László Budai

László Budai (19 July 1928 – 2 July 1983), also known as László Bednarik, or Budai II, was a former Hungarian footballer and coach. Budai was born in Budapest and played as a midfielder and forward for Ferencvárosi TC, Honvéd and Hungary. During the 1950s he was a member of the legendary Hungarian national team known as the Mighty Magyars. Other members of the team included Ferenc Puskás, Zoltán Czibor, Sándor Kocsis, József Bozsik and Nándor Hidegkuti. The stadium of Rákospalotai EAC was named after him.

László Budai
Budai in 1953
Personal information
Full name László Budai
Date of birth (1928-07-19)19 July 1928
Place of birth Budapest, Hungary
Date of death 2 July 1983(1983-07-02) (aged 54)
Position(s) Winger
Youth career
1942–1947 BRSC
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1947–1948 Huttler Olaj SC
1948–1950 Ferencvárosi TC 60 (25)
1950 ÉDOSZ
1951–1961 Honvéd 221 (49)
Total 281 (74)
National team
1949–1959 Hungary 39 (10)
Teams managed
1962–1967 ETI SC
1967–1980 Kossuth KFSE
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

During his career, Budai won four Hungarian League titles. The first of these came at Ferencvárosi TC in 1949 where his teammates included Zoltán Czibor and Sándor Kocsis. In January 1949 when Hungary became a communist state, Ferencváros were deemed unsuitable to become an army or police club because of its right-wing and nationalist traditions. Instead they were taken over by ÉDOSZ, a food workers union and their best players, including Budai, Czibor and Kocsis, were conscripted into the army team, Honvéd. While at Honvéd, Budai won a further three league titles and the Mitropa Cup.

Hungarian International

Budai made his debut for Hungary on 2 May 1949 in a 6–1 win against Austria in the Central European Championship. He subsequently played 39 times for Hungary and scored 10 goals. Four of these goals came in a 12–0 win against Albania on 24 September 1950. As one of the legendary Mighty Magyars, he helped Hungary become Olympic Champions in 1952 and Central European Champions in 1953. He also played in the Hungary side that defeated England 6-3 at Wembley Stadium. During the 1954 FIFA World Cup he played in the group stage in the 9–0 win against South Korea and in the semi-final against Uruguay. However, despite an excellent performance in the latter game, he was dropped for the final to make room for Ferenc Puskás. He also played two games at the 1958 World Cup.

Honours

Hungary

Ferencváros TC

Honvéd FC

Sources
  • Behind The Curtain - Travels in Eastern European Football: Jonathan Wilson (2006)

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