István Ferenczi (born 14 September 1977) 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He gained nine caps for the Hungary national team between 2001 and 2008 and scored two goals. The last club he played for in the top flight of

Hungarian football The Hungary national football team ( hu, magyar labdarúgó-válogatott) represents Hungary in men's international football and is controlled by the Hungarian Football Federation. The team has made 9 appearances in the FIFA World Cup and 4 app ...

was

Vasas SC Vasas may refer to: *Vasas SC, Hungarian sports club *Győri Vasas, former name of Hungarian sports club Győri ETO (1950-65) *Mihály Vasas (born 1933), Hungarian footballer and manager *Zoltán Vasas Zoltán Vasas (born 5 November 1977) is a ...

. He was over 40 when he played his last first league game, and played two more professional games at the age of 43 for

BFC Siófok Bodajk FC Siófok, generally shortened to BFC Siófok, is a Hungarian football club based in Siófok, a small town on the shores of Lake Balaton. The club was founded in 1921 as ''Siófok SE''. The word ''Bodajk'' in the club's name stems from ...

Nemzeti Bajnokság II NB II, currently known as the Merkantil Bank Liga for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of Hungarian football. At the end of the 2004–05 season, the tournament format was changed from one division of 14 teams to two divisions: ''Keleti ...

, the second tier of Hungarian football. He is a target man standing. He has scored goals in a number of countries including England, Turkey, Germany and his native Hungary.

Barnsley career

2006–2007

Ferenczi signed for

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 ...

on 31 January 2007 – the transfer deadline day and incidentally the same week Barnsley captured fellow Hungarian

Péter Rajczi Péter Rajczi (born 3 April 1981) is a Hungarian footballer who currently plays as a striker for USV Neulengbach. Career Rajczi started to play football in Kaposvár, playing for Kaposvári Rákóczi FC. He played many seasons with Rákóc ...

. He made his Barnsley debut against

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

on 2 February 2007 from the bench. Ferenczi scored his first goal in the game at

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

when he headed home a

Martin Devaney Martin Thomas Devaney (born 1 June 1980) is a football coach and former professional midfielder who was most recently caretaker manager of EFL Championship club Barnsley. Born of Irish parents, Devaney has played for the Ireland under-16s. Caree ...

cross. In the following fixture against

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 ...

, Ferenczi scored a brace, the first he slid under the keeper after a defensive error and the second a bullet header from a Brian Howard cross. Ferenczi carried on his impressive scoring record as he scored a goal supplied by Péter Rajczi and beat

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

on 26 February 2007. This game was shown live on

Sky Sports 1 Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It h ...

. He added his fifth goal in four starts on 3 March, after terrifically heading in a Martin Devaney cross. Although Barnsley lost 3–1

Oakwell Oakwell is a multi-purpose sports development in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England used primarily by Barnsley Football Club for playing their home fixtures, and those of their reserves. While the name 'Oakwell' generally refers to the main s ...

against Norwich City in that match. He failed to hit the target against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

the following Saturday as Barnsley lost 2–0, but scored a last minute clincher against

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, ...

on 14 March in a terrific 4–2 away win. He was a big hit with the fans in South Yorkshire and gained the nickname Stan.

2007–2008

Ferenczi started the first game of the season 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 ...

and was tugged and pulled all over the place by

Elliott Ward Elliott Leslie Ward (born 19 January 1985) is a retired English professional footballer who played as a defender. He played in the Premier League for West Ham United and Norwich City. Playing career West Ham United Ward was born in Harrow, ...

but had no favours given to him by the

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

. Three days later in the Carling Cup he got off the mark for the season after coming off the bench by heading home Rob Kozluk's cross. He got off the mark in the League on 25 August in Barnsley's home game with Plymouth when he swept home Kayode Odejayi's low cross. He suffered an ankle injury against Cardiff at Oakwell and missed five weeks, but he returned with a bang with new strike partner

Jon Macken Jonathan Paul Macken (born 7 September 1977) is a football manager and former professional player who played as a striker. He is currently manager of Witton Albion. He began his career with Premier League side Manchester United in 1995 but was ...

and scored two goals in as many games against

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

and

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 ...

, both headers from Brian Howard free kicks. He also played in the memorable victories over Premier League sides Liverpool and Chelsea in the

2007–08 FA Cup The 2007–08 FA Cup (known as The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON for sponsorship reasons) was the 127th season of the world's oldest football knockout competition, the FA Cup. A record 731 clubs' entries were accepted for the competition. The competi ...

. In May 2008, Simon Davey transfer-listed Ferenczi (despite his desire to stay) along with four other players. Following initial interest from Nottingham Forest and an unnamed Swedish club, he signed a two-year contract for Ferencváros on 24 July 2008. Ferencváros are one of the highest rated clubs in Hungary and Stan wanted to play for them eventually.

2008–2009

Ferenczi had a remarkable return to his homeland, bagging 13 goals in the first seven games. As of 1 June 2009, he scored 39 goals in only 24 league matches.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Hungary's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ferenczi goal.''

Honours

Levski Sofia *

Bulgarian A PFG The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...

: 2001–02 Debreceni VSC * Nemzeti Bajnokság I: 2005–06 *

Szuperkupa The Hungarian Super Cup is an annual association football match between the League (Nemzeti Bajnokság I) champions and the Cup (Magyar Kupa) winners. Winners (*) due to violent incidents during the recent 1997–98 Magyar Kupa Final between ...

: 2006 Ferencváros *

(Eastern Group): 2008–09 Individual *

top scorer: 2008–09 with 39 goals

References

External links

*
Ferencváros profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferenczi, Istvan 1977 births Living people Footballers from Győr Hungarian men's footballers Hungary men's youth international footballers Hungary men's under-21 international footballers Hungary men's international footballers Győri ETO FC players Zalaegerszegi TE players MTK Budapest FC players PFC Levski Sofia players VfL Osnabrück players Vasas SC players Çaykur Rizespor footballers Debreceni VSC players Barnsley F.C. players Ferencvárosi TC footballers Pápai FC footballers Gyirmót FC Győr players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players 2. Bundesliga players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Hungarian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in England Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in England Men's association football forwards Nemzeti Bajnokság II players Vasas SC managers Hungarian football managers