Ștefan Kovács (; ; 2 October 1920 – 12 May 1995) was a Romanian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and coach. Having won two

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

titles, he is one of the most successful

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

coaches in the history of the game. Various football magazines listed him on their list of best football coaches as in 2013 '' World Soccer'' put him on the 36th place, ''

France Football ''France Football'' is a French monthly magazine containing football news from all over the world. It is considered to be one of the most reputable sports publications in Europe, mostly because of its photographic reports, in-depth and exclus ...

'' ranked him at 43 in 2019, while ''

FourFourTwo ''FourFourTwo'' is an association football magazine published by British company Future. Issued monthly, it published its 300th edition in May 2019. It takes its name from the football formation of the same name, 4–4–2. Future acquired the ...

'' in 2023 placed him on the 62nd place.

Playing career

Ștefan Kovács was born into an ethnic Hungarian family on 2 October 1920 in

Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. He started to play football in 1931, aged 11 at local club, CA Timișoara. Three years later he went to play for CA Oradea where he was teammate with his brother,

Nicolae Kovács Nicolae Kovács (, 29 December 1911 – 7 July 1977) was a Romanian-Hungarian football player and coach. He was a dual international football player and played both for Romania and Hungary. He played in 116 matches and scored 43 goals for Clu ...

. Starting from 1938 until 1941, he had his only spell abroad, playing for Belgium's Olympique Charleroi. Afterwards he came back to his hometown at Ripensia but only for a short while as he went to CFR Turnu Severin. In 1942 he went to play in the

Nemzeti Bajnokság I The Nemzeti Bajnokság (, ), also known as NB I or Fizz Liga after its title sponsor, OTP Bank's webshop subsidiary, is a professional association football league in Hungary and the highest level of the Hungarian football league system. Twelve ...

for Kolozsvári AC, making 68 appearances with seven goals in the competition, then after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

when the northern part of

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

went back to Romania he played with the club which was renamed Ferar in

Divizia A Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

. In the 1947–48 season, Ferar merged with

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ) or simply CFR, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I. Founded as ''Kolozsvári Vasut ...

, Kovács playing for the new club, including in Divizia B where the club relegated at the end of the 1948–49 season. He came back to Divizia A football in 1951 when he went to play for Universitatea Cluj where he made his last appearance in the Romanian first league on 27 September 1953 in a 2–0 away loss in front of Locomotiva Timișoara, having a total of 108 appearances with 12 goals scored in the competition.

Managerial career

Universitatea Cluj

Ștefan Kovács started coaching in 1952 at Universitatea Cluj while also being an active player, helping the club finish the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

on the fifth place. He led the club once again in the 1954 season when "U" finished once again on the fifth place, leaving the club in the middle of the following season as he was replaced with Petre Rădulescu. Kovács came back at the club for a third time for the first half of the 1956 season, being replaced with Nicolae Munteanu for the second one, the team relegating to the second league at the end of it. His fourth and final spell at Universitatea took place in the 1957–58 Divizia B season in which the team finished on the first place, promoting back to the first league.

Dermata Cluj, CFR Cluj and Romania assistant

In 1959 he went for one year at Dermata Cluj in Divizia B, then for the following two seasons he worked at

in the same league. In 1962 he became the assistant of Silviu Ploeșteanu at Romania's national team, afterwards being the assistant of Ilie Oană, leaving together after a 7–1 loss on May 1967 in front of

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

at the Euro 1968 qualifiers.

Steaua București

Kovács had his first major coaching success at the helm of Steaua București, where between 1967 and 1970 he won the 1967–68 Divizia A title and two consecutive

Cupa României The Cupa României () is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. It is the Romania ...

trophies, both of them after 2–1 wins in the finals over

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

Dinamo București. He has a total of 194 matches as a manager in the Romanian top-division,

consisting of 83 victories, 50 draws and 61 losses.

Ajax

After this he succeeded

Rinus Michels Marinus Jacobus Hendricus "Rinus" Michels (; 9 February 1928 – 3 March 2005) was a Dutch Association football, football player and coach. He list of one-club men in association football, played his entire career for AFC Ajax, Ajax, which he ...

as the head of

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

in 1971, continuing and expanding on his "

total football Total Football () is a tactical system in association football in which any outfield player can take over the role of any other player in a team. A player who moves out of his position is replaced by another from his team, thus retaining the ...

" philosophy. At the beginning, the stars of the team were skeptical of him leading them,

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016), internationally known as Johan Cruyff (), was a Dutch professional Association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. Regarded as one of the greatest ...

at one point shot a ball towards the edge of the field where Kovács was talking to one of the assistants, intending to hit him but he saw the gesture with the corner of his eye, so he quickly turned around and made an impeccable stop, after which he returned the ball to Cruyff, saying:"Use the inside more when shooting". In his first season he won the league title, the

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

after a 3–2 win over FC Den Haag in the final and he won the

1971–72 European Cup The 1971–72 European Cup was the 17th season of the European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. The competition was won by Ajax, who beat Inter Milan in the final at De Kuip in Rotterdam, on 31 May 1972. It was the second consecutiv ...

, getting past

Dynamo Dresden Sportgemeinschaft Dynamo Dresden e.V., commonly known as SG Dynamo Dresden or Dynamo Dresden, is a German association football club based in Dresden, Saxony.Grüne, Hardy (2001). Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs 7. Vereinslexikon. Kasse ...

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and Benfica in the campaign, then defeating with 2–0

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, courtesy of a brace scored by Johan Cruyff. He started his second season by winning the Intercontinental Cup with a 4–1 aggregate win over Independiente, then he won the

European Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

after a 6–3 aggregate victory against Rangers, finishing the season by winning another championship title and once again the

, this time getting past in the campaign by CSKA Sofia, Bayern Munich and

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, winning the

with

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

after Johnny Rep scored the only goal of the match. At his last game as coach of the ''Sons of the Gods'', the players gave him a Ford Taunus as a gift because he always came to training riding a bicycle. During his spell at Ajax he was known for promoting a more relaxed environment in the team, Johann Cruyff saying:"Ștefan Kovács was a very pleasant coach, but much less strict than Michels when it came to discipline. Kovács let us be ourselves, he was one of us."

France

After he left Ajax in 1973, he was called up by the

French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF and 3F; or Triple F; , ) is the governing body of football in France. It was formed in 1919 and is based in the capital, Paris. The FFF is a founding member of FIFA and is responsible for overseeing all aspec ...

to take the reins of the national side. In this position he raised the young generations of French talents, giving the debut to 33 players, including Dominique Rocheteau, Bernard Lacombe and

Alain Giresse Alain Jean Giresse (; born 2 August 1952) is a French association football, football coach and former player who last managed Kosovo national football team, Kosovo. Giresse was French Player of the Year in 1982, 1983 and 1987. Nominally an Midfi ...

. His first game was a 3–1 home win in a friendly over

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. He led the team at the Euro 1976 qualifiers, failing to qualify as

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

finished on the first two positions. Kovács has a total of 15 games in charge of ''The Blues'' consisting of six games, four draws and five losses.

Michel Hidalgo Michel François Hidalgo (; 22 March 1933 – 26 March 2020) was a French professional footballer and manager. He was the head coach of the France national team from 1976 to 1984, with whom he won the UEFA Euro 1984 on home soil, also reaching ...

, his assistant and successor, took advantage of this work and continued to lead the team of France to its victory at Euro 1984.

Romania

In 1976, Kovács became head coach of

, making his debut on 12 May in a 1–0 loss in front of

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

at the 1973–76 Balkan Cup final. He led the team at the World Cup 1978 qualifiers, earning victories in the first two games against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

but lost the second leg with both of them, thus finishing the group on the second place, behind the Spaniards, failing to qualify at the final tournament. He then guided the national team in three games at the Euro 1980 qualifiers, being replaced in late 1979 by his assistant Constantin Cernăianu but remaining as the

technical director A technical director (TD) is usually a senior technical person within e.g. a software company, engineering firm, film studio, theatre company or television studio. They are responsible for overseeing and coordinating all of the technical aspect ...

of the squad. He returned to the national team in 1980, his last game for ''The Tricolours'' taking place on 27 August in a 4–1 win over Yugoslavia at the 1977–80 Balkan Cup final, having a total of 32 games from his both spells at Romania consisting of 11 victories, 8 draws and 13 losses. During these years he also worked as the vice-president of the

Romanian Football Federation The Romanian Football Federation (; FRF) is the governing body of football in Romania. They are headquartered in the capital city of Bucharest and affiliated with FIFA and UEFA since 1923 and 1955 respectively. The Federation organizes the men's ...

Panathinaikos and AS Monaco

In 1981 he worked for two seasons at Greek side Panathinaikos, bringing compatriot Doru Nicolae to the team, managing to win the 1981–82 Greek Cup after a 1–0 victory over AEL in the final. His last coaching experience took place in the 1986–87 French Division 1 season at

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the French Football Federation (FFF) and currently ...

, managing to finish on the fifth place.

Writing

He wrote one volume about football: *

Personal life

When talking abouth his ethnic origins, he said he is:"Romanian by mother, Hungarian by father, Jewish by grandparents and a little Serbian by great-grandparents". His older brother

was one of the few players who participated at all the first three World Cups. Ștefan Kovács was multilingual, speaking five languages: Romanian, Hungarian, English, French and German.

Death

Ștefan Kovács died on 12 May 1995 in

Cluj-Napoca Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

at age 74, twelve days before Ajax won their fourth European Cup.

Honours

Manager

Universitatea Cluj * Divizia B: 1957–58 Steaua București *

: 1967–68 *

: 1968–69, 1969–70 Ajax *

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

: 1971–72, 1972–73 *

: 1971–72 *

: 1971–72, 1972–73 *

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

* Intercontinental Cup:

Romania * Balkan Cup: 1977–80 Panathinaikos *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

: 1981–82 Individual *'' World Soccer'' 36th Greatest Manager of All Time: 2013 *''

'' 43rd Greatest Manager of All Time: 2019 *''

'' 62nd Greatest Manager of All Time: 2023

Notes

References

External links

French Football Federation Profile

Stefan Kovacs
at WeAreFootball
Ștefan Kovács
at Labtof * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kovacs, Stefan 1920 births 1995 deaths Romanian sportspeople of Hungarian descent Footballers from Timișoara Romanian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders CA Timișoara players Club Atletic Oradea players Olympic Charleroi players FC Ripensia Timișoara players CFR Cluj players FC Universitatea Cluj players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Liga I players Liga II players Liga III players Belgian Pro League players Romanian expatriate men's footballers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Romanian football managers FC Universitatea Cluj managers CFR Cluj managers FCSB managers AFC Ajax managers France national football team managers Romania national football team managers Panathinaikos F.C. managers AS Monaco FC managers Eredivisie managers Super League Greece managers Ligue 1 managers UEFA Champions League–winning managers Romanian expatriate football managers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Romanian expatriate sportspeople in France Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate football managers in the Netherlands Expatriate football managers in France Expatriate football managers in Monaco Expatriate football managers in Greece 20th-century Romanian sportsmen Romanian writers Romanian male writers 20th-century Romanian writers 20th-century Romanian male writers