Richard Farda
Richard Farda ( born November 8, 1945 in Brno, Czechoslovakia ) is a former Czechoslovak ice hockey player and hockey coach. He played for many years in the top division of Czechoslovakia for Spartak ZJS Brno and in the World Hockey Association (WHA ) for the Toronto Toros and Birmingham Bulls.
Career as a player
Richard Farda began his career in his hometown at Spartak ZJS Brno. In 1962 he made his debut in the first league of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. Between 1963 and 1965 he played during his army service for Dukla Jihlava, one of the army clubs Czechoslovakia. After completing his military service, he returned to Brno in 1966 and won the Czechoslovak Cup. He played until 1974 for his hometown club before he fled in 1974 while vacationing together with Václav Nedomansky in Switzerland. However, since the two had to fear in other European countries a 18- month suspension of IIHF, they established themselves in North America and played for the Toronto Toros in the WHA. 1976 settled the Toros over to Birmingham and were renamed the Birmingham Bulls, completed another season for the Farda. In 178 WHA games he scored 34 goals as he scored in the CSSR 177 goals in 408 league games.
After the three years in the WHA, he returned to Europe and played in the 1977/ 78 for the Genève -Servette HC. This was followed by two more seasons with the Zurich SC and a few years in the amateur leagues in Switzerland, where he worked as a player-coach ..
Internationally
For many years played Farda also for Czechoslovakia at international championships and won six medals at the World Ice Hockey Championships and a medal at the Winter Olympics. For the World Cup 1969, he received his first appointment to the selection of the CSSR and won the bronze medal. In the following years he regularly attended the World Championships. His greatest successes were winning the bronze medal at the Olympic Winter Games in 1972 and the world title in the same year. In 149 international matches, he scored a total of 49 goals in the national jersey.
Career as a coach
After working in Switzerland as player-coach, he took over in the 1989/90 season as a full-time coach the ESV Kaufbeuren. He then moved to HC Olomouc, he also served as head coach.
Between 1993 and 1999 Farda worked as head coach of HC Slavia Prague and managed with this club in 1994 the rise in the Extraliga.
By November 2001, he trained then the Swiss third division EHC Bülach. After a few unsuccessful games in the 1st league in Switzerland he moved to HC Lasselsberger Plzeň, which he supervised until the middle of the season 2002 /03. In the following season, he took over as coach at Premier League rivals HC Energie Karlovy Vary. During the season 2006/ 07 he served as head coach at the Italian club WSV Sterzing Broncos.