Ferencvárosi Torna Club (1991)

FERENCVÁROSI TORNA CLUB

The Ferencvárosi Torna Club - Athletic Club of Francistown - was founded on 3rd May 1899. The colour of FTC is green and white. The club's shield contains five green and four white stripes simbolising the ninth district of Budapest FTC is found in. The three letters on the emblem refers to the motto of the club which is: Stregth, Understanding, Morality.

Besides soccer there are twelve other sections at this time in the club. These are the follows: athletics, wrestling, rowing, ice-hockey, kayak-canoe, bycicle, women handball, men handball, swimming, water- polo, bowling and gymnastics. At the entrance of the club can be found three marble plates remembering the olimpic, world and European champions of this club. The club is proud that twenty-one olimpic (among them six football-players), seventeen world and thirty-five European champions’ names could be engraved on these plates. Out of our sections the waterpolo team has won in three consecutive years (in 1977-78-79) the European cup, and in 1977 and '79 the Super-cup. The women-handball team won the European cup in 1978. Our men- bowling team was winner of the European cup in 1977.

Out of the two-thousand sportsmen of the club the most popular are the football players, the Football Section. The FTC as an initiator was a member of the establishes of the Hungarian Football Association.

FTC is the only team that has taken part in every first-league competitions from the beginning till todayl The twenty-three championship titles is a record in Hungary:

1903, 1905, 1906/7, 1908/9, 1909/10, 1910/11, 1911/12, 1912/13, 1925/26, 1926/27, 1927/28, 1931/32, 1933/34, 1937/38, 1939/40, 1940/41, 1948/49, 1962/63, 1964, 1967, 1968, 1975/76, 1980/81.

One of the most remarkable season of FTC was the 1931/32 which was finished by total succes i.e. without any defeats or drawns.

FTC won the Hungarian Cup (MNK) too, most of the time, namely fourteen times. The cup-winning years:

1912/13, 1921/22, 1926/27, 1927/28, 1932/33, 1934/35, 1941/42, 1942/43, 1956/58, 1971/72, 1973/74, 1975/76, 1977/78.

The Club’s international participation is also significant. FTC won the famous Central European Cup (Mitropa) in the

year of 1928 and 1937. The UEFA Cup which had been earlier named the Fairtowns’ Cup was won by the club in 1965. In the finals they defeated Turin Juventus by 1-0. In the competition for the same cup FTC got in the finals again in 1968 but that time Leeds United won the trophy. Still in the UEFA Cup the team reached the semi-finals in 1972 when Wolverhampton Wanderers was the opponent. In the European Cup FTC was a finalist, the cup was won by Dinamo Kijev. A number of signified cups of international tournaments can be found in the club’s trophy-room, as FTC - during its history - turned up in Europe, North-, Central- and South-America, Africa, Asia and Australia, i.e. in plenty of famous stadiums of every continent.

In almost every season FTC had outstanding sportsmen.

In the 1910s Imre Schlosser was the first really talented football player, he scored among the FTC players the most number of goals (48) in the national football-team. Two more important records are connected to his name: In a single league match he scored eight goals; and in six consecutive championships he was ’The Goalking’, who scored the most goalsl

In the 30s Lázár, Toldi, Sárosi were the internationally considered classics. We still remember Géza Toldi who represents of the legendary ’FTC heart’; a keen and an all-hearted sportsman. Dr. György Sárosi - as a club record - took part altogether in 607 matches and scored 613 goals! Dr. Sárosi with his seven goals against the Czecho-Slovakians is keeping a record even among the selected players of FTC Ferenc Deák scored the most number of goals in one season: In 1948/49 he was the ’goalking’ with his 59 goals.

Budai, Kocsis and Czibor the three outstanding players of the club, who were the members of the later formed ’Goldteam’.

Flórián Albert won the ’Goldball’ in 1967, which was offered by the France Football to Europe’s best football player. After the 1980/81 season Tibor Nyilasi won the ’Silverboot’ that was offered to Europe’s second best football player. Out of the clubs players Flórián Albert, Dezső Novák, Lajos Szűcs played in the team of the selected players of the world, too. Flórián Albert and Tibor Nyilasi were selected players of Europe. FTC gave the most number of players (119) to the selected Hungarian team. Out of these players Sándor Mátrai is keeping a record with 80 caps. Dr. Árpád Csanádi was elected to be a member of the International Olimpic Committee and its Executive Committee. He was FTC’s player in the 1940s and later coach in the club. In the 1980s - till his death - he was the first sport director of International Olimpián Committee.

There was always a great roll of FTC’s fans in its success. Usually the average is above 15 thousand but in the most successful! years it is close to 25 thousand. The fans call FTC by its nickname “Fradi” and the chief fans are called ’B-Middle’ remembering their B-stand in the old stadium.

An FTC Fan-Club is functioning with 4 thousand individual and another 80 firms’ collective members. The Fan-Club was the first in 1986 to create a gathering for young fans under the name of Young- Fans-Club. Still in 1986 the Hungarian Football Fan-Club Association was founded by the initiative of FTC Fan-Club, with the backup of the Intenational Football Association, FIFA. The most keen fans escort the team on its tours in the country or even abroad, just as many people visit the matches played in Budapest from all different parts of the country. Moreover, in the most interesing matches, fans living abroad come and represent themselves on these occas- sions.

Till 1911 FTC played its matches at the ground of Soroksár street which had a capacity of only 1500 people. From 1911 the stadium on Üllői street ment the home for FTC, which had a capacity of over 40 thousand people on its old stands. During the reconstruction FTC rented the stadium. It was finished in 1974, with capacity of 30 thousand. In 1978 lamps with 1500 lux light power were mounted for evening matches. There are two more grass- and an all-weather fields on Üllői street. In the stadium’s clubhouse a foot- ball-museum, a recruiting office, a souvenir shop, a restaurant and a pub can be found. The establishment lies at the intersection of important roads this it is easy to reach. The underground station near the stadium is green and white, the architects planed it so in honour of FTC. In the near park named ’Népliget’ there are many training fields, covered halls, swimming-pool and a Sport-hotel can be found and is still under construction. Two boathouses on the river Danube serve the kayak-canoe and the rowing section.

FERENCVÁROSI TORNA CLUB Address: H-1091 Budapest, Üllői út 129. HUNGARY Phone: (36-1)113-6025 Telex: 22-3290 Fax: (36-1)113-7292