István Nyers (; 25 May 1924 – 9 March 2005), also known as Stefano Nyers, 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 ...

who played as a forward or as a winger. Although he played in only two international matches for

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 ...

, he is considered one of the greatest football legends of his country, reaching the peak of his career in the 1940s and 1950s.

Career

Nyers was born in Freyming-Merlebach,

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

into an immigrant Hungarian mining family; his younger brother was Ferenc Nyers. When he was 14 he moved with his family to

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

where he started playing with III. Kerületi TVE. He will have his first official debut aged 17 and playing with Szabadkai VAC which was a Yugoslav club from

Subotica Subotica (, ; , , ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city in Central Europe and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, contemporary Sub ...

that played in the Hungarian league system after the Hungarian annexation of

Bačka Bačka ( sr-Cyrl, Бачка, ) or Bácska (), is a geographical and historical area within the Pannonian Plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east. It is divided between Serbia and Hungary. ...

during

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 ...

(1941–1944). When Yugoslavs retook Subotica, Nyers moved to Budapest where he had a short spell with Ganz-MÁVAG SE where he played along László Kubala. In March 1945, Nyers played some friendlies for

ŽAK Subotica ŽAK Subotica (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: ЖАК Суботица) was a Association football, football club based in Subotica, Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The club was formed in 1921 and the name comes from the initials of ''Železni� ...

(formerly Szabadkai VAC), before the club got disbanded by new Yugoslav authorities. Its players stayed together and went on a tour throughout Serbia as a representing team of Subotica.Istorija FK Spartak
at FK Spartak Subotica official website, retrieved 21-8-2018 (indicated as ''Njerš'' in Serbian) Nyers scored several goals on this tour. Later that year, Nyers left Yugoslavia and returned to Budapest, where he joined 1945

Újpest FC Újpest Football Club () is a Hungary, Hungarian professional association football, football club based in Újpest, Budapest, that competes in Nemzeti Bajnokság I. Formed in 1885, Újpest reached the first division of the Hungarian League in ...

, winning two league titles. In 1946, he transferred briefly to the

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

n team

FK Viktoria Žižkov FK Viktoria Žižkov is a Czech professional football club from the district of Žižkov in Prague. The club competes in the Czech National Football League, the second tier of football in the country. It won the Czechoslovak First League title ...

and then to the French club Stade Français. After two years in Paris he was recruited by Italian side

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

. Here he developed to one of the strongest forwards in the history of

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

. With 26 goals in his first season he became the top scorer of the league. In 182 games for Inter he scored a total of 133 goals. Twice, in 1953 and 1954, he became Italian champion with Inter. After winning the championship for the second time Nyers left Milan for

AS Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: Help:IPA/Italian, ) is a professional Association football, football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier ...

, where he remained for two years. A season with the Catalan sides

CF Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded in 1899 by ...

Terrassa FC Terrassa Futbol Club is a Spanish football team based in Terrassa, Barcelona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1906, it currently plays in , holding home matches at '' Estadi Olímpic de Terrassa'', with a capacity of 7,500 sp ...

and CD Sabadell followed before he played out the remainder of his career with minor league Italian clubs. Nyers retired from the professional game in 1961. During his retirement he lived for several years in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

before settling in

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

until his death in 2005 at the age of 80.

Honours

Újpest *

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 ...

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

, 1945–46 Internazionale *

: 1952–53, 1953–54 Barcelona *

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

Individual *

Serie A Team of The Year The AIC Serie A Team of the Year (in Italian: ''Squadra dell’anno AIC'') is an annual award given to a set of eleven footballers in the top tier of Football in Italy, Italian football, the Serie A, who are considered to have performed the best d ...

: 1951, 1952

Notes

External links

István Nyers
at magyarfutball.hu

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nyers, Istvan 1924 births 2005 deaths People from Freyming-Merlebach French people of Hungarian descent Hungarian men's footballers Hungary men's international footballers Hungarian expatriate men's footballers Stade Français (association football) players Ligue 1 players Inter Milan players AS Roma players Calcio Lecco 1912 players Budapest Honvéd FC players Újpest FC players La Liga players FC Barcelona players CE Sabadell FC footballers Terrassa FC footballers FK Viktoria Žižkov players ŽAK Subotica players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Serie A players Serie B players Expatriate men's footballers in Yugoslavia Expatriate men's footballers in Czechoslovakia Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Men's association football forwards Footballers from Moselle (department) French expatriate men's footballers Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Yugoslavia French expatriate sportspeople in Italy French expatriate sportspeople in Spain French expatriate sportspeople in Yugoslavia 20th-century French sportsmen 20th-century Hungarian sportsmen