ISL: From washing dishes in Australia to leading Mumbai City FC to the trophy, the inspiring story of coach Petr Kratky | Football News

With his footballing career done, Petr Kratky moved from his home in Czech Republic to Australia to learn English. He got himself jobs like washing dishes and bartending, worked his way up, got himself a football coaching job, and on Saturday, led Mumbai City FC to the Indian Super League Cup, defeating Mohun Bagan Super Giant 3-1 in the final.A little over a decade ago, Kratky was done with his footballing career in Czech Republic, and admittedly, things were going downhill. His mind wasn’t very well in terms of the transition after retiring as a professional footballer.
All his life he’d known only football, having taken to the sport as a child and life seemed empty. There was just one thing he was keen on doing and that was learning English. He got an opportunity to do a course to learn the language. He decided to take the plunge, packed his bags, and moved Down Under. To make ends meet, he decided to work in a restaurant. Since he didn’t really know the language, he had to work the menial jobs.

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मंडळी, #TheIslanders are your # 🩵🔥#MBSGMCFC #AamchiCity 🔵 pic.twitter.com/SlMkiF7uZW
— Mumbai City FC (@MumbaiCityFC) May 4, 2024
“I washed plates and dishes, then when my English became slightly better, I worked as a waiter and even did bartending shifts,” he tells The Indian Express. While playing in the top division in the Czech Republic, Kratky also managed to complete his UEFA coaching badges. That helped when the opportunity arose to coach children in the Melbourne neighbourhood he was living in. Coaching the U-6s brought joy back into his life and convinced him that he could mould youngsters into better footballers.
It was with a similar conviction that he joined Mumbai City FC as head coach in December, in the middle of the season, when Des Buckingham suddenly decided to part ways. The club were doing alright, but not dominant. They had a nightmarish AFC Champions League campaign and there were issues surrounding the team. It was hardly an ideal scenario for Kratky’s first-ever job as head coach, especially considering Mumbai were the ISL Shield defending champions.
The 42-year-old though, was up for the challenge. Never mind that key players had left the team at the start of the season. It didn’t matter that key players would have to leave in the January transfer window either.

“Our approach was totally different than what it was two weeks ago. The boys executed it and we got rewarded.” 💪@PetrKratky praises his players after @MumbaiCityFC‘s ISL Cup triumph 🏆#ISL #ISL10 #LetsFootball #ISLPlayoffs #MumbaiCityFC #ISLFinal #PetrKratky #MBSGMCFC
— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) May 4, 2024
Dealing with youngsters
In a way, it was symbolic that his first win was over Mohun Bagan where there were as many as seven red cards shown. It was clear that it was going to be a chaotic run-in. While the ISL had its challenges, Kratky’s first real challenge came during the Super Cup, where the top Indian players were busy with the AFC Asian Cup campaign and Mumbai had to go with an all-Indian squad.
But trust Kratky to turn challenges into opportunities. He completely transformed the team, giving the Indian players renewed confidence and making them the backbone of the squad. More importantly, players say he was able to connect with them and make them feel secure.

A dramatic #ISLFinal saw @MumbaiCityFC dig deep to score two late goals and seal the victory in #MBSGMCFC! ⚽🔥
Watch the full highlights here: https://t.co/HSj0m9oT6Z #ISL #ISL10 #LetsFootball #ISLPlayoffs #MBSG #MumbaiCityFC #ISLRecap | @Sports18 @mohunbagansg pic.twitter.com/7kHGKVAobr
— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) May 4, 2024
“When I started working as a coach, I started with the youngest and gradually went to the higher ages. While it’s been a long journey because you have to go through all the age groups, it has taught me how to connect with all kinds of players. When we were coaching 30-45 kids in one session, you have to find a way to send your message across. Kids, youth, and seniors have different mindsets and I’m lucky to have coached all ages which has definitely helped me here in Mumbai because we have players of different age groups and mindsets,” he says.
Personal challenge
Going from an assant coach at Melbourne City FC to the head coach of Mumbai City in December surely was Kratky’s biggest test in his professional managerial career but he was also facing a humongous challenge on a personal front too. After all, he had planned to get married in the first week of January. Relocating wasn’t exactly on his fiance’s mind as they never imagined he would be anywhere but Melbourne City this season.
“Since getting married over three months ago (in January), I’ve spent only eight days with my wife. It’s not easy for anyone to work abroad and get separated from the family. But again, we are lucky enough to have the technology now these days where we can talk daily. It makes it much easier but not perfect because for me family always comes first,” he says.
Transforming the Indians
Even though Mumbai weren’t able to retain the League Shield, courtesy of a loss to Mohun Bagan in their last home game, Kratky would count the way young players like Gurkirat Singh and Ayush Chikkara have prospered under him as a definite win. The resurgence of Lallianzuala Chhangte, Apuia, and Bipin Singh has been impressive too but nothing would make him prouder than the way Vikram Singh Pratap has been playing under him.

The 22-year-old has scored eight goals and provided four asss in what has clearly been a breakout season. “Coach (Kratky) gave me more freedom and showed more confidence in me. I was given a free role on the left wing and that helped tremendously,” Singh told The Indian Express.
Just half a season as a head coach and Kratky has already seen the sort of success coaches search in a lifetime. And it’s just the beginning.