 Lóránt in 1953 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Birth name | Gyula Lipovics | ||
| Date of birth | (1923-02-06)6 February 1923 | ||
| Place of birth | Kőszeg, Hungary | ||
| Date of death | 31 May 1981(1981-05-31) (aged 58) | ||
| Place of death | Thessaloniki, Greece | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position | Defender /midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1939–1941 | Kőszeg SE | ||
| 1941–1942 | Szombathelyi Haladás | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1942–1943 | Szombathelyi Haladás | ||
| 1943–1944 | Nagyváradi AC | 28 | (12) |
| 1944 | Nemzeti Vasas | 7 | (0) |
| 1945 | Libertatea Oradea | 9 | (1) |
| 1946–1947 | ITA Arad | 20 | (0) |
| 1947–1950 | Vasas | 82 | (1) |
| 1951–1956 | Honvéd | 85 | (0) |
| 1956 | Budapest Spartacus | ||
| 1956–1957 | Váci Vasas | ||
| Total | 231 | (14) | |
| International career | |||
| 1948–1955 | Hungary | 37 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1962–1963 | Honvéd | ||
| 1963 | Debrecen | ||
| 1964 | SV Rheydt | ||
| 1965–1967 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | ||
| 1967–1968 | MSV Duisburg | ||
| 1968–1969 | Tasmania Berlin | ||
| 1969–1971 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | ||
| 1971–1972 | 1. FC Köln | ||
| 1972–1974 | Kickers Offenbach | ||
| 1974 | Freiburger FC | ||
| 1975–1976 | PAOK | ||
| 1976–1977 | Eintracht Frankfurt | ||
| 1977–1978 | Bayern Munich | ||
| 1979 | Schalke 04 | ||
| 1980–1981 | PAOK | ||
Medal record | |||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Gyula Lóránt (bornGyula Lipovics, 6 February 1923 – 31 May 1981) was a Hungarianfootballer andmanager ofCroatian descent. He played as adefender andmidfielder for, among others,UTA Arad,Vasas SC,Honvéd and theHungary national team.
Regarded as one of the greatest Hungarian players of all-time, Lóránt was a prominent member of the legendary Hungarian national team during the 1950s, known as theMighty Magyars, which also includedFerenc Puskás,Zoltán Czibor,Sándor Kocsis,József Bozsik andNándor Hidegkuti.[1]
After retiring as a player, Lóránt pursued a managerial career, serving in various clubs likeHonvéd,Kaiserslautern,Köln,Eintracht Frankfurt,Bayern Munich,Schalke 04 andPAOK Thessaloniki among others.[2]
Born with the name Gyula Lipovics inKőszeg on 6 February 1923, he was the son of a police officer. He grew up with his older brother Károly (born in 1921) and his younger brother Imre (born in 1925). Their family name was changed to Lóránt in 1928. He started his education at aCatholic school and then attended BenedictineGymnasium in Kőszeg, where they placed great emphasis onphysical education and sports. He also studied at the Commercial School inSzombathely and he obtained his high school diploma in 1943. He was married twice. His first wife was named Ibolya and the second Zsófia. He had an adopted daughter, Éva Adrienne (born in 1943) and a biological daughter named Eszter (born in 1956).[3][4]
Gyula Lóránt began his football career at the age of 16, playing for his hometown club, Kőszeg SE. He then played forSzombathelyi Haladás and subsequently moved toNagyváradi AC, winning theHungarian Championship in1944. In1947, he won theRomanian Championship withUTA Arad. It was while atVasas SC, withLadislao Kubala as a teammate, that his career prospered. However, in January 1949, Hungary became acommunist state and Kubala fled the country in the back of a truck. He formed his own team,Hungaria, which was made up of fellow refugees fleeing Eastern Europe. Lóránt also planned to flee the country with three other footballers -Béla Egresi,József Mészáros and Károly Kéri - but was arrested by theState Protection Authority and imprisoned with his companions in theKistarcsa Central Internment Camp.[5]
Lóránt made his international debut on 24 October 1948 in a 5–1 away win againstRomania. In early 1949, his career was put into a halt due to his imprisonment and he was released from detention after the intervention ofGusztáv Sebes, theHungary national team coach, who considered him pivotal for the creation of a strong national side. Sebes wanted Lóránt to participate in a friendly match againstAustria and he personally guaranteed to the country's Interior MinisterJános Kádár, that his player would not abscond while inVienna. Kádár consented and Lóránt responded with a solid performance as Hungary won the game 4–3 on 16 October 1949. He subsequently joinedHonvéd, where together with six of his fellow internationals, they won threeHungarian League titles. Playing as a central defender in the legendaryMighty Magyars, he helpedHungary to becomeOlympic gold medalists in 1952,[6] to win theCentral European International Cup in 1953, to crushEngland twice in friendly encounters and to reach the1954 FIFA World Cup Final.[7][8][9] Lóránt had 37 caps in total for the Hungary national team between 1948 and 1955.
| Year | Apps |
|---|---|
| 1948 | 2 |
| 1949 | 3 |
| 1950 | 2 |
| 1952 | 9 |
| 1953 | 6 |
| 1954 | 12 |
| 1955 | 3 |
| Total | 37 |
After the end of his football career, Lóránt was accepted at the Hungarian University of Sports Science (TF) and in 1961, he obtained his coaching qualification. He pursued a managerial career, guiding teams such asHonvéd,Kaiserslautern,Köln,Eintracht Frankfurt,Bayern Munich,Schalke 04 andPAOK Thessaloniki among others. In 1965, he completed the coaching course at the renownedGerman Sport University of Cologne (DSHS). Lóránt quickly gained a reputation as a coach who implemented hard training in order to improve his teams' stamina and demanded discipline and tactical commitment from his players. During his tenure as Kaiserslautern manager (1965–67 and 1969–71), a member of the squad wasOtto Rehhagel, a tough defender, as Lóránt himself had been in the past. In 1973, the Hungarian was on the bench ofKickers Offenbach and for 39 matches he had Otto as his assistant, who was then taking his first steps in coaching. Rehhagel took over as Kickers' head coach after Lóránt's departure and has stated that he considers him his mentor.[10]
"Bundesliga matches are not like Russian elections where you can always win."
With PAOK, Lóránt won theGreek Championship in1976, the first in the club's history, having 21 wins, 7 draws and two losses in thirty matches.[11] PAOK finished the season having the best overall attack and defense in the league and also recorded some impressive wins, such as a 0–4 away victory overOlympiacos atKaraiskakis Stadium.[12] In order to renew his contract, Lóránt demanded from PAOK presidentGiorgos Pantelakis to provide the team with a proper training ground, to organize better the youth ranks' infrastructure, a transfer budget increase and a higher annual salary for himself. His requests were denied and Lóránt departed from Thessaloniki.[13] In November, he was appointed atEintracht Frankfurt, who were ranked 16th in theBundesliga at the time. With an impressive21-match unbeaten run, Lóránt led Eintracht to a 4th-place finish and qualification for the following season'sUEFA Cup, ending up two points behind championsBorussia Mönchengladbach.Jürgen Grabowski, considered one of the greatest Eintracht Frankfurt players ever, recounted in an interview how Lóránt introduced to the team from the first training session an early form ofzonal marking, a defensive strategy that was considered revolutionary back then, writing down the players' names on a blackboard and drawing chack lines.[14] He later coachedBayern Munich andSchalke 04, before returning to PAOK in the spring of 1980.[15][16][17]
Lóránt died on 31 May 1981, aged 58, while coaching PAOK from the bench during aderby against Olympiacos atToumba Stadium. He suffered a heart attack in the 16th minute of the match after PAOK'sGiorgos Koudas headed a cross wide from close range. Attempts were made to resuscitate him on the spot and he was subsequently moved to the medical room, but passed away before the ambulance arrived. PAOK players were told in the half-time break that he had to be transported to the hospital and his death was revealed to them only after the game ended. PAOK eventually won the match 1–0 with the goal of the substituteVassilis Vasilakos who was sitting next to Lóránt on the bench when he collapsed. The autopsy revealed that he had already suffered at least two other heart attacks in the past, with the last occurring approximately a week before his death.[18][19][20]
Lóránt was buried inEndingen, southern Germany. In May 2011, at the initiative of his widow and daughter, his remains were transported to Hungary and laid to rest in his birth town,Kőszeg. The Kőszeg City Museum held a memorial service at the reburial. During the ceremony, a letter by Prime MinisterViktor Orbán was read out and Gyula Lóránt was posthumously promoted to the rank ofMajor by theMinister of Defence,Csaba Hende.[21][22] The city of Kőszeg honored his memory through various ways. In 1996, the Kőszeg sports centre, where visitors can see his memorial stone, was named after him. In 1997, a memorial plaque was unveiled at his birthplace and in 1998, the posthumousHonorary Citizen Award was granted to him by the town. In 2004, a street was named after him.[23]
Hungary
gold medalNagyváradi AC
UTA Arad
Honvéd
PAOK
Order of Labor Merit of theHungarian People's Republic (1953)
Meritorious Athlete of the Hungarian People's Republic (1954)
Posthumously promoted to the rank ofMajor in theHungarian Defence Forces (2011) | ||
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| International | |
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| People | |
