A tribute to Flórián Albert who would have been 75 years old in this year

Hungary’s only Golden Ball winner, Hungarian football’s last Emperor, the 75-times-capped international striker Flórián Albert would have been seventy-five years old today. The Hungarian Football Federation (MLSZ) commemorated his life at the former great’s last resting place in the Óbudai cemetery.

MLSZ executive board member Erik Bánki addressed the attendees at the ceremony, saying: “Flórián Albert was not just an emperor on the pitch, but away from it too. He was a person who didn’t play for himself and therefore he was popular amongst the supporters too. Just as they respected him, he respected the fans too, his teammates and his friends. Albert’s loyalty to his family and the Fradi family characterised his whole life”.

Those in attendance also heard the words of Albert’s former international teammate Antal Dunai before he, Bánki and former international stars Tibor Nyilasi and Kálmán Ihász jointly laid flowers and Ferencváros Chief Executive Pál Orosz placed a wreath at the foot of Albert’s grave.

Flórián Albert was born in Hercegszántó on 15th September 1941 and started to play football in the youth section of Ferencváros – then officially known as Budapest Kinizsi – in 1952. Aged 16, Albert was already in the youth national team which finished 3rd in the 1959 UEFA tournament in Bulgaria. He only played three of the four matches there but still scored six times. The talented young forward was not even 20 years when he was called up to the full national team, almost immediately becoming a bronze medallist with Hungary’s Olympic team at the Rome Olympic football tournament.

A few days after successfully passing his final exams at the Imre Madách comprehensive school, Albert made his debut for the full national team against Sweden in the Népstadion on 28th June 1959. He went on to appear 75 times for Hungary, scoring 31 goals which is enough to place him 10th in the all-time scoring charts for his country (of subsequent players, only Ferenc Bene and Tibor Nyilasi have surpassed his tally). Albert’s final match came in Székesfehérvár on 23rd May 1974, already after his retirement from club football, when Hungary beat Yugoslavia 3-2.

Naturally most of Albert’s international success came in connection with the national team, his first big moment coming at the 1962 FIFA World Cup in Chile when he was the tournament’s joint top-scorer with four goals. Two years later he helped Hungary to the bronze medal at the European Cup of Nations in Spain and in 1966 he was a key player as Hungary defeated holders Brazil 3-1 at Goodison Park during their journey to the quarter-finals. In 1972, he helped Hungary reach the semi-finals of the European Championship in Belgium.

The best period of the one-club man’s career came between 1966 and 1968, a period during which, alongside János Farkas, Dezső Novák and Lajos Szűcs, Albert was selected to play for a World XI team in Brazil in November 1968 and scored one goal in a 2-1 against the hosts. In 1972 he was called up to a European Select XI and the next year again for a World Select team (more than a decade later he also played for a Old Boys World XI).