am going to try hard to win it again next season."

His tally of seven awards is already two more than the next most decorated player, another goalkeeper, Ivo Viktor. Čech collected the UEFA Europa League in 2013 and became only the second Czech player to reach a century of senior international caps. He has since moved on to 105, 13 adrift of record holder Karel Poborský.

West Bromwich Albion FC forward Matěj Vydra was named best young player while new Czech Republic boss Pavel Vrba, preparing for Wednesday's friendly against Norway, was named coach of the year for his continued success at FC Viktoria Plzeň.