György Bognár (born 5 November 1961) is a Hungarian professional

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

, who is currently the manager of

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 ...

club

Paks Paks is a small town in Tolna (county), Tolna county, in the south of Hungary, on the right bank of the Danube River, 100 km south of Budapest. Paks as a former agricultural settlement is now the home of the only Hungarian Paks Nuclear Pow ...

. He is considered as one of the most successful active football managers having won the

Magyar Kupa The Hungarian Cup (, ), officially known as MOL Magyar Kupa for sponsorship reasons, is the Hungarian cup competition for football clubs. It was started by the Hungarian Football Association'','' in 1909, eight years after the commencement of ...

in two consecutive years with Paks beating

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

International career

He made his debut for the Hungary national team in 1985, and got 50 caps and 8 goals until 1994. He was a participant at the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

in Mexico, where Hungary failed to progress from the group stage.

Managerial career

MTK Budapest

On 16 May 2022, he was appointed as the sports director of

MTK Budapest FC Magyar Testgyakorlók Köre Budapest Futball Club or shortly MTK is a professional Association football, football club based in Józsefváros, Budapest, Hungary. The club currently plays in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I. The club's colours are blue ...

. On 23 October 2022, he was sacked.

Paks

On 14 February 2023, Bognár returned to

. On 10 April 2024, he renewed his contract with Paks. On 15 May 2024, he won the 2024 Magyar Kupa Final with Paks by beating

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 ...

2–0 at the

Puskás Aréna Puskás Aréna () is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium in the Zugló, 14th district (Zugló) of Budapest, Hungary. The stadium's construction started in 2017 and was finished before the end of 2019. It is an all-seater with a capacity o ...

. In an interview, published in Nemzeti Sport, he said that the main aim of Paks would be to avoid relegation even if the club were really successful in the 2023-24 season. In the 2023–24 Nemzeti Bajnokság I season Paks were competing with Ferencváros for the title, however, in the last couple of matches Paks could not keep up with the financially more stable Budapest-based club and, finally, Paks finished second. On 7 May 2025, he renewed his contract with Paks. On 14 May 2025, he won the 2025 Magyar Kupa final with Paksi FC after beating

4–3 on penalty shoot-out. Before the match, Bognár said that the president of Ferencváros is a clown at a press conference. After the victory at the 2025 Magyar Kupa final, Bognár said that for the Hungarian football it is better if Ferencváros wins the

Personal life

He is the father of István Bognár. In 2021 he and his son were transported to hospital due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. He was married to Rita Tamás. In 2016, his ex-wife stood by him when Bognár received very negative comments on his behaviour in the Hungarian media.

Controversies

Duting his spell in Sopron, he was reported to take out 10 million Hungarian Forints from the club's account and he spent the amount in casionos, hence his nickname ' kaszinós Gyuri' (in English: Casino Gyuri). However, no legal case was taken and his visits to local gambling services remains an urban legend. In 2019, he said, as the manager of Budaörsi SC, that "it is a mistake to downgrade a second division match centrally" (in Hungarian: "egy felnőtt férfi NB II-es mérkőzést hiba központilag lebutítani"). He made a clear reference to the gender of the referee, Katalin Kulcsár. During the

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

, he was an expert on television. However, his insensitive comment caused outrage among tv spectators when Danish

Christian Eriksen Christian Dannemann Eriksen (; born 14 February 1992) is a Danish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Manchester United F.C., Manchester United and the Denmark national football team, ...

collapsed in a match against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. Shortly after the incident, he was banned from tv broadcasts. A couple of days later, he apologized for his comments.

Honours

Individual *

Head coach of the Month: September 2023

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bognar, Gyorgy 1961 births Living people Sportspeople from Baja, Hungary Footballers from Bács-Kiskun County Hungarian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Hungary men's international footballers 1986 FIFA World Cup players MTK Budapest FC players Hungarian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France SC Toulon players Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Standard Liège players Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Budapesti VSC footballers Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Belgian Pro League players Ligue 1 players Hungarian football managers Budapest Honvéd FC managers Budapesti VSC managers MTK Budapest FC managers FC Sopron managers Felcsút SE managers Paksi FC managers Budaörsi SC managers Nemzeti Bajnokság I managers 20th-century Hungarian sportsmen