For the latest past legend we are off to beautiful Budapest, the capital of Hungary, to remember the silky skills of Florian Albert.
There are plenty of legendary footballers who have had stands named after them. For example Johnny Haynes at Fulham or Bobby Moore at West Ham United. Some players have statues outside the grounds where they made their names, such as John Greig at Glasgow Rangers. Not many have whole stadiums named after them. Florian Albert is one of the few that have this honour.
Albert was born on the 15th September 1941, in an unpronounceable town in Hungary near to the border with the former Yugoslavia. He began playing football at school and showed potential even at that early stage.
Hungary had been the most powerful footballing nation in Europe in the early fifties. With stars such as Ferenc Puskas, Sandor Kocsis, and Jozsef Bozsik they destroyed England 6-3 at Wembley in November 1953 to inflict the first ever defeat on home soil for their hosts. If that wasn’t enough, the Magical Magyars, then thrashed England 7-1 in the return match in Budapest. It is still England’s biggest ever defeat.
The shock waves caused by these two results dragged English football from near complacency to World Champions thirteen years later. Hungary were tactically years ahead of England and put on a show of ball skill, teamwork, and free flowing attacking football that simply destroyed the opposition.
From June 1952 to February 1956 Hungary lost only one match in 51 games. Unfortunately the one defeat was in the 1954 World Cup Final when they lost 3-2 to West Germany despite leading 2-0. It was a match they were favourites to win having already thrashed them 8-3 in an earlier round.
Hungary’s volatile political situation resulting in the revolution of 1956 saw an exodus of star names in the mid to late fifties. Puskas himself went to play for Real Madrid helping them become a major force in Europe. The scene was set for a new wave of talent.
When Florian Albert’s family moved to Budapest he was quickly spotted by local giants Ferencvaros. He made his debut in August 1958 at the age of 16. He was destined to spend his entire career at the one club playing 351 matches, scoring 255 goals.
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