Bologna’s Hungarian connection: from Koch to Nagy
Adam Nagy is the eighth Hungarian to play for Bologna, over 24 years since compatriot Lajos Detari became the seventh. A refined player of exceptional skill, the much-loved creative forward was an icon for a whole generation of supporters but his wild streak and his counter-productive laziness limited the level at which his extraordinary quality could shine. Despite his wonder goals, for example against Brescia, Bari and Lucchese, he was relegated with Bologna in 1991 and, after an anonymous year in Serie B, he moved to Ancona.
It seemed as though there was a cannon in the right boot of Stefano Mike Mayer, a powerful centre forward who learned from Cargneli and then took the place of Biavati on the wing to become the Rossoblu’s stampeding goalscorer of the ‘40s and ‘50s. He finished with 53 goals in 116 appearances and still holds the record for the most goals in a single match for Bologna thanks to his five strikes against Livorno in a 6-2 win during the 1948/49 season.
In the same season, winger Willy Sipos arrived at the club from Ferencvaros but failed to make an impact. There was a much happier experience for his fellow wide man Bela Sarosi. The Hungarian was a focal point in attack and played for Bologna in the three seasons following the war. Just after the club’s first Scudetto 20 years earlier, Magyars Klaus Urik and Lajos Weber, an attacker and a midfielder respectively, came to Bologna but were quickly forced to return to their homeland after the Carta di Viareggio declaration banned foreign footballers in 1926.
Even further back in time, our club’s first Hungarian player and first ever goalkeeper, Daniel Koch, made his debut on the 20th March 1910 against Sempre Avanti and Virtus Bologna. The big Hungarian student, who studied in Bologna, kept goal for the first two of 3668 official matches and on that day helped the club to the Emilia Romagna title.
Regarding coaches, Gyula Lelovich won Bologna’s first international title when the great footballing scholar helped the club to the Central European International Cup in 1932. Hungary was a hotbed for master tacticians at this point and several came to Serie A to spread their professional and innovative methods. Among those who came, Lajos Kovacs, Jozsef Viola and our new midfielder’s namesake Jozsef Nagy all had spells at Bologna. As a side note, Gyorgy Sarosi, the brother of the above-mentioned Bela, was called on by Dell’Ara to resolve a difficult situation from the Rossoblu bench in 1957. But without doubt the greatest of all, for how much he left to Bologna and for his tragic personal life, was Arpad Weisz. A fine motivator, a great man-manager, a great influence and a football expert, his Bologna side was the strongest ever and won the Scudetto in 1936 and 1937 as well as the Paris Expo Tournament.
