Budapest Honvéd Fc

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.

Budapest Honvéd

Full name	Budapest Honvéd Football Club
Nickname(s)	Kispest Oroszlánok (Lions)
Founded	3 August 1909; 114 years ago (1909-08-03)
Ground	Bozsik Aréna, Budapest
Capacity	8,200
Chairman	Dániel Mendelényi
Manager	Aurél Csertői
League	NB II
2022–23	NB I, 11th of 12 (relegated)
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

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.

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 played in the first division since 1916, when the club got relegated to the second division in 2003.

 

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.

 

Manufacturers and shirt sponsors

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

• 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): 1979/79
• 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

Current squad

As of 31 January 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   HUN Gellért Dúzs 3 DF   HUN Dávid Kálnoki-Kis 4 DF   HUN Alex Szabó 6 MF   HUN István Átrok 7 MF   HUN Bertalan Bocskay 8 MF   HUN Krisztián Adorján 9 FW   HUN Gergely Bobál 11 MF   HUN Zalán Kerezsi 14 MF   HUN Nikolasz Kovács 15 DF   HUN Dominik Kaczvinszki 17 FW   HUN Ábel Krajcsovics 18 MF   HUN Attila Lőrinczy 20 MF   HUN Dávid Holman

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 FW   HUN Viktor Haragos 22 MF   HUN Noel Keresztes 25 DF   CRO Ivan Lovrić 30 MF   HUN Bence Nyitrai 44 DF   HUN Barna Benczenleitner 55 MF   HUN Gergely Kocsis 65 FW   HUN Norbert Kundrák 66 MF   HUN András Eördögh 74 FW   HUN Benedek Simon 83 GK   SVK Tomáš Tujvel 90 GK   HUN Márk Gyetván 98 DF   HUN Tibor Szabó 99 DF   HUN István Pekár

Players with multiple nationalities

•     Ivan Lovrić

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW   UKR Maksym Pukhtyeyev (at Mosonmagyaróvár until 30 June 2024)

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.

Management

As of 6 July 2023

Position	Name
Proprietor	Zoltán Bozó & Dániel Mendelényi
Managing Director	Gergely Kun
Marketing Director	Martin Petrevics
Director of Facility	Dávid Szabó
Director of Finance	Mária Takács
Director of Communications	Benedek Rác

First team staff

As of 6 July 2023

Position	Name
Head coach	Aurél Csertői
Assistant coach
Assistant coach
Goalkeeping coach	Vlada Avramov
Assistant goalkeeping coach	Viktor Szentpéteri
Fitness coach	Zsolt Lázár
Physiotherapist	Attila Hajdu
Video analyst	Balázs Sinkó

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 Tamás Lisztinger-led businuess showed interest in purchasin the club.

Owners

• 2006–2019:   Quinex America LLC (George F. Hemingway)
• 2019–present:   Reditus Equity (Zoltán Bozó)

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

• Behind The Curtain – Travels in Eastern European Football: Jonathan Wilson (2006)
• 50 Years of the European Cup and Champions League: Keir Radnedge (2005)