"We came up with the idea as a way of cross-promoting the anniversaries of the two clubs and we are very happy with the result," says Tomáš Zetek, public relations manager of the hockey club. "It´s not just that people will see the Sparta motif on the outside of the tram, but also inside the entire history of Sparta is mapped out."
The special trams will appear on lines 7, 10, 14, 22, 24 and 26. In particular, number 24 stops at Výstaviště Holešovice, the stop in front of Tipsport Arena.
"Both trams are designed to acknowledge the role that Sparta has played in the history of Czech football and hockey. We have deliberately not chosen any provocative themes," said Petr Bříza, current president and former goaltender for the club.
For HC Sparta, the anniversary celebrations culminate in "Sparta Day", a full day of activities on Saturday, December 7, which include a youth mini-tournament, a legends game and and regular-season Extraliga game between Sparta and Plzeň in the evening.
"Both teams will play the game in special jerseys that are exact replicas of historical ones," Bříza continued. "After the game, the jerseys will be auctioned, and of course there is also an autograph session with the players."
And how do the players themselves view all of this special attention, particularly being connected to the football club?
"I think that most of our fans also watch Sparta football and, personally, I try to support them as much as possible. In these kinds of joint promotions, it gives us a chance to connect with our fans," says club veteran Petr Ton. "I´m glad that our club organises these projects. It shows the great tradition and history of the club. I was with Sparta during the centennial celebrations 10 years ago, and now again for the 110th."
Program for Sparta Day - December 7th, Tipsport Arena, Prague
YOUTH TOURNAMENT (11:00)
1st Grade teams - Sparta Praha, Slavia Praha, Letci Letňany, Kobra Praha, Hvězda Praha, Zbraslav
LEGENDS GAME (15:00)
HC Sparta Praha - GAZPROM
(Bříza, Hrdina, Žemlička, Zelenka and others vs. Kamensky, Zhamnov, Medvedev, Antipin and others)
Premier screening of a documentary about Sparta (17:45)
A special documentary about the 110-year history of HC Sparta Praha shown on the four-sided centre-ice video board inside the arena
HC SPARTA PRAHA - HC ŠKODA PLZEŇ (19:30)
Tipsport Extraliga regular season game
