Pál Dárdai (9 May 1951 – 8 December 2017) was a Hungarian
football player and manager.
Playing career
After playing with Véménd as a youngster, he began his senior career playing as midfielder with Honvéd Steinmetz. In 1972, he moved to Komlói Bányász where he spent two seasons before joining
Pécsi MFC
Pécsi Mecsek Football Club, commonly referred to as Pécsi MFC or simply PMFC, is a professional Hungarian football club based in Pécs, Baranya, that currently competes in the Hungarian second division. The club was established on 16 Februar ...
in 1974, playing in the
Hungarian Championship. He played with Pécsi for more than a decade, making 284 league appearances and scoring 67 goals. He left Hungary at winter-break with a strong reputation and joined
FK Vojvodina
Fudbalski klub Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Војводина), commonly known as Vojvodina and colloquially as Voša ( sr-Cyrl, Воша), is a Serbian professional football club based in Novi Sad, Vojvodina, the second l ...
in the
Yugoslav First League
The Yugoslav First Federal Football League ( Serbian: Прва савезна лига у фудбалу / ''Prva savezna liga u fudbalu'', hr, Prva savezna liga u nogometu, sl, Prva zvezna nogometna liga, mk, Прва сојузна лига, ...
in the
1985–86 season, where he played along with his compatriot
János Borsó. In 1988-89, he had spells with Pécsi MFC and Beremendi Építők before retiring.
Coaching career
Pál Dárdai, after finishing his playing career, became a coach. He managed a number of Hungarian clubs.
Personal life
He was the father of the former
Hungarian international
The Hungarian International in badminton is an international open held in Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to th ...
footballer and later coach
Pál Dárdai
Pál Dárdai (born 16 March 1976) is a Hungarian retired footballer who played mainly as a defensive midfielder, and last coached Hertha BSC.
In a 20-year professional career, he played for over a decade with the same club, Hertha BSC, in Ger ...
, and the grandfather of
Palkó Dárdai and
Márton Dárdai.
On 20 July 2002, Dardai's other son, Balázs Dárdai, midfielder of
FC Barcs, died aged 23 during a tournament on Saturday after an artery burst when he jumped for a ball. Pál Dárdai was watching the game as the coach of
FC Barcs when it happened.
On 8 December 2017, Pál Dárdai’s death was announced.
Gyász: elhunyt idősebb Dárdai Pál
References
External sources
Stats from Hungarian Championship
at nela.hu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dardai, Pal
1951 births
2017 deaths
Hungarian footballers
Association football midfielders
Komlói Bányász SK footballers
Pécsi MFC players
FK Vojvodina players
Yugoslav First League players
Hungarian football managers
Pécsi MFC managers
Hungarian expatriate footballers
Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Yugoslavia
Expatriate footballers in Yugoslavia
Sportspeople from Baranya County