Péter Máté (; born 2 December 1984) is a Hungarian former professional

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 defender.

Club career

Máté was born in

Püspökladány Püspökladány (pronounced ) is the sixth largest town of Hajdú-Bihar county in North Eastern Hungary with a population of approximately 16,000 people. It is located southwest of Debrecen at the juncture of three regions: Sárrét, Hortobágy ...

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 ...

and started his career at his local football club, Tünet SE. His talents were spotted by the scouts of Debreceni Focisuli, where he spent the rest of his youth career. He started football at senior level at

Debreceni VSC Debreceni Vasutas Sport Club is a Hungarian professional football club based in Debrecen that competes in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I, the first tier of Hungarian football. They are best known internationally for reaching the group stages of the U ...

, where he played two league matches in his first season, and one in his second. In his third season, he played 11 matches scoring one goal. Since he had few opportunities to play at senior level in 2004, he was sent on

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

Miskolc Miskolc ( , ; ; Czech language, Czech and ; ; ; ) is a city in northeastern Hungary, known for its heavy industry. With a population of 161,265 as of 1 January 2014, Miskolc is the List of cities and towns in Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, ...

to play for

Diósgyőri VTK Diósgyőri Vasgyárak Testgyakorló Köre, more commonly Diósgyőri VTK () is a professional Association football, football club, part of the Hungarian sports club from Diósgyőr district of Miskolc. Founded in 1910 by the local working clas ...

. There he played 26 matches scoring two goals. This performance was good enough to convince the Debrecen board and coaching staff, so at the end of the season he returned to Debrecen. In the 2005–06 season, he played 25 matches scoring five goals, a good return for a centre back. Máté started the 2006–07 season at Debrecen, but the club received an offer from

FA Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football ...

club

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

, and loaned him out on a season-long loan, making his debut and scoring a header against

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

in the League Cup. However, Máté had little opportunity to impress on the pitch due to a serious injury he suffered in a reserve match against Chelsea. Reading agreed to fund his rehabilitation, and on 4 May 2007 Máté's loan was extended to the end of 2007. On 26 August 2010, Máté came on as a last-minute substitute in the 2:1 away win against

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n side

Litex Lovech FC Lovech (; formerly Litex Lovech) is a Bulgarian professional association football, football club based in Lovech, that competes in the Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria), Second League. The club was founded in 1921 as Hisarya Spor ...

in a

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

game. Subsequently, the team from

Lovech Lovech (, ) is a city in north-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the Lovech Province and of the subordinate Lovech Municipality. The city is located about northeast from the capital city of Sofia. Near Lovech are the towns of ...

launched an official complaint, demanding a 3:0 win by default, as Máté had not been entered on the official squad list of the Hungarian team prior to the game. However, UEFA decided against changing the result of the match, settling for a fine of 15,000

euros The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

to be paid by the

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...

Club statistics

''Updated to games played as of 7 December 2014.''

International career

Máté has been

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

ped by both the Hungary U21 and senior

teams.

References

External links

Péter Máté profile
at readingfc.co.uk * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mate, Peter 1984 births Living people People from Püspökladány Hungarian men's footballers Hungary men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football central defenders Debreceni VSC players Diósgyőri VTK players Reading F.C. players Szolnoki MÁV FC footballers Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Hungarian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in England Footballers from Hajdú-Bihar County Nyíregyháza Spartacus FC players Nemzeti Bajnokság II players 21st-century Hungarian sportsmen