MTK Hungária FC

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MTK

Full name

Magyar Testgyakorlók Köre
Hungária FC

Founded

1901

Ground

Stadion Hidegkuti Nándor,
Budapest

Capacity

12,700

Chairman

László Domonyai

Manager

József Garami

League

Hungarian League

2005-06

4th





Home colours





Away colours

MTK Hungária FC is a football club from Budapest, Hungary. The team plays in the top division of the Hungarian League. The club's colours are blue and white. One of the most successful Hungarian football clubs, MTK has won the Hungarian League 22 times and the Hungarian Cup 12 times. In 1955, as Vörös Lobogó SE, they became the first Hungarian team to play in the European Cup and in 1964 they finished as runners-up in the European Cup Winners' Cup after losing to Sporting Clube de Portugal in the final.

1 History
- 1.1 Early Years
- 1.2 The Mighty Magyar Era
2 The Club's Present
3 Honours
4 Famous Players
5 Selected Former Managers
6 Sources
7 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Early Years

MTK was founded as Magyar Testgyakorlók Köre in 1888. Soon after the football division was founded in 1901 the team entered the highest Hungarian league in 1903. MTK became Hungarian champions for the first time in 1904. Before the introduction of professional football MTK was the most successful Hungarian team. Prior to the Second World War the team managed to win 15 Hungarian League titles and 7 cups. During the professional era the team could not repeat the same performance but still won 2 championships. Due to the participation of many Jewish figures in the club, it had the reputation of being a "Jewish" team and suffered from anti-semitism in the 1930s and 1940s ^[1].

[edit] The Mighty Magyar Era

In 1949 when Hungary became a communist state, MTK were taken over by the secret police, the ÁVH, and subsequently the club became known as Textiles SE. They then became Bástya SE, then Vörös Lobogó SE, which means Red Banner or Red Flag, and then finally back to MTK. Despite this turmoil, the 1950s proved a successful era for the club and with a team coached by Márton Bukovi and including Péter Palotás, Nándor Hidegkuti, Mihály Lantos and József Zakariás, they won three Hungarian League titles, a Hungarian Cup and a Mitropa Cup. In 1955, as Vörös Lobogó SE, they also became the first ever Hungarian team to play in a European Cup. On September 7 1955 at the Népstadion, Palotás scored a hat-trick as they beat RSC Anderlecht 6-3 in the first leg of the first round and thus became the first player to score a hat-trick in a European Cup game.

MTK also played a major role in the success of the legendary Hungary team known as the Mighty Magyars. While Honvéd provided the team with a nucleus of players, it was Márton Bukovi at MTK who developed the vital 4-2-4 formation, later adopted by national coach Gusztáv Sebes, himself a former MTK player. It was also at MTK that Bukovi together with, Péter Palotás and Nándor Hidegkuti, also pioneered the crucial deep lying centre-forward position. In 1953 Hidegkuti would exploit this position to great effect as he scored a hat-trick for Hungary when they beat England 6-3 at Wembley Stadium. In addition Mihály Lantos and József Zakariás provided the Mighty Magyars with a solid defence. During the early 1950s these MTK players helped Hungary become Olympic Champions in 1952, Central European Champions in 1953, defeat England twice and reach the 1954 World Cup final.

[edit] The Club's Present

MTK owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Károly Sándor Football Academy, a school that produces a large number of their players, but the Budapest outfit also deserve credit for showing faith in their youngsters.

[edit] Honours

Hungarian League
- Winner : 1904, 1908, 1914, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1929, 1936, 1937, 1951, 1953, 1958, 1987, 1997, 1999, 2003: 22
- Runner-up : 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1926, 1928, 1931, 1933, 1940, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1963, 1990, 2000: 19