Norbert Sándor Balogh (born 21 February 1996) is 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 ...

who plays 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 ...

for DAC Dunajská Streda and the Hungarian national team.

Club career

Balogh grew up in very poor circumstances in

Hajdúböszörmény Hajdúböszörmény is a town in northeastern Hungary with a population of approximately 30,000 people. History It is also known as a famous college town with an excellent academic atmosphere, as it is home to one of the faculties of the world's ...

Hajdú County Hajdú, formerly known as Hajdúság, was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. The capital of the county was Debrecen. The territory of the county is now part of the Hungarian county Hajdú-Bihar. Geography Hajdú coun ...

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 ...

. His parents did not earn enough money, therefore he often starved. Balogh's parents could not afford to buy new shoes for him, therefore he was often mocked at school. In an interview with

Nemzeti Sport ''Nemzeti Sport'' (the title means "National Sport") is a Hungarian sports daily. History and profile ''Nemzeti Sport'' was founded in 1903. The paper is owned by Ringier of Switzerland. It is frequently cited by quality English-language media The ...

, Balogh said that he did not mind that he was brought up in poor circumstances because as an adult he can appreciate the success more. But he never forgets where he comes from. He is still in touch with his old friends from his birthplace. He remembers during the summers he played football with his friends even if they did not have food. He started playing football in the football club of

and he was spotted during an exhibition match by László Arany, who invited him to go to the academy of Debreceni VSC. When he was 17 he got a contract from Debrecen and he rented a flat there. He sent some of his earning to his parents who got divorced. When he was selected for the first squad of the club his father had to go to prison which hurt Balogh. His father is an important person in his life because he taught him a lot and persuaded him to become a footballer.

Debrecen

Early career

On 1 August 2014, Balogh debuted in the

2014–15 Nemzeti Bajnokság I The 2014–15 Nemzeti Bajnokság I, also known as NB I, was the 113th season of top-tier football in Hungary. The league is officially named ''OTP Bank Liga'' for sponsorship reasons. The season began 26 July 2014 and concluded on 1 June 2015. Deb ...

season against

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 ...

in a 1–0 defeat at the

Bozsik József Stadion The Bozsik József Stadion was a multi-use UEFA category 4 stadium in Budapest, Hungary. The old stadium was demolished completely in 2019. It was used for football matches and was the home stadium of Budapest Honvéd FC. The stadium had a capaci ...

. On 17 May 2015, he scored his first and second goal for Debrecen in the

season in a 4–0 victory against Lombard-Pápa TFC. In the 2015–16 Nemzeti Bajnokság I season, Balogh finished on the top in many statistics. He engaged in most battles (605) among which he won 250 (overtook only by Suljic). On 26 December 2015, Balogh was invited to see the 2015-16 Premier League match between

Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football ...

and

Watford F.C. Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. They play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club’s original foundation is 1881, aligned with that of its antecede ...

On 9 January 2016, Ajax Amsterdam offered Debreceni VSC 1.5 million € to purchase Balogh.

Palermo

On 13 January 2016, Balogh was signed by

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 Coppa ...

club

U.S. Città di Palermo Palermo Football Club, more simply known as Palermo F.C. or Palermo (; scn, Paliemmu, link=no, ), is an Italian football club based in the Sicilian city of Palermo, conventionally founded for the first time on 1 November 1900. Among the club� ...

. The transfer fee was €2,200,000.

APOEL FC

On 21 August 2018, he was loaned to the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

club

APOEL APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...

. On 3 December 2018, he played his first match in the

2018–19 Cypriot First Division The 2018–19 Cypriot First Division was the 80th season of the Cypriot top-level football league. Teams Promotion and relegation (pre-season) Aris Limassol and Ethnikos Achna were relegated at the end of the first-phase of the 2017–18 seaso ...

in a 5–1 victory against Apollon Limassol at the

GSP Stadium Gymnastic Club "The Pancyprians" Stadium (GSP Stadium) ( el, Στάδιο Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος "Τα Παγκύπρια") is a football stadium in Strovolos, Nicosia District, Cyprus. Although small by international standar ...

Nicosia Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...

. He entered the pitch in 67th minute as a substitute for Léo Natel. On 19 December 2018, Balogh scored his first goal against

Ayia Napa FC Athlitikos Omilos Ayia Napa ( el, Αθλητικός Όμιλος Αγία Νάπα, Athletic Club Ayia Napa) is a Cypriot football club from the town of Ayia Napa. The club was founded in 1990 after the merger of two clubs: APEAN (''Athlitiki P ...

in the first round of the 2018–19 Cypriot Cup in the

. On 20 February 2019, he scored twice against

Doxa Katokopias FC Doxa Katokopias FC ( el, Δόξα Κατωκοπιάς) is a Cypriot football team from Katokopia in the Nicosia District. Since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, Katokopia is under Turkish occupation, and the club moved to Peristerona, w ...

in a

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup () is the main cup competition in Cypriot football, run by the Cyprus Football Association (CFA). It began in 1934, the same season with the Cypriot Championship. It is the second most important competition for Cypriot club team ...

match. On 24 February 2019 he scored his first goal in the

away to

AEL Limassol Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou ( el, Αθλητική Ένωση Λεμεσού, translation=Athletic Union of Limassol) commonly known as AEL, is a Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team. AEL also maintai ...

. Following Palermo's exclusion from the Serie B, he was released together with all other players in July 2019, thus becoming a free agent.

Hull City

On 14 September 2019, after a week of training with the team, it was announced ahead of Hull City's home game against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

that Balogh had signed permanently with The Tigers, on a one-year deal, with an option for a further 12 months. He made his debut on 23 October 2019, in a 1–2 away win against

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 ...

when he came on as a substitute for Jon Toral. On 29 May 2020, he left the club by mutual consent.

International career

Balogh was a member of the Hungarian U-19 squad at the 2014 UEFA European Under-19 Championship.
Uefa euro u19 squad (Hungarian)

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

APOEL *

: 2018–19 Cypriot First Division, 2018–19

References

External links

MLSZ
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balogh, Norbert 1996 births Sportspeople from Hajdú-Bihar County Living people Hungarian footballers Hungary youth international footballers Hungary under-21 international footballers Hungarian expatriate footballers Association football forwards Debreceni VSC players Létavértes SC players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Palermo F.C. players APOEL FC players Serie A players English Football League players Hull City A.F.C. players Budapest Honvéd FC players FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda players Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Expatriate footballers in Slovakia Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in England Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia Hungary international footballers