In the early 1950s, Kálmár was manager at Honvéd and with a team that included Ferenc Puskás, Zoltán Czibor, Sándor Kocsis, József Bozsik, László Budai, Gyula Lóránt and Gyula Grosics, he guided them to four Hungarian League titles.

As the Honvéd manager, he also played a prominent role in the development of the legendary Hungary team known as the Mighty Magyars and during this era he also served as an assistant coach to the national team coach, Gusztáv Sebes.

At the end of Second World War he found himself in Yugoslavia and he joined third league side FK TSC Bačka Topola, known at time as Egység.

[1] After the Hungarian Revolution, Kálmár like his former players, Puskás, Czibor and Kocsis, ended up in Spain where he managed several La Liga clubs with moderate success.

In 1967, Kálmár took RCD Español to third in La Liga and during two spells with CD Málaga in the 1970s he guided them to promotion twice.