Ferenc Puskás Sr. (born Ferenc Purczeld; 11 May 1903 – 12 June 1952), was a Hungarian

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 manager. He was the father of the legendary Ferenc Puskás Jr., who is commonly referred to as Ferenc Puskás.

Career

During the 1930s, as ''Ferenc Purczeld'', he played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

with Kispest A.C. Among his teammates at that club were Rezső Rozgonyi and

Rezső Somlai Rezső Somlai-Stolzparth (1911 – 1983) was a Hungarian footballer, who was in Hungary squad at the 1934 FIFA World Cup. He played as a midfielder for Ferencvárosi TC, OGC Nice, Kispesti FC, Olympique Alès, Red Star and Ujvideki AC. He ...

, who both represented

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 ...

at the

1934 World Cup The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the 2nd edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934. The 1934 World Cup was the first in whi ...

. In 1937 he changed his family name to ''Puskás''. After retiring as a player he became a coach at Kispest AC, where he was an early mentor to both his son, Ferenc Jr. and

József Bozsik József Bozsik (; 28 November 1925 – 31 May 1978) was a Hungarian footballer who played as a central midfielder. He spent his entire club career at his hometown club, Budapest Honvéd. Bozsik was a key member of the legendary Golden Team ...

. He initially registered his son as a youth player using the pseudonym ''Kovács Miklós'' to help get around the minimum age rules. In the 1940s, Puskás became the senior coach at Kispest AC. During two spells at the club, he managed the senior team in over 200 games. After his first period ended in 1947, he was replaced by

Béla Guttmann Béla Guttmann (; 27 January 1899 – 28 August 1981) was a Hungarian footballer and coach. He was born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary, and was Jewish. He was deported by the Nazis to a Nazi slave labor camp where he was tortured; he survived the ...

. However Guttman fell out with Ferenc Jr. and walked out, allowing Ferenc Sr. to return. During his second tenure, Hungary became a

communist state A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

, and Kispest were then taken over by the Hungarian Ministry of Defence and became the

Hungarian Army The Hungarian Ground Forces (, ) constitute the land branch of the Hungarian Defence Forces, responsible for ground activities and troops, including artillery, tanks, Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs), and g ...

team. The club was renamed ''Budapest Honvéd SE'' and Puskás guided the squad – which included Ferenc Jr. and Bozsik – to their first two

Hungarian League Hungarian may refer to: * Hungary, a country in Central Europe * Kingdom of Hungary, state of Hungary, existing between 1000 and 1946 * Hungarians/Magyars, ethnic groups in Hungary * Hungarian algorithm, a polynomial time algorithm for solving the ...

titles.

Honours

Honvéd * Hungarian Champions (2): 1949–50, 1950

References

Ferenc Puskás II obituary

Danube-Swabian people Hungarian men's footballers Hungarian football managers Budapest Honvéd FC players Budapest Honvéd FC managers 1952 deaths 1903 births Men's association football defenders Nemzeti Bajnokság I managers Footballers from Budapest 20th-century Hungarian sportsmen {{Hungary-footy-defender-stub

Career

Honours

See also

References