Footballers from Oxford University will be heading for the Czech Republic today to take on the might of Slavia Prague.

The Dark Blues' squad, who are flying out of Stansted, have been invited to mark the opening of Slavia's new 21,000-seater ground, the Eden Stadion, tomorrow night.

The 30-strong party, which will be led by ex-Oxford United winger Phil Heath in the absence of head coach and former England and Arsenal defender Martin Keown, who has business commitments.

They will all wear commemorative kits which have been produced for the occasion.

A team of Dark Blues students was the first English club to take on Slavia in 1899, winning 3-0 in front of a crowd of 4,000. Slavia got revenge 37 years later when they thrashed them 8-2.

Second in their league, Slavia have tasted action against English teams this season, taking on Arsenal in the earlier stages of the Champions League before playing Tottenham in the UEFA Cup.

They have won 14 league titles, though the last one was some years ago.

OUAFC sabbatical officer Nick Baker said the club had approached them last summer.

"Slavia were looking for an event to open the stadium with and were looking through their history books and saw we were the first English team to play them," said Baker.

"OUAFC were invited to tour the Czech Republic. It's exciting for everyone here. It's a great opportunity to play in front of a big crowd. We are used to playing against reserves sides at Premier League grounds, but this is going to be different.

"It's going to be a great challenge, because they are not a bad side."

It won't be the first time that Baker, who plays in goal and was on the books of Fulham, has visited Prague.

"A lot of people go there for stag weekends, but I was there on a school economics trip in 2002, just before the single European currency was introduced," he said.

"It's also a great opportunity to keep this relationship going with Slavia. I don't know how busy I'll be that night, but Slavia have been emphasising to us that we need not worry about the result.

"One or two of their old stars, like Patrick Berger (ex-Liverpool and Portsmouth) and Spurs' keeper Oleg Cerny, are going to be there. I think the atmosphere is going to be brilliant."

The new stadium has been built on the site of a dilapidated ground south of Prague which the club had to leave in 2000.

Slavia were forced to move from their previous home in the centre of the city because of a project to build a massive statue of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

Later this month, the new stadium will host its first international when the Czech Republic take on Lithuania.