Iosif Bükössy (12 August 1936 – 30 October 2006) was a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n footballer who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

Playing career

Iosif Bükössy was born on 12 August 1936 in

Mediaș Mediaș (; , , Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Medwesch''/''Medveš''/''Medwisch'', ) is the second largest municipiu, town and municipality in Sibiu County, Transylvania, central Romania. Geography Mediaș is located in ...

, Romania and he started to play football in 1948 at local club, Sparta. In 1954 he moved to neighboring club,

Flacăra ''Flacăra'' (Romanian for "The Flame") is a weekly literary magazine published in Bucharest, Romania. History and profile ''Flacăra'' was started in 1911. The first issue was published on 22 October 1911. The founder was Constantin Banu and t ...

where he spent two seasons playing in

Divizia B The Liga 2, most commonly spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 football season. It is currently sponsored by Casa Pariu ...

. Then after another short Divizia B spell at Progresul CPCS București, Bükössy went to play for

CCA București CCA may refer to: Arts and culture * Canadian Centre for Architecture, museum and research centre in Montreal, Quebec * Canadian Comedy Awards, annual awards show * CCA, a London-based talent agency founded by Howard Pays and Freddy Vale * Capitol ...

where he made his

Divizia A Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

debut under coach

Ștefan Dobay Ștefan Dobay (, 26 September 1909 – 7 April 1994), was a Romanian footballer who played as a striker and manager. He mostly played for Ripensia Timișoara and the Romania national football team for whom he got 41 caps, scored 19 goals an ...

on 27 May 1956 in a 3–1 away loss in front of Progresul Oradea, gaining a total of three appearances in his first season spent at the club, helping it win the title. After two more seasons spent with '' The Military Men'' he went to play for two seasons at

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

Dinamo București A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterin ...

, in the first one the club finishing on the second position in the league and winning the 1958–59 Cupa României where coach

Iuliu Baratky Gyula Barátky (; 14 May 1910 – 14 April 1962) was footballer who represented both Hungary and Romania internationally. His preferred position was the half right. He played a total of 155 games in the national Romanian championships (scoring ...

did not use him in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. In his second season he scored once in a

derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

which ended 3–3 against his former team, CCA. Afterwards he went to play two years at Divizia B club Dinamo Obor București, returning to Divizia A football in 1962 where he had a successful period in his career, being a part of the team's prolific offensive trio alongside

Constantin Dinulescu Constantin Dinulescu (19 April 1931 – 1 February 2017) was a Romanian football forward who played for Romania in the 1960 European Nations' Cup. After he ended his playing career he became a referee who arbitrated 113 Divizia A matches during ...

and Ion Ciosescu. Iosif Bükössy made his last Divizia A appearance on 7 May 1967, playing for Farul in a 1–1 against Politehnica Timișoara, having a total of 103 matches with 23 goals scored in the competition, ending his career after spending three more seasons in Divizia B at Portul Constanța. Bükössy also represented his country internationally, having appearances for Romania's under-23 and B squads.

Coaching career

After he retired from playing football he worked mainly at Farul Constanța's youth center where he taught and formed generations of players, which include

Gheorghe Hagi Gheorghe Hagi (; born 5 February 1965) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently the owner of Liga I club Farul Constanța. Deployed as an attacking midfielder, Hagi was considered one of the best players in ...

Ianis Zicu Ianis Alin Zicu (born 23 October 1983) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder, currently in charge of Liga I club Farul Constanța. Club career Early career, Dinamo București and loans Ianis Z ...

Vasile Mănăilă Vasile Mănăilă (22 November 1962 – 10 June 2025) was a Romanian football player and coach. Club career Mănăilă, nicknamed "Marinarul" (The Sailor), was born on 22 November 1962 in Bordușani, Ialomița County, moving with his parents a ...

and

Dorel Zamfir Dorel Zamfir (30 September 1961 – 6 October 2023) was a Romanian footballer who played as a right midfielder. Club career Zamfir was born on 30 September 1961 in Vișeu de Sus, Maramureș County, but when he was two months old, his parents se ...

, also he had a three-year spell at Elpis Constanța. After Iosif Bükössy's death in 2006, Gheorghe Hagi said that Bükössy was the best coach he had in his entire career, also saying:"For me, Bükössy was like a second father. Now that he is no longer among us, I feel a great sadness in my soul. I knew that he went through a difficult period and that he could not recover after the operation. I feel very sorry for him, may God forgive him! I will never forget him (...) I learned everything from him, he showed me the secrets of football. Basically, he is the man who raised me. He was an extraordinary man, who dedicated his whole life to raising children. He did only good in life. Even though I have done it many times before, I want to thank him once more for what he did for me".

Honours

CCA București *

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

Dinamo București *

Cupa României The Cupa României () is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. It is the Romania ...

: 1958–59

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bükössy, Iosif 1936 births 2006 deaths Romanian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Liga I players Liga II players CS Gaz Metan Mediaș players FCSB players FCV Farul Constanța players CS Portul Constanța players FC Dinamo București players Victoria București players Romanian football managers Footballers from Mediaș 20th-century Romanian sportsmen