History of Újpest FC
The club was founded on 16 June 1885 by school teacher János Goll in Újpest, a separate city in those times, just next to the borders of Budapest under the name Újpesti Torna Egylet.
It was formed first as a general athletic club, performing gymnastics and fencing, and its motto was "Soundness, Strength, Harmony" (Hungarian: Épség, Erő, Egyetértés).
In 1899, a football club was formed in the city of Újpest under the name Újpesti FC and with the same colours, purple and white.
Újpest gave 5 players for the World Cup of 1938 to silver medalist Hungary including György Szűcs, Antal Szalay, István Balogh I, Jenő Vincze, and the rising star of Hungarian football, Gyula Zsengellér.
The first years after World War II saw the second golden era of Újpest, and saw the club on the top of the championship three times in a row, once even giving 9 players to the Hungary national team.
Players like Ferenc Szusza, Béla Egresi, Sándor Balogh II, István Nyers or Mihály Nagymarosi were setting records of winning 30 consecutive games, or scoring 187 goals in one single season.
Béla Guttmann in early 1947 rejoined Újpest FC, then known as Újpesti TE, and won another Hungarian League title.
[3] In 1950 the communist government chose Újpest as official club of the police and renamed them Budapesti Dózsa (after György Dózsa), a fairly common practice in Eastern Bloc countries (except that in other places "police clubs" were typically named Dinamo/Dynamo) and two decades of moderate league and cup success followed.
In 1951, defender Sándor Szűcs, after being executed by the communist government for high treason during a secret pre-arranged trial, became a martyr of the club.
As a result of the less successful years, Mihály Tóth was just one of two Újpest players in 1954 World Cup squad, and the only one to play in the final.
[20] The year 1967, when manager Lajos Baróti was signed by the club leaders, marked the start of a new golden era.
After two silver medals, Újpest won the league in 1969 and played in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final in the same year (and lost with a result of 2–6 on aggregate against Newcastle United).
The famous Fazekas – Göröcs – Bene – Dunai II – Zámbó attacking formation, invented and led by manager Lajos Baróti, scored dozens of goals, attracted thousands of football fans both in Hungary and outside the country.
Bene became 5 times top scorer of Hungary, Dunai II and Fazekas won the Silver boot award for scoring the second most goals in the continent.
After Göröcs, Bene and Dunai left the team, András Törőcsik and László Fekete joined Újpest to reach two more league titles in 1978 and 1979 with former player Pál Várhidi as the head coach.
Törőcsik was considered a "magician" by the fans of the club, making unbelievable dribbles, scoring amazing goals and getting unexpected assists to teammates, while Fekete also won the European Silver boot.
[citation needed] Újpest won the 1970 season of the Hungarian Cup by beating Komlói Bányász SK 3–2 in the final.
[35] In the knockout phase, Újpest drew (0–0) with Juventus FC at the Stadio Olimpico di Torino, Turin, Italy on 7 March 1973.
beat Újpest 3–0 at the Elland Road, Beeston, Leeds, England, which the end of the European Cup season.
[54] On 22 October 1975, Újpest were beaten by 1974–75 Primeira Divisão-champions Benfica 5–2 at the Estádio da Luz (1954), Lisbon, Portugal.
[63] The general decline of Hungarian football reached the club in the early '80s, and league results worsened, winning only one silver and one bronze medal during the decade.
Some good results were also reached by Újpest on International level, beating UEFA Cup title-holder IFK Göteborg, German top team 1.
In the first leg of the first round Újpest drew with IFK Göteborg (1–1) in Gothenburg, Sweden,[65] and won the home match by 3–1.
In the first leg of the first round on 19 September 1990, Újpest lost 3–0 to Serie A 1988-89-champions SSC Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo in Naples, Italy.
With the fall of the communist government and the termination of state sponsorship there came financial problems as well, just like for all other Hungarian football teams.
However, hard times reached the club soon, and the key players left Újpest due to the lack of money.
The situation became better after 2001, when the Szusza Ferenc Stadion went over a complete renovation, and the club's new owners invested more money in football.
[90] Their efforts resulted in a new Cup beating Szombathelyi Haladás in the final with a last-minute goal in [91] and Supercup title in 2002, but the team finished in the middle of the league table for years.
[96] In July 2011, the former Real Madrid and Netherlands coach Leo Beenhakker was appointed as the new sporting director of the club.
In the first qualifying round, Újpest lost to Neftçi PFK 3-1 at the Dalga Arena, Baku, Azerbaijan on 12 July 2018.
