József Fitos (4 November 1959 – 23 December 2022) was a Hungarian 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 was a member of the Hungary national team. Fitos worked as an active football coach.

Club career

Fitos started playing football in 1971 for

Lenti Lenti ( sl, Lentiba) is a town in Zala County, Hungary, located near the border with Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. Gallery Image:Lenti1.jpg Image:Lenti2.jpg Image:Lenti3.jpg Image:Lenti4.jpg Image:Lenticivertanlegi1.jpg Image:Lenticivertanle ...

. In 1978 he transferred to

Zalaegerszegi TE Zalaegerszegi Torna Egylet Football Club (), commonly known as Zalaegerszegi TE, Zalaegerszeg or ZTE, is a football club from the city of Zalaegerszeg in Hungary. Zalaegerszeg has won one Hungarian League title in 2002. History ZTE traces its r ...

. From 1980 to 1985 he played for

Szombathelyi Haladás Szombathelyi Haladás (), is a Hungarian football club based in Szombathely. ''Haladás'' is the Hungarian word for ''progress''. The club, which was founded in 1919, plays its home games at Rohonci úti Stadion which has a capacity of 9,500 ( ...

. He then moved to Budepest Honvéd, the success team of the 1980s, where he won three champion titles with the team. In 1989 he signed to

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

and then for

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan- Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis'') ...

In 1990 he returned home and played for

Újpest Újpest (; german: Neu-Pest, en, New Pest) is the 4th District in Budapest, Hungary. It is located on the left bank of the Danube River. The name Újpest means "New Pest" because the city was formed on the border of the city of Pest, Hungary i ...

. He then played for Hargita FC, where he finished his active sports career.

International career

Between 1985 and 1989 Fitos played 12 times for the Hungary national team.

Coaching career

From 2002 Fitos was a coach at the Hungarian football teams Budapest Honvéd, FC Ózdi, LSE Széfi-Fi and ASR Gázgyár, and since 2017 he has been the football coach of Leányfalu SE.

Personal life and death

On 17 February 2017, the Budapest District Court sentenced him to one year and six months imprisonment on two counts of fraud. The execution of the sentence was suspended for three years. Fitos died on 23 December 2022, at the age of 63.

Honours

Budapest Honvéd *

Nemzeti Bajnokság I The Nemzeti Bajnokság (, "National Championship"), also known as NB I, is the top level of the Hungarian football league system. The league is officially named OTP Bank Liga after its title sponsor OTP Bank. UEFA currently ranks the league 28th ...

: 1985–86, 1987–88, 1988–89 *

Magyar Kupa 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 ...

finalist: 1988

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitos, Jozsef 1959 births 2022 deaths People from Lenti Hungarian footballers Association football midfielders Hungary international footballers Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Zalaegerszegi TE players Szombathelyi Haladás footballers Budapest Honvéd FC players Panathinaikos F.C. players Panionios F.C. players Újpest FC players Hungarian football managers Budapest Honvéd FC managers Hungarian expatriate footballers Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate footballers in Greece