Béla Guttmann

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The native form of this personal name is Guttmann Béla. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
Béla Guttmann
Guttmann in 1953
Personal information
Full name Béla Guttmann
Date of birth (1899-01-27)27 January 1899[1]
Place of birth Budapest,[1] Austria-Hungary
Date of death 28 August 1981(1981-08-28) (aged 82)[1]
Place of death Vienna,[1] Austria
Position(s) Centre-half[2]
Youth career
1917–1919 Törekvés SE
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1919–1920 Törekvés SE 17 (0)
1921–1922 MTK Hungária 16 (1)
1922–1926 Hakoah Wien 96 (8)
1926 Brooklyn Wanderers
1926–1929 New York Giants 83 (2)
1929–1930 New York Hakoah 21 (0)
1930 New York Soccer Club 22 (0)
1931–1932 Hakoah All-Stars 50 (0)
1932–1933 Hakoah Wien 4 (0)
International career
1921–1924 Hungary[1] 4 (1)
Managerial career
1933–1935
SC Hakoah Wien
1935–1937 Enschede
1937–1938
Hakoah Wien
1938–1939 Újpest
1945 Vasas
1946 Ciocanul București
1947 Újpest
1947–1948 Kispest
1949–1950 Padova
1950–1951
Triestina
1953 Quilmes
1953
APOEL
1953–1955
AC Milan
1955–1956
Vicenza
1956–1957 Honvéd
1957–1958 São Paulo
1958–1959
Porto
1959–1962 Benfica
1962
Peñarol
1964 Austria
1965–1966 Benfica
1966–1967 Servette
1967
Panathinaikos
1973 Austria Wien
1973
Porto
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Béla Guttmann (Hungarian:

Nazi slave labor camp where he was tortured; he survived the Holocaust
.

Before the war, he played as a

SC Hakoah Wien, and several clubs in the United States. Guttmann also played for the Hungary national football team, including at the 1924 Olympic Games.[4]

Guttmann coached in ten countries from 1933 to 1974, and won ten national championships and, most notably, two back-to-back

1961 and in 1962
.

He pioneered the

Eusébio. However, throughout his career he was never far from controversy. Widely travelled, as both a player and coach, he rarely stayed at a club longer than two seasons, and was quoted as saying "the third season is fatal". He was sacked at Milan while they were top of Serie A
, and he walked out on Benfica after they reportedly refused a request for a pay rise, allegedly leaving the club with a curse.

Early life

Guttmann was born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary, and was Jewish.[5] His parents, Ábrahám and Eszter were dance teachers.[6][7] He became a trained dance instructor himself, at 16 years of age.[8][6] He obtained a Psychology degree in Austria.[6]

Playing career

Club career

Guttmann was a prominent member of the

Hungarian League titles in 1920 and 1921.[4][10]

Hakoah Wien
period (1925)

In 1922 Guttmann moved to

Austrian League.[4] In April 1926 the SC Hakoah Wien squad sailed to New York to begin a ten-match tour of the United States.[12] On 1 May a crowd of 46,000 watched them play an American Soccer League XI at the Polo Grounds, a US record for a soccer game until 1977.[10][13][14] The ASL team won 3–0. At least six of the Hakoah players were later killed in the Holocaust.[14]

Following the tour Guttmann, who was Hakoah's most prominent player, and several of his teammates decided to stay on in the US.

American Soccer League (ASL), playing 83 games and scoring two goals over two seasons.[4][10] In 1928, the Giants were suspended from the ASL as part of the "Soccer War", a dispute pitting the ASL and United States Soccer Federation.[15]

Guttmann and the Giants joined the

U.S. Open Cup (then known as National Challenge Cup).[16][17]

After a merger with Brooklyn Hakoah, they became the Hakoah All-Stars in 1930. In the fall of 1930 Guttmann rejoined the Giants, now known as the New York Soccer Club, but was back at the All-Stars in the spring of 1931 where he finished his career as a player.[18] When he retired as a player he was 32 years old, and had played 176 ASL games.[10]

As well as playing football, while in New York, Guttmann also taught dance, bought into a speakeasy, invested in the stock market, and almost lost everything after the Wall Street Crash of 1929.[19][20][21]

Hungarian international

1924 national team; Károly Fogl, Zoltán Opata, Ferenc Hirzer, Rudolf Jeny, József Eisenhoffer, Béla Guttmann, Gyula Mándi, Gábor Obitz, József Braun, György Orth, János Biri, and Gyula Kiss

Between 1921 and 1924, Guttmann also played six times for the Hungary national football team, scoring on his debut on 5 June 1921 in a 3–0 win against Germany. Later in the same month he also played against a Southern Germany XI. His remaining four appearances all came in May 1924 in games against Switzerland, Saarland, Poland, and Egypt. The latter two were at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. During the preparations for the competition Guttmann objected to the fact that there were more officials than players in the Hungary squad.[22] He also complained that the hotel was more suitable for socialising than match preparation, and to demonstrate his disapproval he hung dead rats on the doors of the travelling officials.[21]

Coaching career

Guttmann coached two dozen teams in ten countries, from 1933 to 1974, and won two European Cups, and ten national championships.[23][10] He also coached the national teams of Hungary, Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, Brazil, Uruguay, and Portugal.[10] As a coach, tactically he pioneered the 4–2–4 formation, and had his teams play fearless attacking football.[24][25] In addition, he required that his players follow his regime of diet, rigorous fitness, and hard training.[25][26][27]

Return to Europe; Nazi forced labor camp

Guttmann returned to Europe in 1932 and in the years before the outbreak of the

Second World War he coached teams in Austria, The Netherlands, and Hungary. He had spells with his former club SC Hakoah Wien, and then Dutch side SC Enschede.[5]

He then had his first serious success with

European Cup).[28][11] Shortly thereafter, anti-Jewish laws introduced by the Hungarian government ensured Guttmann lost his job.[11]

During the

Ernest Erbstein, another famous Jewish-Hungarian coach.[29][4][11][20] His 78-year-old father Abraham, older sister Szeren, and wider family were murdered in Auschwitz.[29][11] For many years the story of what happened to him during the Holocaust was unclear, until David Bolchover wrote about it in his biography of Guttman, titled The Greatest Comeback.[31]

After the war Guttmann briefly took charge at Budapest side Vasas SC from July 1945–1946.[21][32]

He then joined Ciocanul in Romania in 1946.[33] Due to food shortages, Guttmann insisted his salary be paid in vegetables.[33][32] He subsequently walked out on the Romanian club after a director attempted to intervene in team selection.[19] German journalist Hardy Grune believed that he was frustrated with the corruption in the Romanian soccer world.[32]

Guttmann then in early 1947 rejoined Újpest FC, then known as Újpesti TE.[32] He won another Hungarian League title.[32]

He then succeeded

Ferenc Puskás Sr. as coach at Hungarian side Kispest AC. In November 1948, Guttmann attempted to take off fullback Mihály Patyi at whose ungentlemanly play he was furious, leaving the team with 10 players.[30][25] Encouraged by the team captain, Ferenc Puskás Jr, Patyi remained on the pitch and Guttmann retired to the stands, reading a racing paper, refusing to coach the team, quitting on the spot.[6][30] This was his final game in charge of the team, and he departed soon after the falling out.[32]

Italy

Like many other Hungarian footballers and coaches, Guttmann spent time in Italy. He first coached for spells with

U.S. Triestina Calcio
.

Guttmann was then appointed manager of

Vicenza Calcio
.

South America

Guttmann first went to

CR Flamengo, Botafogo
, and a Flamengo / Botafogo XI.

Guttmann then stayed on in Brazil and took charge in 1957 of

Uruguayan League
title that very year.

Portugal

A statue of Béla Guttmann holding a replica of the European Cup in each arm

In 1958, Guttmann arrived in Portugal and embarked on the most successful spell of his career. He took charge of

Portuguese League titles in 1959.[11]

The following season, he jumped ship and joined Lisbon side Benfica.

Real Madrid 5–3.[37] After the game, he was held aloft by fans.[6]

Legend has it that Guttmann signed Eusébio after a chance meeting in a barber shop.

José Carlos Bauer, one of his successors at São Paulo. The Brazilian team were on tour in Portugal, and the coach mentioned an outstanding player he had seen while they toured Mozambique.[11] Eusébio had also attracted the interest of Sporting CP. Guttmann moved quickly and signed the then 19-year-old for Benfica.[38]

To celebrate Benfica's 110th birthday, a statue of Guttmann holding his two European Cups was unveiled. The statue made by Hungarian sculptor László Szatmári Juhos was placed at door 18 of the Estádio da Luz.[39]

"The curse of Béla Guttmann"

After the

1990) but did not win any.[43] Before the 1990 final, played in Vienna, Eusébio reportedly prayed at Guttmann's grave and asked for the curse to be broken.[33][44]

According to

Benfica's under-19 team became European youth champions by winning the 2021–22 edition, thus ending the superstition.[42][45][46]

Honours

Player

MTK Hungária FC

SC Hakoah Wien

New York Hakoah

  • 1929

Manager

Újpest FC/Újpesti TE

São Paulo

Porto

  • 1958–59

Benfica

Peñarol

Panathinaikos

  • 1966–67

Individual

See also

References

  1. ^
    Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
    . Retrieved 12 March 2009.
  2. ^ Jonathan Wilson (17 January 2007). "Chelsea be warned: a Guttman is hard to find". The Guardian.
  3. ^ See Guttmann's birth certificate.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Béla Guttmann". Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.
  5. ^
    ISBN 9781561710287
    – via Google Books.
  6. ^ a b c d e Ray, John. "Bela Guttmann : The Original Jose Mourinho". Bleacher Report.
  7. ^ Jack Porter (28 August 2020). "Bela Guttmann and the European Curse That Could Last A Century For Benfica; The legendary manager's legacy with the Portuguese giants still remains today". The Sportsman.
  8. ^ a b James Masters (16 May 2013). "Benfica and 'the curse of Bela Guttmann'". CNN.
  9. ^ Béla Guttmann at nela.hu
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h Joseph Siegman (2020). Jewish Sports Legends; The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Revolutionary coach who survived Nazi labour camp to become world's first superstar manager". Sportal – World Sports News. 27 September 2019.
  12. ^ a b c d Chris Wright (20 March 2020). "Spanish flu spawned Benfica legend". The Portugal News.
  13. ^ a b Gabriel Kuhn (2011). Soccer Vs. the State; Tackling Football and Radical Politics[permanent dead link]
  14. ^ a b Kevin E. Simpson (2016). Soccer Under the Swastika; Stories of Survival and Resistance During the Holocaust
  15. ^ Colin Jose (1998). The American Soccer League; The Golden Years of American Soccer 1921–1931
  16. ^ Encyclopaedia Judaica, Vol. 15, 1996.
  17. ^ Frank Dell’Apa (24 August 2019). "The Benz' Date with Open Cup History". US Soccer.
  18. ISBN 0-8108-3429-4
    . ().
  19. ^ a b "Bela Guttmann: The Coach, The Curse & The Lament of The Eagles". Sports Nova. 24 September 2019. Archived from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  20. ^ a b Alan McDougall (2020). Contested Fields; A Global History of Modern Football
  21. ^
    ISBN 9781785902642
    – via Google Books.
  22. ^ "Béla Guttmann". Olympedia. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  23. ^ Daniel Sugarman (25 September 2017). "Biography of Béla Guttmann longlisted for William Hill Sports Book of the Year award; The football manager survived the Holocaust and went on to win two European cups with Benfica, before supposedly putting a curse on the team," The Jewish Chronicle.
  24. ^ Bolchover, David (27 September 2019). "Coach who survived Nazi labour camp to become world's first superstar manager". Mirror.
  25. ^ a b c "The Blessings of Bela Guttman". Football Bloody Hell. 15 February 2019.
  26. ^ "Football’s greatest comeback; David Bolchover's new book examines the life and legacy of legendary football coach Bela Guttmann," The Jewish Chronicle, 2 June 2017.
  27. ^ "Crown & 'curse': Benfica's jinx after Eusebio magic". Telegraph India. 5 January 2020.
  28. ISBN 9788566605679
    – via Google Books.
  29. ^ a b c d e Duggan, Keith (22 July 2017). "The Greatest Comeback review: a sombre salute to Béla Guttmann". The Irish Times.
  30. ^ a b c Chris Deeley (16 July 2019). "Bela Guttmann: The Dance Instructor Who Changed Football Forever (and Managed...Just Everyone)". 90min.com.
  31. ^ Richards, Huw. "When Saturday Comes – The Greatest Comeback: From genocide to football glory by David Bolchover". www.wsc.co.uk.
  32. ^
    ISBN 978-1568587844
    .
  33. ^ a b c d e f g h Alan McDougall (2020). Contested Fields; A Global History of Modern Football
  34. ISBN 9781473537965
    – via Google Books.
  35. ^ Jose, Colin. "From Hakoah to Benfica" Archived 6 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine. National Soccer Hall of Fame.
  36. ISBN 972-99074-0-4
  37. ISBN 9781326406615
    – via Google Books.
  38. ^ "Eusebio – A Footballing Legend". BBC. 25 January 1942. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  39. ^ "Rui Gomes da Silva: "A nossa ideia foi trazer Béla Guttmann para o estádio"". Record (in Portuguese). 28 February 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  40. ^ Alex Philpott (17 May 2014). "Béla Guttmann and the curse of Benfica". WorldSoccer.
  41. ^ Santos, Cruz dos (6 April 1963). "De Guttman" [From Guttman]. A Bola (in Portuguese). p. 5. O Benfica, nesta altura, está bem servido e não precisa de mim. Vai ganhar o Campeonato Nacional e voltará a ser campeão da Europa.
  42. ^ a b c d e Tomaz, João (11 May 2022). "Morreu a maldição que nunca existiu" [The curse that never existed has died]. S.L. Benfica (in Portuguese). Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  43. ^ Gardner, Paul (15 May 2014). "Brazen goalkeeper cheating helps Sevilla win Europa League". SoccerAmerica. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  44. ^ "Top 10 footballing hoodoos – Bela Guttmann curses Benfica". Goal.
  45. ^ "Benfica ends 60-year European wait with Youth League title". Washington Post. Associated Press. 25 April 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  46. ^ "El Benfica rompe la maldición de Béla Guttman conquistando la Youth League" [Benfica break Béla Guttman's curse by conquering Youth League]. Marca (in Spanish). 25 April 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  47. ^ "Intercontinental Cup 1961". FIFA. 7 May 2007. Archived from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  48. ^ Andy Brassell (5 August 2013). "Greatest Managers, No. 16: Bela Guttmann". ESPN.
  49. ^ "Top 50 des coaches de l'historie". France Football. 19 March 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.

Bibliography

General

External links

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