Ákos Buzsáky (born 7 May 1982) is a Hungarian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He played in the Nemzeti Bajnokság for

MTK Budapest Magyar Testgyakorlók Köre is a multi-sports club from Budapest, founded in 1888. It has sections for football, handball, basketball, volleyball, futsal, ice hockey, water polo, cycling, gymnastics, athletics, fencing, canoeing, boxing, wrestlin ...

and

Ferencváros Ferencváros () is the 9th district of Budapest ( hu, Budapest IX. kerülete), Hungary. Name The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary. History The development of Fe ...

, the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

for

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

, the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

for

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

, and

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

, Queens Park Rangers,

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

and

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

. Buzsáky has been

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

at international level by the Hungary national team, for whom he made his debut in 2005. In 2008 Queens Park Rangers fans nicknamed Buzsáky "The White

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, ...

Club career

Early years

Buzsáky was born in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. He began playing football at the age of four when playing with his father, and this led to an opportunity to join the youth team Grund FC in 1986 when Buzsáky was six years old. His impressive talent enabled him to join his first club

. At this time under manager

Henk ten Cate Hendrik Willem ten Cate (born 9 December 1954) is a Dutch football manager and former professional player. In the 2005–06 season, he was assistant to Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona when the team won the UEFA Champions League and La Liga titles. ...

, MTK began to give youngsters opportunities to play in the first team, and among those given the chance to impress was Buzsáky, making his Champions League debut in the second round with a 5–1 (on aggregate) against ÍBV. Buzsáky made his league debut on 3 October 1999 in a match against Haladás, and on 22 April 2000, Buzsáky scored his first goal in a 3–1 win over against

ZTE ZTE Corporation is a Chinese partially state-owned technology company that specializes in telecommunication. Founded in 1985, ZTE is listed on both the Hong Kong and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges. ZTE's core business is wireless, exchange, optic ...

. In 2000, he won the

Hungarian Cup The Hungarian Cup ( hu, Magyar Kupa) is the Hungarian cup competition for football clubs. It was started by the Hungarian Football Association, the ''Magyar Labdarúgó Szövetség,'' in 1909, eight years after the commencement of the Hungarian ...

with MTK and Buzsáky was linked with a move to

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eerste Divi ...

, reuniting him with Henk ten Cate, but the club rejected the offer for Buzsáky. Buzsáky would go on to become a regular at MTK Budapest.

Porto

He then joined

under new manager

José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix GOIH (; born 26 January 1963), is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Italian Serie A club Roma. Once dubbed "The Special One" by the British ...

for £400,000 in July 2002. After signing, Buzsáky had to wait eight months to make his league debut (in a 3–0 win over

Beira-Mar Sport Clube Beira-Mar () is a Portuguese sports club based in Aveiro, Portugal. Its football team currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth national level, having gained promotion by winning the Aveiro FA First Division 2018/19 ...

on 23 February 2003). The previous month he had made his first appearance for Porto in the UEFA Cup against

Denizlispor Denizlispor, due to current sponsorship Altaş Denizlispor, is a Turkish sports club based in Denizli. It is known by its distinct green and black colors. The club's branches include football, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, and gymnastics. ...

playing 90 minutes (the match finished in a 2–2 draw). He was later loaned out to Portuguese Superliga side Academica de Coimbra in 2003–04 making eleven appearances. Prior to signing for English side

he had been playing for Porto's 'B' side in the Portuguese third division.

Plymouth Argyle

Buzsáky joined Plymouth on loan until the end of the 2004–05 season after the former Hungarian Under-21 international captain impressed manager

Bobby Williamson Robert Williamson (born 13 August 1961 in Glasgow) is a Scottish football player and manager. Williamson played as a striker for Clydebank, Rangers, West Bromwich Albion, Rotherham United and Kilmarnock. He then became a manager at Kilma ...

during a behind-closed-doors friendly against

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

. Buzsáky moved to Plymouth on a permanent basis for an undisclosed fee. In October 2007, Buzsáky informed Plymouth he would not sign a new contract when his ran out in the summer, allegedly due to Plymouth's refusal to pay a fee to his agent. He was subsequently loaned to

, and the move was made permanent on 2 January 2008 for an undisclosed fee, with Buzsáky signing a two-and-a-half-year contract. In May 2013, Buzsáky said that he would love to play for the club again at some point, but now was not the right time. He was responding to speculation about his future and a possible return to Argyle. "I have seen the same speculation about me saying I was going back to Plymouth, but that is not the case," he said in an interview with '' The Herald''. "Everybody knows how much the club and the place means to me, so I am keen that the Argyle fans know the truth. But, like I say, while I would love to play someday again for Argyle, now is not the right time."

Queens Park Rangers

On 3 November 2007, Buzsáky made his debut in a 2–0 win over

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

and score his first goal, the next game three days later, in a 2–1 loss against

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

. Buzsáky won the

Kiyan Prince Kiyan Josiah Prince (25 November 1990 – 18 May 2006) was a 15-year-old boy who was fatally stabbed outside the London Academy in Edgware, London on 18 May 2006. Prince, who played football for the youth team of professional club Queens Park R ...

Goal of the Season award for a side footed lob against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

. However, his first full season at QPR proved to be a frustrating one due to an injury he picked up in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

tie away to

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, resulting in him being out for the rest of the season. Afterwards, Buzsáky spoke about his injury, stating he had never suffered a knee injury before and vowed to bounce back next season. Following his return to fitness, Buzsáky played a large part in the opening part of the 09/10 season. However in December 2009, following the 3–1 defeat away to Watford, it was reported that he was involved in a confrontation with manager

Jim Magilton James Magilton (born 6 May 1969) is a Northern Irish football manager and former professional player. As a player, he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Southampton, Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town. He started hi ...

, where it was reported that Buzsáky was assaulted by Magilton. This led to Magilton being suspended by QPR and subsequently leaving the club by mutual consent on 16 December 2009. There was speculation that Buzsáky had requested a transfer but this was denied by Buzsáky. On 21 January 2012 Buzsáky scored his first Premier League goal against

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

in a 3–1 victory., but at the end of the season, on 13 July 2012, it was announced that Buzsáky would be leaving the club, having failed to agree on a new contract. Whilst he decided his next move, Buzsáky trained in his native Hungary, with Hungarian outfit Videoton. Buzsáky was linked with Championship sides like

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

and

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

Portsmouth

On 27 September, it was reported that Buzsáky was on trial with League One side

and on 1 October 2012, Buzsáky agreed terms on a one-month deal with the League One outfit. He made his debut, coming on as a substitute, in the 2–2 away draw at MK Dons on 6 October 2012. He made six appearances for the club before joining Barnsley on loan. Buzsáky spoke about joining Portsmouth, citing building his fitness as the principal reason, and admitted he was keen to stay at the club. However, in January 2013, he left Portsmouth as a free agent to live in his home country of Hungary whilst he recovered from a knee operation. Portsmouth's caretaker manager

Guy Whittingham Guy Whittingham (born 10 November 1964) is an English football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a striker from 1988 until 2005, notably in the Premier League for Aston Villa and Sheffield Wednesday. Having started ...

claimed Buzsáky asked to leave the club after being left out of the first-team.

Ferencváros

On 11 September 2013, Buzsáky returned to Hungary to sign for

. He announced his retirement from professional football on 13 October 2015 due to injury problems.

International career

Buzsáky has represented

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

as a full international, gaining his first cap on 3 September 2005 against

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. He scored his first international goal on 21 November 2007 in a Euro 2008 qualifier, a 2–1 defeat at home against European champions

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, although the goal is sometimes given as a

Kostas Katsouranis Kostas Katsouranis ( el, Κώστας Κατσουράνης; born 21 June 1979) is a Greek former international footballer. A versatile midfielder, who won the Super League Greek Footballer of the Year Award in 2005 and 2013, as well as the Co ...

own goal as it took a big deflection off the Greek midfielder.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

Honours

Club

;MTK Hungária *

: 2000 *

Hungarian League Hungarian may refer to: * Hungary, a country in Central Europe * Kingdom of Hungary, state of Hungary, existing between 1000 and 1946 * Hungarians, ethnic groups in Hungary * Hungarian algorithm, a polynomial time algorithm for solving the assignme ...

: Runner-up 2000 ;FC Porto *

: 2002-03 *

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

: 2002-03 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese football match played since 1979 between the winners of the Portuguese League (Primeira Liga) and Portuguese ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

;Queens Park Rangers *

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Individual

* Young Hungarian Player of the Year: 2003 * Player of the Month in The Championship: January 2007

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Buzsaky, Akos 1982 births Living people Footballers from Budapest Hungarian footballers Association football midfielders Hungary international footballers MTK Budapest FC players Hungarian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal FC Porto players Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Associação Académica de Coimbra – O.A.F. players Expatriate footballers in England Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in England Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Ferencvárosi TC footballers UEFA Cup winning players English Football League players Premier League players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players