Gyula Lóránt (born Gyula Lipovics, 6 February 1923 – 31 May 1981) 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 ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

of Croatian descent. He played as a defender and

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for, among others, UTA Arad,

Vasas SC Vasas SC () is a Hungarian sports club based in Budapest. Members of the ''Hungarian Union of Iron Workers'' founded the club as ''Vas- és Fémmunkások Sport Clubja'', the "Sport Club of Iron and Metal Workers", on 16 March 1911. The club ...

, Honvéd and

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 ...

. During the 1950s, he was a prominent member of the legendary Hungarian national team known as the ''Mighty Magyars'', which also included

Ferenc Puskás Ferenc Puskás (, ; né Purczeld; 1 April 1927 – 17 November 2006) was a Hungarian footballer and manager, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and the sport's first international superstar. A forward and an attacking ...

Zoltán Czibor Zoltán Czibor (23 August 1929 – 1 September 1997) was a Hungarian footballer who played for several Hungarian clubs, including Ferencváros and Budapest Honvéd, and the Hungary national team before joining CF Barcelona. Czibor played as ...

Sándor Kocsis Sándor Péter Kocsis (; ; 21 September 1929 – 22 July 1979) was a Hungarian Association football, footballer who played for Ferencvárosi TC, Budapest Honvéd FC, Budapest Honvéd, SC Young Fellows Juventus, Young Fellows Zürich, FC Barcelo ...

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 ...

and

Nándor Hidegkuti Nándor Hidegkuti (3 March 1922 – 14 February 2002) was a Hungarian football player and manager. He played as a forward or attacking midfielder and spent the majority of his playing career at MTK Hungária FC. During the 1950s he was also a ...

. After retiring as a player, Lóránt became a coach, most notably with Honvéd,

FC Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional association foo ...

and PAOK Thessaloniki FC. While at PAOK, he guided them to a

Greek Championship The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repl ...

title in 1976. On 31 May 1981, while still working as coach, he suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

, watching PAOK play

Olympiacos CFP Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in Association ...

and died at the game, aged 58.

Early life

The son of a policeman, who fought as a volunteer in

World War II 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 ...

on the German side, Lóránt turned professional footballer at the age of 16; in parallel, he then also studied

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

at university in the 1950s. Gyula Lóránt began his career as a youth with his hometown club, Kõszeg SE, after encouragement from a local trainer. He then played for Nagyváradi AC and UT Arad in Romania. It was while at

, where his teammates included

Ladislao Kubala Ladislao is a given name, a Hispanic variant of Vladislav. Notable people with the name include: * Ladislao Cabrera, Bolivian hero during the War of the Pacific * Ladislao Diwa, Filipino patriot * Ladislao Martínez, Puerto Rico musician * Lás ...

, that his career prospered. However, in January 1949, as 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 ...

, Kubala fled the country in the back of a truck and formed his own team ''Hungaria'' to play exhibition friendlies. The team was made up of fellow refugees fleeing Eastern Europe. Lóránt also attempted to escape and follow Kubala, but was captured and ended up in a detention camp.

Hungarian international

Lóránt was released from detention after the intervention of

Gusztáv Sebes Gusztáv Sebes (born Gusztáv Scharenpeck; 22 January 1906 – 30 January 1986) was a Hungarian footballer, who played as a midfielder, and became a well-known coach later. With the title of Deputy Minister of Sport, he coached the Hungari ...

, the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

coach, who regarded him as pivotal to his plans. Lóránt then made his debut for

on 19 October 1949 in an away game against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. Sebes personally guaranteed the country's Interior Minister and future Prime Minister,

János Kádár János József Kádár (; ; né Czermanik; 26 May 1912 – 6 July 1989) was a Hungarian Communist leader and the General Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, a position he held for 32 years. Declining health led to his retireme ...

, that Lóránt would not abscond while in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. Kádár agreed and Lóránt responded with a superb performance as Hungary won 4–3. He subsequently joined Honvéd where together with six of his fellow internationals, he helped the team win three

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. As one of the legendary ''Mighty Magyars'', he helped

become Olympic Champions in 1952, Central European Champions in 1953, defeat

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

twice and reach the 1954 World Cup final.

Death

Lóránt died on 31 May 1981, while working as a trainer of PAOK, during a game against Olympiacos CFP. He suffered a heart attack in the 16th minute of the match after PAOK's Giorgos Koudas headed a cross into the side of the net from close range. He was tried to be resuscitated on the spot and then moved to the club doctor's room but died before the ambulance arrived. PAOK players were told in the break that he had to be transported to the hospital and his death was revealed only after the game. PAOK eventually won the match 1–0 with the goal of the substitute Vassilis Vasilakos who sat next to Lóránt on the bench when he collapsed. The autopsy revealed that he had at least two more previous heart attacks, the second one at longest one week before his death. Lóránt was buried in Endingen, Germany, but in 2011 at the request of his widow, his ashes were transported to Hungary and reburied in his birth town, Kőszeg.

Honours

Player

Hungary * Olympic Champions: 1952 * Central European Champions: 1953 *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

runner-up: 1954 Nagyváradi AC * Hungarian Champions: 1944 UTA Arad * Romanian Champions: 1947 Honvéd * Hungarian Champions: 1952, 1954, 1955

Manager

PAOK Thessaloniki FC * Greek Champions: 1976

References

External links

Bio at www.uefa.com

Hungary Stats

Gyula Lóránt
Greek *

Sources

* ''Behind The Curtain – Travels in Eastern European Football'': Jonathan Wilson (2006

Gyula Lóránt at eintracht-archiv.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lorant, Gyula 1923 births 1981 deaths 20th-century Hungarian sportsmen Hungarian men's footballers Hungary men's international footballers Hungarian football managers Hungarian people of Croatian descent Footballers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Hungary Olympic gold medalists for Hungary 1954 FIFA World Cup players Club Atletic Oradea players Vasas SC players Budapest Honvéd FC players FC UTA Arad players Budapest Honvéd FC managers Debreceni VSC managers 1. FC Kaiserslautern managers Eintracht Frankfurt managers PAOK FC managers FC Schalke 04 managers FC Bayern Munich managers Expatriate football managers in West Germany Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in West Germany Expatriate football managers in Greece Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Liga I players 1. FC Köln managers MSV Duisburg managers Bundesliga managers People from Kőszeg Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Freiburger FC managers Footballers from Vas County