2012-2013 season in review

Several changes to the coaching staff took place over the summer months. Alejandro Rosalen Lopez came in as goalkeeping coach with Peter Disztl moving over to the Puskas Academy.

The playing squad did not change too much. Adrian Szekeres, Stopira, Paraiba and Kaka all joined. There was also a loan arrival of Renato Neto from Portuguese club Sporting. 

Among those to depart were midfielders Andras Gosztonyi and Akos Elek. Both moved east to join Diosgyőr. Jeff Silva also continued his career at DVTK on a loan deal. Laszlo Lencse moved to Israel on loan when he joined champions Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona. Milan Perics also moved out on loan when he joined Ferencvaros. Tamas Vasko headed out to Kecskemet while Attila Polonkai and Denes Szakaly both moved the short distance to the Puskas Academy.

Super Cup is won and a fantastic run in the Europa League!

The team started pre-season training in the middle of June under manager Paulo Sousa. He was looking for his squad to perform well over the course of the new season. 

The first competitive game was the Super Cup Final against Debrecen. The game ended in a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes and Vidi eventually won the penalty shootout 5-3 to lift the cup. 

Videoton were drawn with Slovakian side Slovan Bratislava in the Europa League. The two sides played out a 1-1 draw in Bratislava, with the return leg ending in a 0-0 draw. That saw Vidi go through on the away goals rule. Belgium side Gent were next up and Vidi performed well in the home leg at the Sostoi to win 1-0. The away leg was even more impressive as Videoton ran out 3-0 winners to go through 4-0 on aggregate. That had been the biggest European success for 25 years! Turkish side Trabzonspor awaited in the next round. The first leg was in Trabzon and the game ended in a 0-0 draw. The second leg in Szekesfehervar produced more excitement with Vidi edging through after a penalty shootout. 

That meant the group stages for the red and blues, who were paired with Gent, Sporting and Basel. Vidi would beat both Sporting 3-0 at home and Basel 2-1. The other matches ended in defeats but Vidi could be proud of their run in the competition.

Mixed performance in the league

Videoton kicked off the new season at the Sostoi with a match against Papa. The game finished in a disappointing 1-1 draw with two points dropped at home. Vidi picked up the 3 points in the next match with a 1-0 win over Ujpest. The first defeat came at Honved when the team suffered a 1-0 loss. It took a 90th minute winner against Eger to collect the 3 points, while a Nikolics penalty secured a 2-1 win away at Haladas. A confident display against Siofok produced a 3-1 win.

The team then lost points over the next six games with the attention also being on the Europa League. Although Vidi directed things throughout their game with DVTK and produced several chances, the game ended in a 0-0 draw. Győr then picked up 3 points after beating Vidi 1-0, and a 1-1 draw with Paks was next. Two further defeats against FTC 2-1 and MTK 3-2 saw Vidi slip down the table. Things improved with a good 3-1 win over rivals Debrecen at home. Vidi then came away with the points after winning 2-0 at Kaposvar and against at Kecskemet. The autumn came to an end with a 0-0 draw against Pecs. That saw Vidi in fourth place after 15 league matches. The first two spring matches were played at the tail end of the autumn. Papa won by a single goal at home to the red and blues while Ujpest and Vidi played out a 1-1 draw in the final game of the year. 

The run in the Europa League had put Vidi back on the footballing map with a good run.

Progress in the Hungarian cup

The League cup saw Vidi in group c with Papa, Kaposvar and ZTE. The 6 group matches produced 4 wins, a draw and a defeat, which resulted in Videoton going through. Haladas were beaten 2-0 in the third round of the Hungarian cup to ensure a place in the next round.

Paulo Sousa departs and is replaced by Jose Gomes

Paulo Sousa left the club for family reasons and he was replaced by Portuguese coach Jose Gomes. The new coach spoke about his enthusiasm for attacking football in his first interview. He brought assistant Jorge Mendonca with him. 

There was also a change in the club management during the year with Managing Director Mark Tassy leaving to be replaced by Attila Balogh. 

The team underwent strengthening over the winter with forward Arturo Alvarez arriving. Midfielder Vitor Gomes was another to join, together with Donat Zsoter. Free transfer forward Lupeta also arrived towards the end of the season.

There were departures as well in the winter months. Walter Lee and Renato Neto left. Laszlo Lencse moved in a loan deal to Greek club Asteras Tripoli. Kaka headed in a loan deal to Deportivo La Coruna. Another loan deal involved Gyorgy Sandor joining Saudi Arabia club Al-Ittihad. Brazilian defender Jeff Silva arrived from ABC FC as things began to take shape. 

Good pre-season and a strong spring

The squad spent three weeks at the Marbella training camp from the 9th January. They included several friendly games including a 1-0 defeat against FC Dnipro. Rapid Bucharest were comfortably beaten 3-1. There was also a second training camp in Turkey, which saw Vidi beat Chinese opponents 8-0!

The second half of the season kicked off with a good win away at Honved. Eger were also beaten by the same 4-0 scoreline in the second game. Haladas were defeated 1-0 in a re-arranged game. The state of the pitch was also in doubt before the match with Siofok. However, the outcome was never in doubt as Vidi swept to a 6-0 win. The first loss of the spring season came against DVTK and a 2-1 defeat. There was a draw with Győri ETO before another 3 points were picked up in the 2-0 win over Paks. Ferencvaros were beaten on their home pitch in a 1-0 win for Vidi and MTK also lost 2-0. 

There were four matches of the season remaining with Vidi occupying second place in the table. Debrecen won the big match 2-1, before 6 points were collected in a 2-1 win over Kaposvar and a 5-1 beating of KTE. The final game of the season saw Vidi lose 2-1 away at Pecs. That gave the team a second place finish in the league table with 54 points. Those included 16 wins, 6 draws and 8 defeats. Manager Jose Gomes highlighted in his end of season review that the team were heading in the right direction and that they would win the league in the following season.