Budapest Honvéd - the base of the Mighty Magyars
The world was very different 6, 7, or 8 decades ago, and so was football. That's why it's so interesting to revisit stories from other eras, especially those involving great teams that, in one way or another, marked the history of the sport. A lot of people who know their football history are familiar with the "Mighty Magyars", the powerful Hungarian national team of the 1950s, and their influence on the creation of Total Football, later popularized by the Dutch. Today we'll talk about the Budapest Honvéd, which served as the foundation for that legendary Hungarian national team.
Kispest FC
The club was originally formed under the name Kispesti Atletikai Club, in the city of Kispesti at the beginning of the 20th century, when it was still a separate city from Bucharest. The exact date of the club's founding is confusing, as August 10, 1908, was the date of the club's formation, although it would not be almost a year later (August 3, 1909) when the club members managed to define the institution's statutes, so for some, this is the actual founding date of the club.In its early years, the club was largely a local club, so it didn't have much exposure to Hungarian football at the top level. In 1916, following a hiatus due to World War I, the Hungarian league expanded from 10 to 12 teams, giving Kispest the opportunity to play in the top tier of Hungarian football. After a couple of first seasons where it finished second to last, it would later secure an eighth-place finish and then a second-place finish in 1919-20, which would be its best performance in the league for quite some time.
In 1926, they won their first major title and the only one until their first golden era, the Magyar Kupa (that was the name of the Hungarian Cup at that time) against Budapesti EAC, where they tied the first match at one goal and it was necessary to go to a replay which was also tied at one goal and required going to extra time where there were three goals and the decisive goal was scored in the 157th minute (the penalty shoot-out to decide matches was not invented until 1962).
In 1927, Ferenc Puskas, a future symbol of the club and father of the Hungarian legend who played for Real Madrid, joined the club. In the 1930s, Rezso Rozgonyi and Rezs Somlai, two Hungarian internationals, also arrived, demonstrating the prestige Kispest had gained in recent years.
The golden era
In 1943, two players from the club's academy would debut, who would become legends of Hungarian and world football, Ferenc Puskas (Jr) and Jozsef Bozsik. In 1945, Ferenc Puskas Sr. would return to the club, this time as manager, and in the following two seasons he would keep the team in the top half of the league standings. In 1947, he was replaced by Bela Guttmann, who had been managing Ujpest, who had been crowned Hungarian league champions the previous season. Guttmann had a good season with Kispest but a problem with Puskas (Jr) led him to resign from his position. Which made the club bring back Puskas (Sr) as manager.In 1949, Hungary was a satellite state of the Soviet Union and followed the same communist policies. As a result, the country became militarized, a secret police force (like the KGB) was established, and the quality of life for ordinary citizens declined significantly. During this process, football clubs were nationalized, and the government, through some of its institutions, decided to take control of the most important clubs, MTK and Ferencváros. The secret police took over MTK, and the army considered taking over Ferencvaros. However, the club's conservationist ideals did not fit with those of the government, and this led them to look for a second option.
The army, thanks to the recommendation of Gusztav Sebes (the new coach of the Hungary national team), decided to take Kispest. The army, thanks to the recommendation of Gusztav Sebes (the new coach of the Hungary national team), decided to take over Kispest. As part of the takeover, the club's name was changed to Budapest Honvéd (meaning Budapest Homeland Defense), since Kispest had become part of Budapest. Sebes had a plan behind this, as he wanted to base his national team on a football club that would make it easier for the players to understand each other on the pitch and thus better assimilate his idea, which was basically a version of Total Football before Total Football.
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Monument celebrating the Mighty Magyars
In 1956, amidst the Hungarian revolution and the Soviet Union's invasion of the country, several Honvéd players took advantage of their time abroad for international matches and refused to return, as was the case with Czibor, Kocsis, and Puskas, to name a few. This began to considerably weaken the club, which wouldn't win the league again until 1980. To contextualize the quality of Honvéd's players, it's enough to look at the clubs they played for after leaving Hungary. As many know, Puskas signed for Real Madrid in 1958, after serving a two-year UEFA ban. Kocsis signed for Young Fellows Zurich and then went to FC Barcelona, where he reunited with his compatriot, Laszlo Kubala. Czibor first played for Roma and then also went to the Catalan club.
What happened to Honvéd next?
The club would go through a few difficult years trying to recover and it wouldn't be until the 1980s that it would truly reach the levels of the early 1950s. In the 1980s and early 1990s, the club won 8 league titles and 2 Hungarian Cups, with a team that included players like Kalman Kovacs and Lajos Detari. At the height of its success, the club changed its name to Kispest Honvéd FC, recalling its early days.However, in 2003, the club suffered its first relegation, and although they returned just one season later, they were in a difficult financial situation due to a problem with the club's financial and fiscal management, which led to the club being refounded under the name Budapest Honvéd FC. The 2000s and 2010s were marked by the club's inconsistencies, alternating good seasons with a title with other poor ones. In 2023, they suffered another relegation, which has kept them in NB II (Hungary's second tier) until this day.