Hungarian Football Federation
Friday 1 May 2009
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Hungary famously beat England 6-3 at Wembley in 1953 (©Getty Images)
Hungarian football has left its mark on the world stage. Even today, people remember the period five decades ago when the country's footballers set the pace both technically and tactically.
The first official match played in the central European state was between two teams from the Budapesti Torna Club on 9 May 1897. In the following years, the game grew in popularity, to the extent that in 1900 Budapest's city council considered a proposal banning the sport because of the many injuries incurred. However, on 19 January 1901, football gained further credibility as the Hungarian Football Federation (the Magyar Labdarúgók Szövetsége or MLSZ) was founded by 12 clubs in Budapest. That same year, the first championship was organised, and in 1902 the national team made their debut, losing 5-0 to Austria in Vienna.
The MLSZ existed independently in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, and became a member of FIFA in 1906. After the first world war, and Hungarian independence, the federation reorganised itself: in 1921, it introduced compulsory injury insurance for players, and in 1926, the first division was allowed to turn professional. It was after the second world war that Hungarian football really bloomed, though.
Under the communist regime, the federation continued its work as a department of the Sport Office. The national team won Olympic gold in 1952, and the next year, with players of the calibre of Nándor Hidegkuti and Ferenc Puskás, beat England 6-3 at Wembley in a match still referred to as the 'Game of the Century'. After losing the 1954 World Cup final to the Federal Republic of Germany, Hungary lost most of its legendary players. In 1956, Soviet soldiers crushed a Hungarian uprising. Many players emigrated and the political leadership stopped supporting football.
However, the country still enjoyed Olympic glory (gold medals in 1964 and 1968, silver in 1972, bronze in 1960), finished third at the 1964 European Nations' Cup and took fourth place at the 1972 UEFA European Championship. Flórian Albert was voted European Footballer of the Year in 1967. Clubs were successful too: Ferencvárosi TC won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1965 and were runners-up in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1975, while MTK finished second in the latter competition in 1964 and Videoton FCF runners-up in the 1985 UEFA Cup.
Since 1989, the MLSZ has functioned as a democratic self-governing organisation. With government support, important programmes involving stadium reconstruction and high-level coach training were launched. The Bozsik programme, a nationwide youth and football development project which started in 2002, has attracted thousands of children. They have also been supporting futsal, qualifying for their first UEFA European Futsal Championship in 2005 and hosting the finals in 2010.
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