Rudolph Nickolsburger (born 21 March 1899,

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 ...

; died

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, December 1969), also referred to as Nikolsburger Rezső and Rudy Nichols, was a Hungarian footballer who played for

Ferencvárosi TC Ferencvárosi Torna Club, known as Ferencváros (), Fradi, or simply FTC, is a professional football club based in Ferencváros, Budapest, Hungary, that competes in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I, the top flight of Hungarian football. Ferencváros wa ...

SC Hakoah Wien SC Hakoah Vienna (german: Sport Club Hakoah Wien; ' means "the strength" in Hebrew) is a Jewish sports club in Vienna, Austria. Prior to World War II, it produced several Olympic athletes and was notable for fielding an entirely Jewish associati ...

and

. He later emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

where he played for

New York Hakoah New York Hakoah is an American soccer club based in New York City, which takes its name from two earlier, defunct clubs. ''Hakoah'' (roughly translated as "strength" from Hebrew) is a frequent name for sport and social Jewish clubs around the worl ...

and

Hakoah All-Stars Hakoah All-Stars is a former United States soccer club, based in New York City, that played in the American Soccer League between 1930 and 1932. The club was formed after the merger of Brooklyn Hakoah of the ASL and New York Hakoah of the Eastern S ...

Club career

Nickolsburger played for

during the early 1920s before leaving

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 ...

in 1922 to join Makkabi Brno in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. This club consisted almost exclusively of Hungarian Jews. In the mid-1920s, Nickolsburger played in

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 re ...

. A ''Béla Nikolsbuger'' played as a centre forward for Forli during the 1925–26 season. This may be the same player. In March 1927 Nickolsburger moved to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and joined the all-

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

club

. Then in April and May 1927 he joined the club on their second tour of the

. He played in several games on the tour, scoring twice against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

. He then returned to Austria and started the 1927–28 season with SC Hakoah Wien. However, by 1928 he was back in the United States playing for

of the

Eastern Soccer League Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways * Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air ...

, a team made-up of former

players, including Béla Guttmann. In subsequently helped them win the

1929 National Challenge Cup Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

. After a merger with

Brooklyn Hakoah Brooklyn Hakoah is a former United States soccer team club based in Brooklyn, New York, that played in the American Soccer League. Brooklyn Hakoah I Originally formed by former players of SC Hakoah Wien, they played in the American Soccer Leagu ...

, they became the

and entered the American Soccer League in the fall of 1929. Between 1929 and 1931 Nickolsburger played 84 league games and scored 30 goals for the All-Stars in the American Soccer League. His last confirmed game was on 12 June 1932 against the Bohemian Americans.

Hungarian international

While with

, Nickolsburger also played twice for

. He made his international debut in 1920 against

. On 17 May 1925 he also played for a Hungary XI in a 4–1 win against a visiting

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

Later years

Nickolsburger spent his later years in and around

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

. His wife, Mary Tóth Nichols died in 1992. A son Leslie (Laszlo), who was born in

in 1927, died in February 2006. His surviving daughter, Norma Lee Nichols Mahdavi, resides in New York. Nickolsburger's grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren have settled in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

Honours

New York Hakoah *

National Challenge Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. O ...

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

: 1

References

External links

Nickolsburger at www.jewsinsports.orgNickolsburger at www.familysearch.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nickolsburger, Rudolph 1899 births 1969 deaths People from the Kingdom of Hungary Austro-Hungarian Jews Jewish Hungarian sportspeople Jewish footballers Hungarian footballers Hungarian expatriate footballers Hungary international footballers Ferencvárosi TC footballers SC Hakoah Wien footballers American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Hakoah All-Stars players Eastern Professional Soccer League (1928–29) players New York Hakoah players Association football forwards Expatriate soccer players in the United States Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate footballers in Czechoslovakia Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Czechoslovakia Hungarian emigrants to the United States