Zalaegerszegi TE

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ZTE

Full name

Zalaegerszegi Torna Egylet

Nickname(s)

ZTE

Founded

1920

Ground

ZTE Arena,
Zalaegerszeg

Capacity

12,500

Chairman

Ferenc Nagy

Manager

Antal Simon

League

Borsodi Liga

2005-06

11th





Home colours





Away colours

Zalaegerszegi TE (ZTE) is a Hungarian football team from the city of Zalaegerszeg.

ZTE traces its roots back to 1912, at the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Its first match was a 4-2 defeat to a team from Vasvár. The team was first composed of members of a literary and debating society. ZTE flourished under coach József Vadász, but World War I halted its progress. In 1920, Zalaegerszegi TE, or "Gymanistics Club of Zalaegerszeg," was born. They were defeated in their debut match, losing 2-1 to AK Szombathely on August 21, 1920, but were motivated by a crowd of over 2,000 fans.

ZTE's league history began in 1924, when they joined the Hungarian second division. The club won the title a decade later and entered the top flight in 1934. However, the start of World War II under the regime of Admiral Miklós Horthy saw ZTE's field and equipment confiscated. After the war, in 1957, ZTE merged with two other local teams, signalling the rebirth of the club.

From then on to the 1990s, however, ZTE did not really challenge the Hungarian title much. The league was dominated by Budapest club Ferencvárosi TC. In 1994, ZTE managed to gain a solid foothold on the Hungarian first division. History was made during the 2001-02 season when ZTE won their first Hungarian title, pipping Ferencváros. However, in 2002-03, ZTE, as reigning champions, managed just a first place in the relegation league. In the following seasons ZTE came 9th, 6th and 11th, respectively. During the 2006-07 season ZTE made a flying start with new manager Antal Simon.

During the 2002-03 UEFA Champions League, ZTE defeated Croatian champions NK Zagreb on away goals in the second qualifying round and met Manchester United in the third qualifying round. In the first leg, ZTE provided a stunning shock by winning 1-0 in Hungary. However, in the return leg at Old Trafford, Man United won a convincing 5-0 victory. The English side progressed to the first group stage with a 5-1 aggregate victory.

ZTE is currently a force to be reckoned with in the Borsodi Liga (Hungary's first division). Some of its great players in the 21st century included Hungarian striker Krisztián Kenesei, who now plays in China. ZTE's advertising company on their shirts is E.ON, a German energy company that has strong ties in Hungary.

They have since sold top scorer Istvan Ferenczi to Barnsley for £250,000.

[edit] Current squad

As of February 24th, 2007

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Zoltán Varga
2	DF	Gergely Kocsárdi
3	MF	István Rácz
4	MF	Juraj Dovičovič (on loan from MFK Ružomberok)
5	DF	Vilmos Sebők
6	DF	Sorin Botiş
7	MF	Balázs Molnár
8	MF	Lajos Nagy
9	FW	Róbert Waltner
10	FW	József Sebők
11	MF	Ivica Franciskovic
14	DF	Ciprian Dianu
15	FW	Rajko Lekic (on loan from Odense BK)
16	FW	Besnik Ramadani

No.	Position	Player
17	DF	Zsolt Csóka
18	GK	Krisztián Pogacsics
19	MF	Béla Koplárovics
20	GK	Martin Lipcak
22	MF	Darko Ljubojević
23	MF	György Józsi
24	MF	Péter Máté
26	MF	Ádám Billege
27	MF	Krisztián Kottán (on loan to Integrál DAC)
30	MF	Zoltán Tóth
66	FW	Tamás Molnár (on loan to Integrál DAC)
87	MF	Gábor Simonfalvi
99	MF	István Ludánszki