However, this achievement remained the lone success of the club for a long time, after they got relegated in 1959 and spent the subsequent twenty years in the second division.

To fulfil the club's long-term plans, he also invested into a new arena for the handball academy, which was finished in January 2011 and cost around €1.4 million.

[5] In the second part of 2011, however, DVSC faced a heavy financial crisis as Gellén could not pay the wages, and as a result, many of the first team players left.

Gellén eventually sold his 63.3% share to the city of Debrecen for a nominal fee of 10 Hungarian Forint, that now owns 96.4% of the club.

Balázs Makray took the chairman duties, who faced the similar situation in 1999 when he took over the local football club, and for the 2000s he made Debreceni VSC one of the dominant team in the Hungarian league.