MTK (football club)

The early years

About a dozen citizens who love sports decided on November 16, 1888, in one of the cafes in Budapest , to form Magyar Testgyakorlók Köre (Circle of Hungarian bodybuilding lovers ). Among its founders were exclusively aristocrats and members of the Jewish community of the capital. The club's colors were blue and white, and he had 31 members by the end of his first year. At first, the club could only do fencing and gymnastics. Since the beginning of the 20th century, football has been spreading in the world, and in Budapest in particular, therefore a football team is being created on March 12, 1901. The first public football game the new team played against Budapest (0-0), the Hungarian champion in 1901 and 1902. MTK started playing in the 2nd league in 1902, but a year later the club got a chance to play in the first league. The first year in the top division brought the club third place, and a year later, in 1904, the club celebrated its championship.

The era of amateur football (1903-1926)

In 1905, the president of the club was Alfred Bruhl, who led the club for almost 40 years. The second time in 1907/08 MTK became champions, after 5 five times in a row “ Ferencvaros ” ruled, at that time the main rival of MTK. Starting from the 1913/14 season, the team became the champion 10 times in a row, this achievement is a record of the Hungarian league. It is worth noting that from 1914 to 1916 the championship was not held because of the First World War, but the team still existed, the coach was Englishman Jimmy Hogan , who assembled the team bit by bit, for example, he took then only a few friends György Orth , who later became a real star . It was Jimmy Hogan who laid the foundation thanks to which the club managed to dominate football in those years. Hogan began to instill in the team a “Scottish style of play” which later grew into a “Danube football school” (more emphasis was placed on short gears, techniques, awnings, long-distance gears and a head game (characteristic of the British style) were hardly used). During the championship years, MTK was a very formidable force, not only in the domestic arena, but also in the international. In the period from 1919 to 1922, the club played 71 international games, of which 51 won, 11 lost. He scored 222 goals and missed 86. Among the defeated are very strong clubs, such as Bayern and Real Madrid. MTK in the 1920s, according to Austrian coach Willy Meisl (brother of Hugo Meisl , was a world-class team on a par with Barcelona and Sparta from Prague. Thanks to his playing style, the team became very recognizable in Europe. In the 1917/18 season In the course of the year, the club was able to score 147 goals for rivals in 22 matches, with only 10 conceded. Alfred Schaffer scored 46 goals then, and Imre Schlosser scored 41 goals.

Professional Pre-war Football (1927-1940)

In 1926, Hungarian football rose to professional footing. This painfully hit MTK, which could not navigate in time and lost its leading position. Plus, the team had a generational change, and less skilled players came to replace the aging stars. After 3 consecutive Ferencvaros championships, the MTK still manages to take the title in the 1928/29 season, then it seemed that glorious times had returned, but in the 30s a new force appeared in Hungarian football - Uypest , which intervened in dispute of eternal rivals. Repetition of success MTK fans waited in the seasons 1935/36 and 1936/37. As a result, before the start of World War II, the team managed to win 15 Hungarian championships and get 7 Hungarian Cups.

Post-war years and the time of the Great Magyars (1945-1965)

During the war, due to the fact that there were Jews in the club, he was subjected to various persecutions, but continued to play. In 1943, the club’s permanent president Alfred Bruhl was captured and killed by the Nazis. After the war, the team recovered relatively quickly and in 1951 became the champion, then it was called “Budapesti Bástya”. In the 50th ball in Hungary, the MTK and the Honved ruled, with a whole scattering of stars and the great Ferenc Puskas in the composition. The Honved players formed the backbone of the Golden Team , the defense cemented from MTK: Mihai Lantosh and Jozsef Zakariash , the attack was: Peter Palotash and the first and only in the world, at that time drawn forward and MTK legend - Nandor Hidekguti . MTK took gold back in 1953 and 1958, after which for a long 30 years the club did not know the taste of gold. The club also achieved some success in the international arena. He was the first of the Hungarian clubs to participate in the European Cup (the Champions League was then called. And they won their first match 6-3 against Anderlecht . The first success was the Mitropa Cup in 1955. On the way to the final, the MTK got rid of the Admira (3 : 3, 2: 2, 5: 1), then with the Yugoslav “Hajduk” (6-0, 2-3), the semifinal fell out to play with the “Honved.” The first away match was lost 5-2, but MTK was able to take revenge in the return game 5-1 and reach the final. in the final, had to play with the UDA team (formerly known as the Prague "Dukla" . The first match of MTK played at home in the presence of 70 000 sp teley, and defeated the opponent 6-0 (a hat-trick marked Nandor Hidegkuti ), a return match was a mere formality, but was also won by 2-1. In 1963, the club will repeat their achievement, in the final defeating Vasas (2-1 to 1- 1). In 1959, MTK lost to the Honveda in the final. In the 1961/62 season, the club reached the semi-finals of the Fairs Cup, where they lost to Valencia (3-7, 0-3). In the 1963/64 season, the MTK played in the Cup Cuff Cup, where his rivals were: the Bulgarian “Slavia” (1-0, 1-1), then the German “Motor” (now “Sachsering” (2-0, 0-1), then “Fenerbahce” (2-0, 1- 3), in the Celtic semifinal (0-3 away and 4 -0 at home), Sporting got into the finals, the first match was 3-3, and in the replay MTK lost 1-0.

Time of silence (1965-1986)

At this time, the team mostly hangs in the middle of the table, does not achieve any significant success, except for the Hungarian Cup in 1968. In the 1980/81 season, the team finished 17 and left the top division, though the next year they returned. And only after 29 years, in the 1986/87 season, the club was able to win gold.

1987—2010

In 1994, the team unexpectedly flew out of the top division and also quickly returned, and already in the 1996/97 season they celebrated the championship. At that time, the millionaire Gabor Versegi joined the team, with him the team won 3 more championships (1999, 2003, 2008), two silver medals (2000, 2007), a bronze medal (2005), two Cups (1998, 2000) and two Super Cups (2003, 2008). Versegi also opened a football academy at the club, which attracts the most talented players from all over Hungary. For example, the European Football Championship 2008 (youth U19) 3rd place or the World Cup among youth teams 2009 , where Hungary also took 3rd place, it included 9 MTK players, and Christian Nemeth was the real star.

2010 - Present

In the 2010/11 season, the club took the penultimate 15th place and flew into the second division, but according to tradition, a year later he again went to the big leagues. In 2011, Versegi sold its club shares to various legal entities and individuals.

Goalkeepers 1 D. Petković Montenegro 28 F. Groppioni Italy 29 A. Abu Hungary 42 P. Demjén Hungary Defenders 4 A. Baki Hungary 5 M. Grgic Croatia 6 D. Okuka Sweden 21 D. Vukmir Serbia 23 D. Vadnai Hungary 24 P. Poór Hungary 61 M. Katona Hungary Midfielders 8 B. Vogyicska Hungary 10 L. Szatmari Hungary 19 J. Kanta Hungary 30 B. Borbély Hungary 38 Á. Vass Hungary 62 T. Ronald Hungary 66 K. Hinora Hungary Forwards 7 Myke Ramos Brazil 9 D. Nikac Montenegro 13 A. Hrepka Hungary 14 Sandor Torgelle Hungary 26 I. Szatmári Hungary 27 S. Varga Hungary 33 D. Gera Hungary 60 K. Korozmán Hungary 68 T. Hujber Hungary Yu.

Kolomoets 26- Ukraine

National

• Champion of Hungary (23) times:

1904, 1908, 1914, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1929, 1936, 1937, 1951, 1953, 1958, 1987, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2008

• Hungarian Cup Winner (12) times:

1910, 1911, 1912, 1914, 1923, 1925, 1932, 1952, 1968, 1997, 1998, 2000

• Hungarian Super Cup Winner (3)

1997, 2003, 2008

• Winner of the Second Hungarian Division (3)

1982, 1995, 2012

International

• Cup Winners Cup Finalist:

1964

• Mitropa Cup Winner (2)

1955, 1963

• Total: 43 trophies

•   Sandor Geller
•   Gabor Zhiborash
•   Jozsef Zakarias
•   Bela Illes
•   Yeno karoy
•   Imre Kovacs
•   Mihai Lantosh
•   Györ Molnar
•   Zoltan Opata
•   György Orth
•   Peter Palotash
•   Antal Sabo
•   Pal Titkosh
•   Nandor Hidegkuti
•   Ferenc Hirser
•   Laszlo Cech
•   Karoy Sandor
•   Alfred Schaffer
•   Gustav Shebes

• Official site
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