THE BUDGET airline revolution made Continental Europe very accessible for tourists and football fans alike. A return trip for barely more than £100 has made it possible for the curious spectator to extend his or her horizon beyond the 92 and non-league. As a result, we have seen the arrival of the football tourist, map-wielding […]
Tag: Hungary
The enduring romance of Mitteleuropa’s football
THE BUDGET airline revolution has made Continental Europe very accessible for tourists and football fans alike. A return trip for barely more than £100 has made it possible for the curious spectator to extend his or her horizon beyond the 92 and non-league. As a result, we have seen the arrival of the football tourist, […]
Fradi joins the 30-plus club
FERENCVAROS, Hungary’s most popular club, have just clinched their 30th Hungarian championship, thanks to MOL Vidi drawing with Puskas Academia and therefore unable to overtake Fradi regardless of the outcome of the Budapest derby against Honved. Ferencvaros, in winning their latest prize, join a band of 13 clubs in Europe that have won their domestic […]
The romance of Mitteleuropa
THE BUDGET airline revolution has made Continental Europe very accessible for tourists and football fans alike. A return trip for barely more than £100 has made it possible for the curious spectator to extend his or her horizon beyond the 92 and non-league. As a result, we have seen the arrival of the […]
Pact men – the USSR and its friends
THE collapse of communism and the plethora of velvet revolutions across Europe undoubtedly diluted the strength of the old Eastern Bloc and its acolytes. We feared the technique, strength and organisation of the state-run footballing machines, but once the Red Army retreated and the busts tumbled from their plinths, Warsaw Pact football was all but […]
Mittel: YB Bern poised to end Basel run
YOUNG BOYS Bern look as though they’re about to end the monopoly that Basel have had on football in Switzerland for almost a decade. The two teams drew 2-2 at the Stade de Suisse over Easter as Young Boys maintained a 16-point lead over reigning champions Basel. Young Boys led twice in a game considered […]
The last Magyars – Hungary’s 1960s revival
WHEN Hungary looked as though they were about to rule the football world, the country had a revolution and the team dubbed the best on the planet all but broke up. In September 1956, Hungary won 1-0 in Moscow in a friendly, an impressive result in front of 102,000 people against a Soviet Union team […]
Bread and circuses for the people: Hungary’s stadium project
ONE OF the most fascinating weekends I’ve spent in recent years was a couple of days walking around Budapest in search of traces of the famous Hungarian “golden team” of the 1950s. You have to look hard and you won’t find much evidence, especially as there’s a big stadium rebuilding programme going on, but any […]
Honved: They’re dancing in the streets of District XIX
HONVED is a name that belongs to the golden age of Hungarian football. The team that Ferenc Puskas played for, a club that spread the word about the mighty Magyars, and before last season, 13 times champions. It is now 14 after a somewhat unlikely title victory in 2016-17. Based in Kispest, south-east of the […]