Budapest Honvéd FC facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Budapest Honvéd

Full name	Budapest Honvéd Football Club
Nickname(s)	Kispest Oroszlánok (Lions)
Founded	3 August 1909; 115 years ago (1909-08-03)
Ground	Bozsik Aréna, Budapest
Ground Capacity	8,200
Chairman	Tamás Leisztinger
Manager	Zsolt Laczkó
League	NB II
2023–24	NB II, 9th of 18
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Budapest Honvéd Football Club (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈbudɒpɛʃt ˈhonveːd ˈɛft͡seː]), commonly known as Budapest Honvéd or simply Honvéd, is a Hungarian sports club based in Kispest, Budapest, with the colours of red and black. The club is best known for its football team. Honvéd means the Homeland Defence. Originally formed as Kispest AC, they became Kispest FC in 1926 before reverting to their original name in 1944.

The team enjoyed a golden age during the 1950s when it was renamed Budapesti Honvéd SE and became the Hungarian Army team. The club's top players from this era, Ferenc Puskás, Sándor Kocsis, József Bozsik, Zoltán Czibor, and Gyula Grosics helped the club win the Hungarian League four times during the 1950s and also formed the nucleus of the legendary Hungary national team popularly known as the Mighty Magyars.

During the 1980s and early 1990s, the club enjoyed another successful period, winning a further eight Hungarian League titles. They also won league and cup doubles in 1985 and 1989. In 1991, the club was renamed Kispest Honvéd FC and adopted its current name in 2003.

When the club was originally formed in 1909, it also organised teams that competed in fencing, cycling, gymnastics, wrestling, athletics, boxing, and tennis. Later, the Honvéd family was extended to include a water polo team, now known as Groupama Honvéd, a 33-times basketball-champion team and a handball team that were European Champions in 1982.

History

Budapest Honvéd FC were founded in 1909 as Kispesti AC. At domestic level they first entered the Nemzeti Bajnokság I in the 1916–17 season. Their first success came in the 1926 Magyar Kupa season when they beat Budapesti EAC in the final. The club had played in the first division since 1916, until the club got relegated to the second division in 2003.

Stadium

The first stadium was demolished in 2019

Budapest Honvéd's first stadium was opened in 1913. On 5 August 2018, the last match was played at the stadium. The match was won by Honvéd against Paksi FC on the 3rd match day of the 2018–19 Nemzeti Bajnokság I. The only goal was scored by Danilo in the 48th minute. The referee was Viktor Kassai. The stadium was demolished in 2019.

The new stadium of the club was opened in 2021. The first match was played between Budapest Honvéd FC II and Szekszárdi UFC in the 2020–21 Nemzeti Bajnokság III season. The stadium was selected to host the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

Crest and colours

Budapest Honvéd FC crest during the Hemingway era, used until 2020.

Manufacturers and shirt sponsors

The following table shows in detail Budapest Honvéd FC kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors by year:

Honours

• Nemzeti Bajnokság I
  • Winners (14): 1949–50, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1979–80, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1992–93, 2016–17
• Nemzeti Bajnokság II
  • Winners (1): 2003–04
• Magyar Kupa
  • Winners (8): 1925–26, 1964, 1984–85, 1988–89, 1995–96, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2019–20
• UEFA Cup
  • Quarter final (1): 1978/79
• Mitropa Cup
  • Winners (1): 1959

Friendly

• Tournoi de Pâques du Red Star
  • Winners (1): 1932
• Trofeo Ciudad de Vigo
  • Winners (1): 1974

Youth teams

• Puskás Cup:
  • Winners (5): 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016

Players

Current squad

No. Position Player 1 GK Gellért Dúzs 4 DF Alex Szabó 6 MF István Átrok 7 MF Dávid Holman 8 MF Ákos Sigér 11 MF Zalán Kerezsi 13 MF Tamás Csilus 14 DF Cornel Ene 17 FW Ábel Krajcsovics 18 MF Attila Lőrinczy 19 DF Vyacheslav Kulbachuk 22 MF Noel Keresztes 23 FW Zoltán Medgyes

No. Position Player 29 MF Kevin Polák 30 MF Bence Nyitrai 44 DF Barna Benczenleitner 49 DF Branko Pauljevic 55 MF Gergely Kocsis 65 FW Norbert Kundrák 72 FW László Benkő 74 FW Benedek Simon 83 GK Tomáš Tujvel 90 GK Márk Gyetván 98 DF Tibor Szabó 99 DF István Pekár

Out on loan

Retired numbers

10 – Ferenc Puskás, Forward (1949–56). Number retired in July 2000.

Notable former players

Had senior international cap(s) for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Budapest Honvéd FC.

Non-playing staff

Management

As of 15 September 2024

Position	Name
Proprietor	Tamás Leisztinger
Managing Director	Árpád Séllei
Marketing Director	Martin Petrevics
Director of Facility	Dávid Szabó
Director of Finance	Mária Takács
Director of Communications	Benedek Rác

First team staff

As of 15 September 2024

Position	Name
Head coach	Zsolt Laczkó
Assistant coach	István Paulik
Assistant coach	Djordje Kamber
Goalkeeping coach	István Brockhauser
Assistant goalkeeping coach	Viktor Szentpéteri
Fitness coach	Zsolt Lázár
Physiotherapist	Attila Hajdu
Video analyst	Balázs Sinkó

Ownership

In 2022, Chris Docherty was appointed as the new sport director of the club.

Chris Docherty said in an interview that the club cannot sign any new players for financial problems in the middle of the 2022-23 Nemzeti Bajnokság I season.

On 22 May 2023, Chris Docherty resigned as sports director. In an article published by Nemzeti Sport, George F. Hemingway, former owner of the club, heavily criticized the management of the club for their relegation to the Nemzeti Bajnokság II after finishing 11th in the 2022–23 Nemzeti Bajnokság I season. Hemingway said that the solid financial background is not enough if there is no expertise.

On 27 April 2024, it was revealed that a Tamás Lisztinger-led business showed interest in purchasing the club.

Owners

• 2006–2019: Quinex America LLC (George F. Hemingway)
• 2019–2024: Reditus Equity (Zoltán Bozó)
• 2024-present: ARAGO-SPORT Kft. (Tamás Leisztinger)

See also

In Spanish: Budapest Honvéd Football Club para niños

• History of Budapest Honvéd FC
• List of Budapest Honvéd FC seasons
• Budapest Honvéd FC in European football
• List of Budapest Honvéd FC managers