János Biri (21 July 1901 – 29 March 1983) was a Hungarian

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 ...

and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. Biri played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for a number of clubs, most notably

Padova Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

and

MTK Budapest FC Magyar Testgyakorlók Köre Budapest Futball Club or shortly MTK is a Hungarian football club based in Józsefváros, Budapest. The team currently plays in the Nemzeti Bajnokság II. The club's colours are blue and white. As one of the most suc ...

, also representing

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

in the 1924 Summer Olympics. He is best known for his coaching career in Portugal which spanned more than three decades.

Career

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 ...

, Biri career in football started in a hometown club, Kispest AC at the age of 19. His performances earned him a place in the

squad for the 1924 Summer Olympics. In 1925, he moved to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, representing

in the early days of what was to known as

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

. After two seasons in Italy, he returned to

, passing through several teams, without much success, having short spells in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, retiring in 1936, at age 35. Shortly after, Biri started coaching

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 ...

, winning Campeonato de Porto and coming runner-up in Primeira Liga in his only season there. After a brief spell with Académico Porto, he was then hired by Benfica's President, Augusto da Fonseca Jr. In the eight seasons he spent there, he successfully challenged Sporting dominance, claiming 3 Primeira Liga titles and 3

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 sea ...

. He held the record for most games managed and won, for over 75 years, until

Jorge Jesus Jorge Fernando Pinheiro de Jesus (; born 24 July 1954) is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe. He started his career with Sporting CP, going on to play for 1 ...

surpassed him in 2014. However, he still has the highest winning percentage of any other coach with at least 100 games and the second longest reign with 8 years, after

Cosme Damião Cosme Damião (2 November 1885 – 12 June 1947) was a Portuguese football player-coach for S.L. Benfica. He is remembered as the main force behind the birth of Benfica and one of the first great Portuguese football players. Benfica's yearly aw ...

. After Benfica, János managed eleven other teams, retiring as coach in 1966, after more than 30 years in managerial roles.

Managerial Record

Honours

;Porto *Campeonato do

: 1935–36 ;Benfica * Primeira Liga: 1941–42, 1942–43, 1944–45 *

: 1939–40, 1942–43, 1943–44 *

Campeonato de Lisboa The Campeonato de Lisboa (English: Championship of Lisbon) was a regional football league in Portugal, situated at the third level of the Portuguese football league system. The division started in 1906, even before Lisbon Football Association was c ...

: 1939–40

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Biri, Janos 1901 births 1983 deaths Association football goalkeepers Hungarian footballers Budapest Honvéd FC players Calcio Padova players MTK Budapest FC players Amiens SC players Boavista F.C. players Hungarian football managers Expatriate football managers in Portugal FC Porto managers S.L. Benfica managers G.D. Estoril Praia managers Vitória S.C. managers Vitória F.C. managers S.C. Lusitânia managers Associação Académica de Coimbra – O.A.F. managers Hungary international footballers Footballers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Hungary Footballers from Budapest