History of Újpest FC

Early years

The club was founded on 16 June 1885 by school teacher János Goll in Újpest, a separate city in those times, just next to the borders of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, under the name Újpesti Torna Egylet (Újpesti TE). It was formed first as a general athletic club, performing gymnastics and fencing, and their motto was "Soundness, Strength, Harmony" (Hungarian: Épség, Erő, Egyetértés). In 1899 a football club was formed in the city of Újpest under the name Újpesti FC and with the same colours: purple and white. The first official match of Újpesti FC was a 1:1 draw on 29 April 1900 against III. Kerületi TVE. In 1901 the two clubs (UTE and Újpesti FC) merged and formed the football division of Újpesti TE and the club joined the second division of the newly formed Hungarian League. Újpest is ever since one of two teams in Hungary that have never missed a season since the beginnings of league games in the country.

Újpest were promoted to the first division in 1904 and they have managed to play on top flight ever since except for the season of 1911–12 when they finished as champions of the second division after a one-year relegation.

The first golden era

The club built the new Megyeri road stadium in 1922, which marked the opening of a new era of medal collection. The legendary "Fogl-gate" (Fogl-gát in Hungarian), a massive defending formation of brothers Károly Fogl II and József Fogl III for both the national team and Újpest was the key point for the club's successes. From 1926, after the introduction of professional football in Hungary, the football team was playing under the name Újpest FC. The late 20's and 30's brought the first golden age of the club, marked by finishing on top of the Hungarian first division 5 times and international cup success, including two Mitropa Cup titles in 1929 and 1939, and also the Cup of Nations title in 1930. The team finished on one of the first three positions in every season between 1926 and 1942, and played in five cup finals during the 20's and 30's.

Újpest gave 5 players for the World Cup of 1938 to silver medalist Hungary including György Szűcs, Antal Szalay, István Balogh I, Jenő Vincze, and the rising star of Hungarian football, Gyula Zsengellér.

After World War II

The first years after World War II saw the second golden era of Újpest, and saw the club on the top of the championship three times in a row, once even giving 9 players to the Hungarian national team. Players like Ferenc Szusza, Béla Egresi, Sándor Balogh II, István Nyers or Mihály Nagymarosi were setting records of winning 30 consecutive games, or scoring 187 goals in one single season.

In 1950 the communist government chose Újpest as official club of the police and renamed them Budapesti Dózsa (after György Dózsa), a fairly common practice in Eastern Bloc countries (except that in other places "police clubs" were all named Dinamo/Dynamo) and two decades of moderate league and cup success followed. In 1951, defender Sándor Szűcs, after being executed by the communist government for high treason during a secret pre-arranged trial, became a martyr of the club. As a result of the less successful years, Mihály Tóth was just one of two Újpest players in 1954 World Cup squad, and the only one to play in the final. During the 1956 revolution, the club renamed itself Újpesti TE; however, after the revolution was pulled down by the Soviets, the Hungarian government – unlike for FTC or MTK – didn't let the club use their old name. This resulted the name Újpesti Dózsa, which was referring both to the district and to the police. After 13 years without a league title, Újpest became champions of Hungary in 1959–60, and reached the Cup Winners' Cup semi-final in 1962 with the help of the new star, János Göröcs.

Magic Újpest

The year 1967, when manager Lajos Baróti was signed by the club leaders, marked the start of a new golden era. After two silver medals, Újpest won the league in 1969 and played in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final in the same year (and lost with a result of 2–6 on aggregate against Newcastle United). The team started an amazing 7 wins in a row in the league, Újpest won all the seasons from 1969 to 1975, setting incredible post-war records like scoring exactly 500 goals in the seven seasons or losing only 4 home matches in 10 seasons. The club enjoyed success in the other domestic competition, winning the Hungarian Cup for the first time in 1969, and also in 1970 & 1975. On international level besides the Inter-Cities Faris Cup final, Újpesti Dózsa reached the European Cup quarter-finals in three consecutive year after 1972 and once even played in the semi-final in 1974, where only the later winners Bayern Munich could put a stop to the campaign. The club was considered one of the best teams in Europe beating such teams like English champions Leeds United in 1969, Spanish champion Valencia CF in 1971, Scottish champion Celtic Glasgow in 1972, or Portuguese top team Benfica in 1973.

The 'landmark' of the team – as always for Újpest – was goal scoring. The famous Fazekas – Göröcs – Bene – Dunai II – Zámbó attacking formation, invented and led by manager Lajos Baróti, scored dozens of goals, attracted thousands of football fans both in Hungary and outside the country. Bene became 5 times topscorer of Hungary, Dunai II and Fazekas won the Silver boot award for scoring the second most goals in the continent.

After Göröcs, Bene and Dunai left the team, András Törőcsik and László Fekete joined Újpest to reach two more league titles in 1978 and 1979 with former player Pál Várhidi as the head coach. Törőcsik was considered a "magician" by the fans of the club, making unbelievable dribbles, scoring amaizing goals and getting unexpected assists to teammates, while Fekete also won the European Silver boot.

1980s–1990s

The general decline of Hungarian football reached the club in the early '80s, and league results worsened, winning only one silver and one bronze medal during the decade. However, the team was more successful in the cups, winning the Hungarian Cup in 1982, 1983 and 1987. Some good results were also reached by Újpest on International level, beating UEFA Cup title-holder IFK Göteborg, German top team 1. FC Köln and Cup Winners' Cup title holder Aberdeen, which also meant reaching the Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final in 1984.

After the fall of communism, the club changed their name back to Újpesti TE. The club started the new decade with a championship title in 1989–90, and with cup success in 1992. The team also won the first ever edition of the Hungarian Super Cup in 1992. However, the league results were again poor, with a 14th position and relegation/promotion playoff games bottom in 1993. After securing their first league position, better results started to come. The team, including players György Véber and Zoltán Szlezák, reached the 2nd and 3rd positions in the middle of the decade, and finally won the Hungarian league in 1997–98, after Zoltán Kovács and Miklós Herczeg joined the squad.

The 2000s

With the fall of the communist government and the termination of state sponsorship there came financial problems as well, just like for all other Hungarian football teams. Professionalism was once again introduced in Hungarian football in 1998, thus the club changed their name again, but this time to the well known Újpest FC. However, hard times reached the club soon, and the key players left Újpest due to the lack of money. The situation became better after 2001, when the stadium went over a complete renovation, and the club's new owners invested more money in football. In December 2001 Róbert Glázer was appointed as the new coach of the club. Their efforts resulted in a new Cup beating Szombathelyi Haladás in the final with a last-minute goal in and Supercup title in 2002, but the team finished in the middle of the league table for years.

2002-03 season

In the qualifying round of the 2002-03 UEFA Cup season Újpest beat KÍ Klaksvík 3-2 on aggregate. In the first round Újpest faced with the French Paris Saint-Germain F.C. and lost to them 4-0 on aggregate.

2006-07 season

In August 2006 former Újpest legend Ferenc Szusza died at the age of 82. He is still considered as one of the best players ever of the club. Szusza scored 393 goals in 463 matches. The club named their stadium Szusza Ferenc Stadium in order to honour the feat of their former player. In 2006 the club appointed the former Hungary and Malaysia Bertalan Bicskei as the new coach. In the 2006-07 season the club finished fourth and did not qualify for any international cups.

2007-08 season

In the 2007-08 season the club finished fifth and could not qualify for any international cups.

2008-09 season

In the 2008-09 season the club finished second and therefore qualified for the UEFA Europa League. Újpest was in rivalry with Debrecen in the Hungarian League but finally the Eastern Hungarian club won the championship.

2009-10 season

In the 2009-10 Europa League Újpest played with FC Steaua Bucureşti in the second round. The first match was won by the Romanian club by 2-0 and Újpest lost at home 2-1 at the Szusza Ferenc Stadium. In the 2009-10 Hungarian League the club finished fourth and were unable to qualify for the international cups.

2010-11 season

In April 2010, Willie McStay resigned from his coaching position after six defeats in a row. The club appointed Géza Mészöly was appointed as the coach of the club. The club finished 6th in the Hungarian League and the most memorable match was against the arch-rival Ferencvárosi TC at the Szusza Ferenc Stadium where they beat Ferencváros 6-0. However, the club could not enter the international turf in the 2011-12 season.

2011-12 season

The 2011-12 season did not start well for the club since their former coach Bertalan Bicskei was found dead in Liberia. In July 2011, the former Real Madrid and Netherlands coach Leo Beenhakker was appointed as the new sporting director of the club. In August 2011, Géza Mészöly was removed from his position of coach after the club lost their first four matches in the 2011-12 Hungarian League season and Zoran Spisljak was appointed.