Ignác Molnár (born 1 October 1901 – 9 March 1986), also spelled Ignáce Molnár, 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

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 ...

. A journeyman manager, Molnár managed teams in the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Turkey, Israel and Austria. Molnár is best known for his three stints with Fenerbahçe, especially the 1967–1968 season wherein he helped the team win 5 trophies.

Managerial career

Molnár had a brief career as a footballer, playing in Hungary and Italy. Molnár begun his managerial career with various teams in the Netherlands. He was so well liked by his players at Royal Antwerp F.C., that 7 members of the team left when Molnár was fired. Molnár moved to

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

in Italy to replace the Jewish-Hungarian Ernest Erbstein who has facing racial discrimination – his tenure ended at the start of

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 ...

. After the World War, Molnár managed Fenerbahçe and won the 1947–48 Istanbul Football League. Molnár then had two spells coaching the

Turkey national football team The Turkey national football team (), recognized as Türkiye by FIFA and UEFA, represents Turkey in men's international Association football, football matches. The team is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation (), the governing body for ...

and coached them during

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

. Molnár returned to Fenerbahçe again almost 10 years later, winning the inaugural Turkish National League in 1959. Molnár moved to Israel in 1960 with Hapoel Petah Tikva F.C. in the

Liga Leumit The Israeli Liga Leumit (, HaLiga HaLeumit, ) is the second division of the professional Israeli association football (soccer) league system. This second-tier league is placed directly below the Israeli Premier League. Structure There are 16 ...

(then the premier Israeli division), and won his debut season with one of the most dominant teams in Israeli history. Molnár returned to Fenerbahçe, and in his first season back won almost every competition the team participated in; the Turkish National League,

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

, Spor Toto Cup, and

Balkans Cup The Balkans Cup was an international football competition for clubs from Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. It was introduced in 1961 and was very popular in the 1960s (the 1967 final attracted 42,000 spectators), being ...

were amongst the trophies won.

Honours

Managerial

;Fenerbahçe *

Istanbul Football League The Istanbul Football League () was founded as a regional association football, football league under the name Constantinople Football Association League by James La Fontaine and Henry Pears in Istanbul, the capital of the former Ottoman Empire, ...

: 1947–1948 * Turkish National League: 1958–1959, 1967–1968 *

: 1967–1968 *

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup, known as Turkcell Super Cup () for sponsorship reasons, is a super cup tournament in Turkish football. Founded in 1966 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2025 by four teams: the winners ...

: 1967–1968 * Spor Toto Cup:

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

: 1966–1967 ;Hapoel Petah Tikva *

: 1960–1961

References

External links

Mackolik ProfileSpor.De Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Molnár, Ignác 1901 births 1986 deaths Footballers from Budapest Hungarian men's footballers Men's association football forwards LR Vicenza players AS Roma players Serie B players Hungarian expatriate men's footballers Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Hungarian football managers Willem II Tilburg managers Royal Antwerp F.C. managers Torino FC managers Fenerbahçe S.K. (football) managers Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. managers FC Red Bull Salzburg managers Vefa S.K. managers Adanaspor managers Turkey national football team managers Eredivisie managers Belgian Pro League managers Süper Lig managers Serie B managers Serie A managers Austrian Football Bundesliga managers Hungarian expatriate football managers Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate football managers in the Netherlands Expatriate football managers in Belgium Expatriate football managers in Italy Expatriate football managers in Turkey Expatriate football managers in Israel Expatriate football managers in Austria 20th-century Hungarian sportsmen Budafoki MTE managers