Ladislav Novák was a Czech football defender and later a football manager. He played 75 matches for Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia national football team

The Czechoslovakia national football team was the national association football team of Czechoslovakia from 1922 to 1993. At the dissolution of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992, the team was participating in UEFA qualifying Group 4 for the 1994 World Cup; it completed this campaign under the name...

, 71 of them as a team captain.

He was a participant in the 1962 FIFA World Cup

1962 FIFA World Cup

The 1962 FIFA World Cup, the seventh staging of the World Cup, was held in Chile from 30 May to 17 June. It was won by Brazil, who retained the championship by beating Czechoslovakia 3–1 in the final...

, where Czechoslovakia won the silver medal.

He was also a participant in the 1954 FIFA World Cup

1954 FIFA World Cup

The 1954 FIFA World Cup, the fifth staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzerland was chosen as hosts in July 1946. The tournament set a number of all-time records for goal-scoring, including the highest average goals scored per game...

 and 1958 FIFA World Cup

1958 FIFA World Cup

The 1958 FIFA World Cup, the sixth staging of the World Cup, was hosted by Sweden from 8 June to 29 June. The tournament was won by Brazil, who beat Sweden 5–2 in the final for their first title. To date, this marks the only occasion that a World Cup staged in Europe was not won by a European...

.

In his country Novák played mainly for Dukla Prague and won 8 championship titles with them.

After end of his playing career he worked as a football manager and coached Dukla Praha and briefly Czechoslovakia national team. He won the championship title with Dukla as a coach in 1982.