Happy Birthday Ferenc Kovacs!

Ferenc Kovacs was born on the 7th January 1934 in Budapest. He made it through the MTK youth academy, going on to make his debut for them in the first division in 1954. He remained with the blue and whites for 10 years following that. Kovacs won the domestic championship with MTK, as well as playing twice in the final of the Cup winners cup. He also helped the national side to a third place bronze finish at the 1960 Olympics in Rome.

He started his managerial career with the youth team at MTK in 1965. 1968-69 saw him sitting on the bench of the first team. He then spent 1970-72 with Egri Dozsa and then a five year period at Videoton from 1972-77. That was followed by a season in Budapest with Vasas SC in 1978-79. Ferenc Kovacs then took charge of the Hungarian national side in 1978-79, which was followed by three years at Debrecen between 1980-83. It was back to Videoton FC from 1983-86, before his first spell working abroad at Spanish side Las Palmas, where he stayed for the 1986-87 season. It was back to Videoton for the third time in 1987-88, with managerial spells at both Szeged SC in 1989-90 and Ujpest for three seasons from 1990-93.

1968 saw him win the People's Republic of Hungary cup with MTK, while he was chosen as the manager of the year in 1983. He achieved his biggest success as a manager with Videoton FC. He managed Vidi to a runners up spot in 1976, and a third place finish in 1984 and 1985. The last big result from a Hungarian side happened in season 1984-85, with Videoton making it to the final of the UEFA cup. That has secured him legendary status in Szekesfehervar since. He managed that Vidi side to wins over Dukla Prage, Paris St Germain, Partizan Belgrade, Manchester United and Zeljeznicar, before a two-legged final with Spanish giants Real Madrid. 

Ferenc Kovacs was manager in a total of 533 league matches. An interesting factor was that he made it to a final of a European competition as both a player and manager. Kovacs has been the Videoton Honorary President since 2008. The management, players and employees of Videoton would all like to wish him a very happy birthday and good health!