Charting the key moments in Ladislav Krejci's career which made him the player he is today.
Senior debut
2nd October 2016 | Zbrojovka Brno 3-3 Sparta Prague
Spending his time as a youth player coming through the ranks at Slovan Rosice and Zbrojovka Brno – with two alternating spells at each club – Krejci settled at Zbrojovka, progressing into their senior side at the start of the 2016/17 season. The then-midfielder couldn’t have asked for a more difficult game to start his first-team career, being put in from the start at home to Czech giants Sparta Prague in October, as he played the entire 90 minutes of a 3-3 draw. That was the first of 13 league appearances for the club, before racking up 52 in total over three seasons in Brno.
Sparta debut
20th July 2019 | Sparta Prague 2-0 Jablonec
A key moment in Krejci’s career came during the summer of 2019. Having spent a year in the second tier of Czech football following Brno’s relegation, the midfielder was back into the top flight in the July as he was offered a four-year deal with the club he made his senior debut against – Sparta Prague. His first game for Sparta came at home to Jablonec, with his team running out comfortable 2-0 winners. It didn’t take long for Krejci to become a regular part of the Sparta midfield, and it wasn’t for another few years before he began transitioning to defence.
First captaincy
27th February 2022 | Sparta Prague 2-0 Fastav Zlin
Krejci became a leader at the heart of Sparta’s side and the tough-tackling midfielder became Sparta’s permanent captain at the start of the 2022/23 season, replacing Borek Dockal, who had retired at the end of the previous season. Having already worn the armband regularly for Czech Republic’s under-21s, Krejci had also captained the team occasionally in Dockal’s absence before being named permanent skipper, with the first of those coming in February 2022 in a Fortuna Liga clash with Fastav Zlin, while also captaining his team to a 3-1 MOL Cup final defeat to Slovacko.
International debut
24th March 2022 | Sweden 1-0 Czech Republic
A star from an early age in Czechia, Krejci represented his country at every level of junior football from under-16s up to the 21s, but it wasn’t until March 2022 when he got the highest honour of his career when he was called up by his senior national team. In a tightly contested World Cup qualification semi-final against Sweden, which was goalless entering extra time, Krejci was brought off the bench, but he was unable to help his country reach the final, with Sweden striking a 110th-minute winner. Krejci has since racked up another 22 caps for his country over the last three years.
Quickest international goal
24th March 2023 | Czech Republic 3-0 Poland
Exactly a year after his international debut against Sweden, Krejci had an additional cap to his name after turning out in a 2-1 win over Switzerland in the Nations League, but what was to follow helped turn him into a Czechia regular. Now playing at centre-back, Krejci took just 27 seconds into his second senior start to find the net when he headed home Vladimir Coufal’s long throw in a Euro 2024 qualifier at home to Poland, setting a record for his country’s fastest ever goal. He also scored in his following appearance to help down Faroe Island 3-0 in the same qualification campaign.
This article originally featured in Wolves' official 2025/26 matchday programme. Last season's programmes are still available to purchase online through retailers Curtis Sports.
