László Bölöni

László Bölöni (also Ladislau Bölöni; born 11 March 1953) is a Romanian former professional footballer of Hungarian descent and current coach of Greek side Panathinaikos.

The native form of this personal name is Bölöni László. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

László Bölöni
Bölöni in 2011 with PAOK
Personal information
Full name László Bölöni
Date of birth (1953-03-11) 11 March 1953
Place of birth Târgu Mureș, Romania
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Panathinaikos (manager)
Youth career
1967–1970 Chimica Târnăveni
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1970–1984 ASA Târgu Mureș 406 (64)
1984–1987 Steaua București 97 (24)
1987–1988 Racing Jet Wavre 16 (0)
1988–1989 Créteil 11 (2)
1989–1992 Orléans 77 (4)
Total 607 (94)
National team
1975–1988[1] Romania 102 (23)
Teams managed
1994–2000 Nancy
2000–2001 Romania
2001–2003 Sporting CP
2003–2006 Rennes
2006–2007 Monaco
2007–2008 Al-Jazeera
2008–2010 Standard Liège
2010–2011 Al-Wahda
2011 Lens
2011–2012 PAOK
2012–2015 Al Khor
2015 Al-Ittihad
2017–2020 Antwerp
2020 Gent
2020– Panathinaikos
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Bölöni was twice named Romanian Footballer of the Year and took part in 484 Divizia A games, the fourth-most appearances in the history of the competition. Internationally, he earned 102 caps with the Romania national team, which ranks him fifth on the country's all-time list, while also scoring 23 goals (sixth highest all-time mark).

Bölöni was an integral part of the Steaua București team that won the European Cup in 1986, the only Romanian team (and, along with Red Star Belgrade, one of two Eastern European sides) to have achieved the honour. He is considered one of the best Romanian footballers in history.

Playing career

Club

Born in Târgu Mureș, Romania to a Székely family from Târnăveni, Bölöni's first team was Chimica Târnăveni. In 1970, he moved to ASA Târgu Mureş where he stayed until 1984, when he joined Steaua București, being part of the team which won the European Champions Cup in 1986 (where he missed his penalty in the shootout in the final) and the European Super Cup the following year.[2] Bölöni remained at Steaua until 1987.

He won the Universiade gold medal with Romania's students football team in the 1974 edition that was held in France, playing alongside Gheorghe Mulțescu, Dan Păltinișanu, Romulus Chihaia and Paul Cazan.[3]

In 1988, aged 35, Bölöni left the country to play in Belgium at Racing Jet Bruxelles and then in France at US Créteil. He retired from professional football in 1992.

On 25 March 2008 he was decorated by the president of Romania, Traian Băsescu with Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" — (The Order "The Sportive Merit") class II for his part in winning the 1986 European Cup Final.[4][5]

International

Playing for the Romanian national team in 1983, Bölöni scored one of his most vital goals ever, in the 1–0 win against Italy in a Euro 84 qualification match which eventually proved invaluable to the country's qualification for the tournament. At the finals themselves in France, he played in all three of Romania's games, and scored the equaliser in the 1–1 draw with Spain in Saint-Etienne.

In total, Bölöni won 102 caps for Romania and scored 23 goals[1] (108/25 including Olympic games qualification).[6]

Coaching career

As a football coach, Bölöni started with French club AS Nancy-Lorraine, where he was head coach for several years. He promoted with the team in Ligue 1. In 2000, he was appointed as national team coach, but in the summer of 2001 decided to leave the job.

Then he joined Portugal's club Sporting Clube de Portugal, where he won both the Portuguese championship and cup in his first year. He was fired at the end of the next season due to mediocre results. His legacy at Sporting was the introduction of youth team players such as Ricardo Quaresma, Hugo Viana and Cristiano Ronaldo into the senior's team starting lineup.

In 2003, he returned to France as manager of Stade Rennais; in 2005, he managed the team to their best position in history (4th in Ligue 1), and a subsequent UEFA Cup qualification.

In May 2006, Bölöni signed a two-year contract with AS Monaco but was fired on 23 October for lack of results (Monaco being 19th out of 20 in the league by that date).

On 9 June 2008, Belgian team Standard Liège appointed Bölöni as their new manager, as he succeeded Michel Preud'homme, who led the club to their first Belgian First Division title in 25 years (season 2007–2008). On 24 May 2009, he won the Belgian First Division title in his first season at Standard (season 2008–2009) after playing the championship play-off against Anderlecht. On 10 February 2010, Bölöni resigned from his coaching position at Standard Liege.[7]

On 29 May 2010, it was officially announced that Bölöni signed a contract with United Arab Emirates side Al-Wahda.[8] On 2 September 2010, Al-Wahda sacked Bölöni, despite the team's 3–1 win over Ittihad Kalba.[9]

On 2 January 2011, he was hired by RC Lens, on a one-year contract, but he couldn't save the team from relegation.[10] Bölöni was immediately released in June, and signed a two-year contract with PAOK on 8 June 2011, following a short negotiation period.[11]

PAOK

Bölöni's tenure at PAOK started with two wins against Vålerenga Fotball for the Third Qualifying Round of 2011–12 UEFA Europa League, that brought them against Karpaty Lviv for the Play-off round. PAOK won the first leg at home and drew the second leg, qualifying for the group stage. In a tough group that consisted of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., FC Rubin Kazan and Shamrock Rovers F.C., Bölöni's PAOK managed to qualify undefeated at the first place, winning the game at White Hart Lane on the process, a remarkable feat considering that no Greek team had won at English soil since 1999 when PAOK defeated Arsenal at Highbury. For the round of 32, PAOK faced Udinese Calcio, and although a 0–0 draw at the first game in Italy spread optimism, a weakened PAOK side was eliminated off the competition when the home leg ended with a 0–3 defeat. All and all, the European presence was positive despite the abrupt end, as PAOK managed 6 wins out of 12 games, with impressive performances and a milestone win against Tottenham.

At the home front, PAOK had a turbulent season, as the team managed to finish 3rd in regular season, with 5th being its final position after Play-off. During the season, PAOK won the away games against AEK Athens F.C. and Panathinaikos F.C., marking the end of a winless, 10-year-old tradition against those teams when playing away from home. Team's form was inconsistent though, and the departure – due to the club's financial difficulties – of two of the most significant players of the team, Vieirinha and Pablo Contreras didn't help matters. Bölöni had to improvise to cover for the roster's lack of depth, with mixed results. Although the season was not deemed successful, fans didn't put the blame on Bölöni, who had won their hearts with his personality, his results against some major opponents and the team's style of play when on good form.

On 25 May 2012 PAOK released Bölöni after a one-year cooperation.

Coaching in the Middle East

Bölöni was hired by Qatari club Al Khor on 21 June 2012.[12] On 26 January 2013, in a league match against Qatar SC, he was involved in a controversial incident. He threw a water bottle at a ball boy behind the goal after the boy took the ball, which went out of play, off the pitch. The bottle did not hit the boy, however, it was spotted by the match observer, Ali Al-Naimi, who relayed the information to a referee's assistant who eventually informed the referee, Fahad Jaber, who decided to send him off. Instead of going directly to the stands, he chose to illegally stay within the checkpoint. Security officers attempted to guide him off, but he retorted by using foul language and pushing the police officers. As a result, a police report was filed against him. He was later fined 75,000 Qatari riyals by the QFA and banned for 5 matches.[13]

In August 2013, Croatian media speculated that Bölöni might be named the new head coach of Dinamo Zagreb, following the sacking of team's former head coach, Krunoslav Jurčić. Bölöni has previously been linked with Hajduk Split, Dinamo Zagreb's fierce rival, as well.[14]

On 21 July 2015, Saudi club Al-Ittihad announced Bölöni as their new coach.

Royal Antwerp

On 16 June 2017, Bölöni was announced as the new manager of Belgian club Royal Antwerp.[15] In his first season at the club, he finished 8th place in the regular season, and 3rd place in the Europa League play-off group to keep the team safe from relegation.

In his second season, Antwerp was the surprise package of the championship, finishing the regular season on 6th place, and qualifying for the championship play-offs for the first time. Antwerp recorded important victories over Genk (1–0), Anderlecht (2–1), Gent (2–1), Standard Liège (2–1), as well as a blank draw with Club Brugge in the first half of the play-off, and climbed on the 3rd place, but later losses to these teams meant Antwerp finished 4th, thus going for the Europa League play-offs final. In the final, Antwerp beat Charleroi 3–2 after coming back from 0–2 down in the first minutes. Thus, Antwerp secured qualification in the second qualifying round of UEFA Europa League after years of absence from Europe.

He also led the team to the Belgian cup final in the 2019–20 season, their first since 1992. However, the competition was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gent

On 20 August 2020, Belgian League runners-up K.A.A. Gent announced Bölöni as their new head coach [16] In September, he was sacked after only three games in charge.[17]

Panathinaikos

On 19 October 2020, Bölöni was announced as the new head coach for Greek club Panathinaikos.[18] He drew his first game 1–1 against Volos in the Super League.[19]

Career statistics

Club
Club[20] Season League Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
ASA Târgu Mureș 1970–71 Divizia B 1920000192
1971–72 Divizia A 2710000271
1972–73 2600000260
1973–74 3130000313
1974–75 2410000241
1975–76 3342[lower-alpha 1]000354
1976–77 33112[lower-alpha 2]0003511
1977–78 3132[lower-alpha 3]000333
1978–79 3230000323
1979–80 2660000266
1980–81 3160000316
1981–82 311000003110
1982–83 3270000327
1983–84 3070000307
Total 40664600041264
Steaua București 1984–85 Divizia A 2431[lower-alpha 4]000253
1985–86 3199[lower-alpha 5]1004010
1986–87 28101[lower-alpha 6]11[lower-alpha 7]03010
1987–88 1424[lower-alpha 8]100183
Total 97241531011327
Racing Jet Brussels 1987–88 Belgian Pro League 1600000160
Créteil 1988–89 Ligue 2 1120000112
Orléans 1989–90 Ligue 2 3240000324
1990–91 2700000270
1991–92 1800000180
Total 7740000774
Career total 607942131062897
  1. Two appearances in 1975–76 UEFA Cup
  2. Two appearances in 1976–77 UEFA Cup
  3. Two appearances in 1977–78 UEFA Cup
  4. One appearance in the 1984–85 European Cup Winners' Cup
  5. Nine appearances and one goal in the 1985–86 European Cup
  6. One appearance and one goal in the 1986–87 European Cup
  7. One appearance in 1986 European Super Cup
  8. Four appearances and one goal in the 1987–88 European Cup

International goals
Bölöni with Romania in 1984
Romania's goal tally first.
László Bölöni - International goals
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
12 July 1976Aryamehr Stadium, Tehran, Iran Iran1–12–2Friendly
229 November 197623 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania Bulgaria2–13–2Balkan Cup
321 September 1977Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania Greece2–06–1Friendly
421 September 1977Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania Greece4–16–1Friendly
515 November 1977Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania Yugoslavia3–24–61978 FIFA World Cup qualification
616 February 1980Stadio San Paolo, Napoli, Italy Italy1–01–2Friendly
714 April 1982Lokomotiv Stadium, Rousse, Bulgaria Bulgaria2–12–1Friendly
81 May 1982Corvinul Stadium, Hunedoara, Romania Cyprus3–13–1UEFA Euro 1984 qualification
915 August 1982Areni Stadium, Suceava, Romania Japan3–04–0Friendly
1018 August 198223 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania Japan1–13–1Friendly
112 February 1983Alkazar Stadium, Larissa, Greece Greece1–03–1Friendly
129 March 1983Târgu Mureş Stadium, Romania Turkey3–13–1Friendly
1316 April 198323 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania Italy1–01–0UEFA Euro 1984 qualification
1412 November 1983Tsirion Stadium, Limassol, Cyprus Cyprus1–01–0UEFA Euro 1984 qualification
1522 January 1984Estadio Modelo, Guayaquil, Ecuador Ecuador1–03–1Friendly
1614 June 1984Stade Geoffroy-Guichard Saint-Étienne, France Spain1–11–1UEFA Euro 1984
178 October 1986Ramat Gan Stadium, Israel Israel2–14–2Friendly
184 March 198719 Mayıs Stadium, Ankara, Turkey Turkey2–13–1Friendly
1925 March 198723 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania Albania2–15–1UEFA Euro 1988 qualification
202 September 1987Stadion Zawiszy, Bydgoszcz, Poland Poland1–31–3Friendly
217 October 1987Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania Greece2–22–2Friendly
223 February 1988Kiryat Eliezer Stadium, Haifa, Israel Israel1–02–0Friendly
2330 March 1988Kurt-Wabbel Stadion, Halle, Germany East Germany1–13–3Friendly

Managerial statistics
As of match played 6 February 2021
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
PWDLWin %
Nancy-Lorraine July 1994 June 2000 251 92 81 78 036.65
Romania July 2000 June 2001 10 6 1 3 060.00
Sporting CP July 2001 June 2003 89 52 21 16 058.43
Rennes July 2003 June 2006 135 55 29 51 040.74
Monaco July 2006 October 2006 11 2 2 7 018.18
Al-Jazeera June 2007 June 2008 29 16 7 6 055.17
Standard Liège 9 June 2008 10 February 2010 82 42 20 20 051.22
Al-Wahda 29 May 2010 2 September 2010 1 1 0 0 100.00
Lens January 2011 May 2011 21 4 7 10 019.05
PAOK 8 June 2011 25 May 2012 51 24 14 13 047.06
Al Khor July 2012 June 2015 74 19 32 23 025.68
Al-Ittihad July 2015 November 2015 9 6 1 2 066.67
Royal Antwerp 16 June 2017 15 May 2020 118 51 33 34 043.22
KAA Gent 20 August 2020 14 September 2020 3 1 0 2 33.33
Panathinaikos 19 October 2020 present 17 11 3 3 64.71
Total 901 382 251 268 042.40

Honours

Player

Steaua Bucharest[21]

Manager

Nancy-Lorraine[22]

Sporting Clube de Portugal[22]

Al-Jazira[22]

Standard Liège[22]

Individual

References
  1. "Ladislau Boloni - Century of International Appearances". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
  2. Apostol, Eduard (29 January 2019). "Boloni îl contrazice pe Lucescu". Gazeta Sporturilor (in Romanian). Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  3. Nicoleta, Medrea (20 July 2009). "Au fost odată campioni mondiali" [Once they were world champions]. ProSport (in Romanian). Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  4. "DECRET privind conferirea Ordinului și Medaliei Meritul Sportiv" (PDF). Monitorul Oficial al României Nr. 241. 28 March 2008. p. 3. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  5. "Decorarea unor personalități ale fotbalului românesc". Administrația Prezidențială. 25 March 2008. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  6. http://eu-football.info/_player.php?id=2233
  7. "Bölöni steps down as Standard coach". UEFA.com. 10 February 2010. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  8. Bölöni appointed as head coach of Al-Wahda Archived 6 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  9. "Al-Wahda sack Boloni". FIFA.com. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
  10. "Garcia appointed new coach of Lens, replacing Boloni". FIFA.com. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  11. Συμφώνησε και υπογράφει ο Μπόλονι Archived 11 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine (in Greek)
  12. "New Al Khor coach László Bölöni arrives in Doha". QSL. 21 June 2012. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013.
  13. مقلد : لجنة الانضباط جانبها التوفيق في ايقاف بولوني (in Arabic). Al Kass. 30 January 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  14. http://www.24sata.hr/nogomet/trener-koji-je-otkrio-cristiana-u-dinamu-boloni-je-kanidat-329918
  15. "Laszlo Bölöni est le nouvel entraîneur de l'Antwerp" (in French). RTBF. 16 June 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  16. Lancelot Meulewaeter (20 August 2020). "Laszlo Bölöni est le nouvel entraîneur de La Gantoise, il a signé pour deux ans". RTBF (in French). Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  17. "Gent coach fired ahead of Champions League match". USA Today. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  18. "Νέος προπονητής της ομάδας ο Λάζλο Μπόλονι". ΠΑΕ ΠΑΝΑΘΗΝΑΪΚΟΣ (in Greek). 19 October 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  19. "ΠΑΝΑΘΗΝΑΪΚΟΣ - ΝΠΣ ΒΟΛΟΣ 1-1". pao.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  20. "Ladislau Bölöni career statistics". RomanianSoccer.ro. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  21. "Ladislau Boloni" (in Romanian). SteauaFC.com. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  22. "L. Bölöni". Soccerway. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  23. "Romania - Player of the Year Awards". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  24. "Waarom Bölöni een toptrainer is" (in Dutch). Het Nieuwsblad. 9 December 2009. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
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