History of Budapest Honvéd FC
During the first three decades of its existence, the club was little more than a village team and enjoyed only moderate success, winning a single Hungarian Cup in 1926.
In November 1948, Guttmann attempted to take off fullback Mihály Patyi at whose play he was furious, leaving the team with 10 players.
In January 1949 when Hungary became a communist state, the resulting nationalisation of football clubs gave Sebes the opportunity.
The Kispest name was dropped as the village was absorbed into District XIX of Budapest and the club was renamed Budapesti Honvéd SE.
The Kispest AC team already included Ferenc Puskás and József Bozsik but army conscription now enabled Honvéd to recruit Sándor Kocsis, Zoltán Czibor and László Budai from Ferencváros, Gyula Lóránt from Vasas SC and the goalkeeper Gyula Grosics.
The club's reputation spread beyond Hungary and on 13 December 1954 they played Wolverhampton Wanderers, the reigning English League champions, in a prestige friendly.
The players decided against going back to Hungary and arranged for the return game with Athletic to be played at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels.
The players, declining to return to Hungary, summoned their families from Budapest and, despite opposition from FIFA and the then Soviet-controlled Hungarian Football Federation, Béla Guttmann organised a fundraising tour of Italy, Portugal, and Spain.
Czibor and Kocsis eventually signed for FC Barcelona while Puskás joined Real Madrid.
The defection of Zoltán Czibor, Sándor Kocsis and Ferenc Puskás severely weakened Honvéd and in 1957 they only avoided relegation after the Hungarian Football Federation decide to expand the first division.
In 1980 with Lajos Tichy as coach and a squad that included Imre Garaba, Honvéd won their first Hungarian League title in twenty five years.
During the 1980s and early 1990s players such as Kálmán Kovács, Lajos Détári, Béla Illés, Gábor Halmai and István Vincze helped Honvéd win another seven titles.
However, Kispest Honvéd Sports Circle Ltd, the company that owned the club, owed millions of Hungarian forints in taxes and in October 2004 went into liquidation.
The company practised a policy that treated its players as self-employed contractors rather than employees and as result, significantly reduced the club's tax burden.
However, the tax authorities objected and were supported by the courts, leaving the club in arrears with no means of paying them.
In August 2007 the fences in front of the stands were removed at the Bozsik József Stadion[6] signalling a new dawn for Hungarian football.
[15] Honved faced with bronze medal winner of the Albanian First Division Flamurtari Vlorë in the first round of the Europa League.
[17] In the second round, they faced Russian Premier League club Anzhi Makhachkala, featuring star players Roberto Carlos and Samuel Eto'o.
Although Honvéd were not the highest-spending club in the Hungarian Championship 2016-17 Nemzeti Bajnokság I, they won their 14th title, mostly on the backs of an exceptional youth program and stable management, ending a 24-year dearth.
The club won the 2019-20 Magyar Kupa season by beating Mezőkövesd SE in the final 2–1 at the Puskás Aréna on 3 June 2020.
