Ferenc Deák (footballer)
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Ferenc Deák (16 January 1922 – 18 April 1998) 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 lea ...
who played as a striker for clubs such as Szentlőrinci AC,
Ferencváros Ferencváros (, ) is the 9th district of Budapest (), Hungary. Name The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary. History The developmen ...
and Budapesti Dózsa, and who played internationally for
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much 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 south, Croatia and ...
, scoring 29 goals in just 20 caps. His nickname was Bamba. With over 795 goals in official matches scored during his career, the bulk of which came during World War II, Deák is the seventh top goalscorer of all time. Including friendly and unofficial matches, he is also the seventh top goalscorer of all time with over 1375 goals in just 839 matches.


Early life

He was born on 16 January 1922 in Ferencváros, Budapest. Deák, who also worked in his family's bakery, began his career as a goalkeeper at the age of thirteen, but his parents banned him from football when a shot hit him in the head and he lost consciousness. However, outside the field, his talent to strike a ball skilfully, powerfully and accurately was quickly noticed by a coach who was searching for talent, and that coach subsequently managed to convince his parents that the boy could continue playing, but they made a condition: he could no longer stand in between the posts.


Club career

Deák continued his footballing career now as a striker, and he got off to a very good start as he scored six goals in his senior debut in 1940 in his place of residence, Pestszentlőrinc, playing for one of the local teams, Szentlőrinci AC, in the third division, and he was pivotal in helping the club to reach the top-flight in 1944. He then topped the European top scoring list three times, in the 1945–46 (66), 1946–47 (48) and 1948–49 (59) seasons. His best season was the 1945–46 league season, when he scored 66 goals in 34 matches, and because of it, he was voted the Hungarian Player of the Year. He still holds the record for the most goals scored in a single European league season with 66 (endorsed by the IFFHS). In absolute terms, only American Archibald Stark did better with 67 goals in the 1924–25 season, but he needed 44 matches to reach that figure. Because of these impressive numbers, Deák was eventually signed by
Ferencváros Ferencváros (, ) is the 9th district of Budapest (), Hungary. Name The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary. History The developmen ...
in 1947, and he played for them as a center-forward for three years, from 1947 to 1950, winning the Hungarian championship at the end of the 1948–49 season. In this league season, the attackers of the team celebrated the half-century anniversary of the club's formation (Ferencváros was founded in 1899) with 140 goals in just 30 matches, of which Deák himself contributed with 59 hits. He scored 155 goals in 111 matches (121 in 83 matches in the league only) over three years in green and white. Deák got the nickname "Bamba" from the fans because, as he later recalled in a report, After three years (1947–50) at Ferencváros, he then moved to rival's
Újpest Újpest (; , ) is the 4th District in Budapest, Hungary. It is located on the left bank of the Danube River. The name Újpest means "New Pest" because the city was formed on the border of the city of Pest, Hungary in 1838. Újpest was a village ...
(politics played a role in the move), and during his four years with the purple-whites, he did not stop scoring there either, scoring 53 goals in 77 matches. He spent the last years of his playing career at Spartacus Budapest, VM Egyetértés and
Siófok Siófok (; ; ) is a town in Somogy County, Hungary on the southern bank of Lake Balaton. It is the Somogy County#Municipalities, second largest municipality in Somogy County and the seat of Siófok District. It covers an area of about between Lak ...
. The "goalkeeper" Deák has a total of 303 league goals, winning three Hungarian League titles, and in 1997 he was awarded the title of goal king of the century in Munich. In 1999 (posthumously) he received the Hungarian Heritage Award and became an honorary citizen of Pestszentimre-Pestszentlőrinc. Ferenc Deák is remembered for the goblet, which is handed over to the top scorer of the top championship every year, and a wandering cup has also been named after him. In 2007 he took his name in an XVIII. district primary and sports school youth football base. His legacy has been preserved by the Puskás Academy since 2015. His life novel was published in 1992 as The Bamba, with the subtitle The Greatest Goal King of All Time.


International career

Deák Bamba was also excellent in the national team, playing in 20 matches for the Hungary national team from 1946 to 1949, scoring 29 goals, thus having a ratio of 1.45, which is a world record, being just ahead of
Just Fontaine Just Louis Fontaine (18 August 193328 February 2023) was a French professional footballer who played as a striker. He scored the most goals ever in a single edition of the FIFA World Cup, with thirteen in six matches in the 1958 tournament. In ...
, who scored 30 goals in 21 matches for
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
for a ratio of 1.43. He scored 3 hat-tricks for Hungary, including a poker against Bulgaria in the 1947 Balkan Cup, where the Hungarian team beat the Bulgarians 9-0. This 4-goal haul helped him to be the top goal scorer of the 1947 Balkan Cup with 5 goals as Hungary won the tournament in its first attempt. With 9 goals in the Balkan Cup, he is among the all-time top goal scorers in the competition's history. Then, in 1949, the newly appointed coach, Gusztáv Sebes, judged the excellent center to be politically unreliable (the same politic issues that forced him to leave Ferencváros in 1950), so he expelled him from the team and replaced him with Hidegkuti. Bamba was very worn out, as he missed Hungary's Olympic victory at the
1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...
, the match of the century in 1953, the 1954 World Cup which Hungary nearly won and all the successes that made the Hungarian national team the best team in the world for many years.


International goals

:''Hungary score listed first, score column indicates score after each Deák goal.''


Honours


Club

;
Ferencváros Ferencváros (, ) is the 9th district of Budapest (), Hungary. Name The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary. History The developmen ...
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 ...
: *Champions (1): 1948-49 season


International

;Hungary Balkan Cup: *Champions (1):
1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...


Individual

* Hungarian Football Federation Player of the Year: 1946 * Seasonwise World Top Scorer (3): 1945-46, 1946–47, 1948-49Seasonwise World Top Scorer
. rsssf.org
* Hungarian League Top Scorer (3): 1945-46, 1946-47 and 1948-49 * Top goalscorer of the 1947 Balkan Cup with 5 goals.


Notes


See also

*
List of men's footballers with 500 or more goals In top-level association football competitions, 25 players have scored 500 or more goals in both Lists of association football clubs, club and List of men's national association football teams, international football, according to research by ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Deak, Ferenc 1922 births 1998 deaths Hungarian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Hungary men's international footballers Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Ferencvárosi TC footballers Újpest FC players BFC Siófok players Burials at Farkasréti Cemetery Footballers from Budapest Vörös Meteor Egyetértés SK players 20th-century Hungarian sportsmen