Márton Bukovi

Márton Bukovi

Bukovi wearing a Građanski jersey
Personal information
Date of birth	(1903-12-10)10 December 1903
Place of birth	Budapest, Austria-Hungary
Date of death	2 February 1985(1985-02-02) (aged 81)
Place of death	Sète, France
Playing position	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1920–25	Ékszerészek
1925–26	Alba-Audace	16	(23)
1926–33	Ferencvárosi TC
1933–35	FC Sète
National team
1926–30	Hungary	11	(0)
Teams managed
1935–45	Građanski Zagreb
1945–47	Dinamo Zagreb
1947–54	MTK Hungária
1955–56	Újpest FC
1956–57	Hungary
1957–59	MTK Hungária
1960–61	Dinamo Zagreb
1962–64	Diósgyőri VTK
1965–67	Olympiacos
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Márton Bukovi (10 December 1903 – 2 February 1985) was a Hungarian association football player and manager. After playing for Ferencvárosi TC, FC Sète and Hungary he became a coach, most notably with Građanski Zagreb, MTK Hungária FC, Olympiacos F.C. and Hungary. Together with Béla Guttmann and Gusztáv Sebes, he formed a trio of innovative Hungarian coaches who pioneered the 4–2–4 formation.

Career

Bukovi began his coaching career with Građanski Zagreb in 1935 and subsequently guided the club to two Yugoslav and two Croatian league titles. After the Second World War, Građanski merged with two other clubs to become Dinamo Zagreb and Bukovi remained on as manager of the new club. In 1947 Bukovi was appointed manager of MTK Hungária FC. 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 and then finally back to MTK. Despite this turmoil, the 1950s proved a successful era for the club and with a team that included Péter Palotás, Nándor Hidegkuti, Mihály Lantos and József Zakariás, Bukovi guided them to three Hungarian League titles and a Hungarian Cup.

In Olympiacos F.C. Bukovi became a legend for the fans. He transformed Olympiacos and produced many young Greek players. Eventually he was forced to leave the club after a string of poor results in the 1967-68 season but mainly because of the military regime.^[1] He left the club on 20 November 1967 (other sources indicate 13 December).^[2][3]

Bukovi also played a major role in the success of the legendary Hungary team known as the Mighty Magyars. It was Bukovi, working at MTK with Péter Palotás and Nándor Hidegkuti, who developed the vital 4-2-4 formation, later adopted by national coach Gusztáv Sebes and exported to Brazil by Béla Guttmann. This formation involved the use of either Palotás or Hidegkuti as a deep lying centre-forward. 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. During the Mighty Magyar era, Bukovi also worked as an assistant to Sebes and in March 1956, when the latter was sacked as national coach, he succeeded him. On 23 September 1956 he coached a Hungary team that included Gyula Grosics, József Bozsik, Sándor Kocsis, Nándor Hidegkuti, Ferenc Puskás and Zoltán Czibor to a 1-0 victory over the USSR at the Lenin Stadium. This was the first time the USSR had lost at home.

Honours

Player

FC Sète 34

• Ligue 1: 1
  • 1934

• French Cup: 1
  • 1934

Ferencvárosi TC

• Hungarian Champions: 4
  • 1926, 1927, 1928, 1932

• Hungarian Cup: 3
  • 1927, 1928, 1933

• Mitropa Cup: 1
  • 1928

Manager

Građanski Zagreb

• Yugoslav Champions: 2
  • 1937, 1940

• Croatian Champions: 1
  • 1943

MTK/Textiles/Bástya/Vörös Lobogó

• Hungarian Champions: 3
  • 1951, 1953, 1958
• Hungarian Cup: 1
  • 1952

Olympiacos F.C.

• Greek Champions: 2
  • 1966, 1967

Sources

• Behind The Curtain - Travels in Eastern European Football: Jonathan Wilson (2006)

References

External links

• List of Hungarian Internationals
• Puskás on Puskás Rogan Taylor and Klara Jamrich (1998)
• Hungary national football team managers
• Hungary V USSR, 1956