Gyula Lóránt

Gyula Lóránt
Personal information
Full nameGyula Lipovics
Date of birth6 February 1923
Place of birthKőszeg, Hungary[1]
Date of death31 May 1981 (aged 58)
Place of deathThessaloniki, Greece[2]
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing positionMidfielder / Defender
Youth career
1939–1941Kõszeg SE
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1942–1943Szombathelyi Haladás
1943–1944Nagyváradi AC25(11)
1944Nemzeti Vasas7(0)
1945–1946Libertatea Oradea9(1)
1946–1947UTA Arad20(0)
1947–1950Vasas SC62(1)
1951–1956Honvéd89(0)
1956Budapest Spartacus
1956–1957Váci Vasas
National team
1949–1955Hungary37(0)
Teams managed
1962–1963Honvéd
1963Debreceni VSC
1964SV Rheydt
1965–19671. FC Kaiserslautern
1967–1968MSV Duisburg
1968–1969SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin
1969–19711. FC Kaiserslautern
1971–19721. FC Köln
1972–1974Kickers Offenbach
1974Freiburger FC
1975–1976PAOK Thessaloniki FC
1976Eintracht Frankfurt
1977–1979FC Bayern Munich
1979FC Schalke 04
1980–1981PAOK Thessaloniki FC
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Gyula Lóránt (6 February 1923, Kőszeg, Hungary – 31 May 1981, Thessaloniki, Greece), born as Gyula Lipovics, was a Hungarian footballer and manager of Croatian descent. He played as a defender and midfielder for, among others, UTA Arad, Vasas SC, Honvéd and Hungary.

During the 1950s, he was a prominent member of the legendary Hungarian national team known as the Mighty Magyars, which also included Ferenc Puskás, Zoltán Czibor, Sándor Kocsis, József Bozsik and Nándor Hidegkuti.

After retiring as a player, Lóránt became a coach, most notably with Honvéd, FC Bayern Munich and PAOK Thessaloniki FC. While at PAOK, he guided them to a Greek Championship title in 1976. On 31 May 1981, while still working as coach, he suffered a heart attack, watching PAOK play Olympiacos CFP and died at the game, aged 58.

Early life

The son of a policeman, who fought as a volunteer in World War II on the German side, Lóránt turned professional footballer at the age of 16; in parallel, he then also studied economics at university in the 1950s.[3]

Gyula Lóránt began his career as a youth with his hometown club, Kõszeg SE, after encouragement from a local trainer. He then played for Nagyváradi AC and UT Arad in Romania. It was while at Vasas SC, where his team mates included Ladislao Kubala, that his career prospered. However in January 1949, as Hungary became a communist state, Kubala fled the country in the back of a truck and formed his own team Hungaria to play exhibition friendlies. The team was made up of fellow refugees fleeing Eastern Europe. Lóránt also attempted to escape and follow Kubala, but was captured and ended up in a detention camp.

Hungarian international

Lóránt was released from detention after the intervention of Gusztáv Sebes, the national team coach, who regarded him as pivotal to his plans. Lóránt then made his debut for Hungary on 19 October 1949 in an away game against Austria. Sebes personally guaranteed the country's Interior Minister and future Prime Minister, János Kádár, that Lóránt would not abscond while in Vienna. Kádár agreed and Lóránt responded with a superb performance as Hungary won 4–3. He subsequently joined Honvéd where together with six of his fellow internationals, he helped the team win three Hungarian League titles. As one of the legendary Mighty Magyars, he helped Hungary become Olympic Champions in 1952, Central European Champions in 1953, defeat England twice and reach the 1954 World Cup final.

Honours

Olympic medal record
Competitor for  Hungary
Men's football
Gold 1952 Helsinki Team Competition

Player

Hungary

Nagyváradi AC

UTA Arad

Honvéd

Manager

PAOK Thessaloniki FC

References

  1. "Aranycsapat: eltemették Lóránt Gyula hamvait Kőszegen" (in Hungarian). www.nemzetisport.hu. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  2. "SZABÓ Róbert: Győztesek és vesztesek" (in Hungarian). www.historia.hu. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  3. "Gestorben Gyula Lorant" (in German). Der Spiegel. Retrieved September 4, 2013.

External links

Sources