Gábor Király
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Gábor Ferenc Király[1] | ||
Date of birth | [1] | 1 April 1976||
Place of birth | Szombathely, Hungary | ||
Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[1] | ||
Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1993–1997 | Haladás | 96 | (0) |
1997–2004 | Hertha BSC | 198 | (0) |
2004–2007 | Crystal Palace | 104 | (0) |
2006 | → West Ham United (loan) | 0 | (0) |
2006–2007 | → Aston Villa (loan) | 5 | (0) |
2007–2009 | Burnley | 27 | (0) |
2009 | → Bayer Leverkusen (loan) | 0 | (0) |
2009–2014 | 1860 Munich | 168 | (0) |
2014–2015 | Fulham | 4 | (0) |
2015–2019 | Haladás | 107 | (0) |
Total | 709 | (0) | |
International career | |||
1993–1994 |
Hungary U18 | 6 | (0) |
1996–1997 | Hungary U21 | 5 | (0) |
1998–2016 | Hungary | 108 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Gábor Ferenc Király (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈɡaːbor ˈfɛrɛnt͡s ˈkiraːj]; born 1 April 1976) is a Hungarian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
In his 25-year-long playing career, Király spent most of his career in Germany and England. He signed for
Since making his international debut against Austria in 1998, Király amassed a record 108 caps for the Hungary national team. He represented his nation at UEFA Euro 2016, and on 14 June 2016, he became the oldest player to represent their country at a UEFA European Championship at 40 years and 74 days, beating the previous record of 39 years and 91 days held by Lothar Matthäus.[2] The record was later extended to 40 years and 86 days on 26 June 2016.[3] Király retired from international football after the tournament.[4]
Throughout his career, Király was known for wearing a recognisable pair of grey tracksuit bottoms instead of shorts in almost every match he played.
Club career
Early career
Born in Szombathely, Király began his career with local club Szombathelyi Haladás in 1993, moving to Bundesliga club Hertha BSC in 1997.
Hertha BSC
At Hertha, he was initially the second-choice keeper, but after a streak of seven matches without a win, he was chosen over the first-choice goalkeeper Christian Fiedler for Hertha's home match against 1. FC Köln on 28 September 1997 in which they managed their first Bundesliga victory that season. He subsequently became the first-choice keeper and Fiedler did not appear in the Bundesliga for more than two years, until February 2000, when Király missed seven league matches due to an injury. He also appeared in 10 UEFA Champions League matches for Hertha in the 1999–2000 season of the competition.
However, after
Crystal Palace
On 18 May 2006, Király made a transfer request. With the signing of
New manager
Király had a two-week loan spell at Premier League side West Ham United from mid-November to early December 2006 in which he did not make an appearance, spending three matches on the bench as an unused substitute.
He then returned to Palace, but almost immediately left for another loan spell at
By the end of January 2007, he made a return in the Palace goal, with his first league match being a goalless draw away at Sunderland on 30 January 2007. Király continued in the team until the end of the season, when Speroni stepped in with three games remaining. After the last game, Taylor announced that Gábor had left the club in the week before the match.
Burnley
Király joined Burnley on 30 May 2007 after being released by Crystal Palace.[8]
In January 2009, Király left Burnley on loan to Bayer Leverkusen as cover for their injured second choice keeper.[9]
1860 Munich
In June 2009, Király was released by Burnley at the end of his contract alongside
.After the second match of the 2014–15 season Király was suspended to the second squad along with his teammates Vitus Eicher, Daniel Adlung, Yannick Stark and captain Julian Weigl. Király had assaulted Gary Kagelmacher during a match, while the other four players had been out drinking late at night and were overheard talking negatively about the club.[11][12]
Fulham
On 28 August 2014, it was announced that Király had signed for the English
Retirement
Király announced his retirement from playing in May 2019.[15]
International career
Király made his debut for the
On 12 November 2015, he earned his 100th cap for Hungary in a 1–0 win away to Norway in the first leg of their UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying play-off in Oslo.[17][18] He was the second Hungarian to reach the milestone, after József Bozsik of the Golden Team.[19] Király was eventually called up in Hungary's UEFA Euro 2016 squad.[20]
On 14 June 2016, Király played in the first group match in a 2–0 victory over
Tracksuit trousers
Throughout his career, Király has stood out for his gimmick of wearing a recognisable pair of grey tracksuit bottoms instead of shorts in almost every match he has played since 1996;[27] several commentators have taken note of his unusual attire.[28] He said in an interview that they are grey in colour because they bring him good luck.[29]
In an interview with
Király SZE
In 2006 Király founded his own association football club, Király SZE.
Career statistics
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
Hungary | 1998 | 6 | 0 |
1999 | 9 | 0 | |
2000 | 7 | 0 | |
2001 | 8 | 0 | |
2002 | 9 | 0 | |
2003 | 7 | 0 | |
2004 | 6 | 0 | |
2005 | 10 | 0 | |
2006 | 7 | 0 | |
2007 | 0 | 0 | |
2008 | 0 | 0 | |
2009 | 1 | 0 | |
2010 | 7 | 0 | |
2011 | 7 | 0 | |
2012 | 2 | 0 | |
2013 | 3 | 0 | |
2014 | 2 | 0 | |
2015 | 9 | 0 | |
2016 | 8 | 0 | |
Total | 108 | 0 |
Honours
Hertha Berlin
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1-84596-324-8.
- ^ "Hungary's Gabor Kiraly becomes oldest European Championship player".
- ^ UEFA.com. "UEFA EURO 2016 - Hungary-Belgium - UEFA.com".
- ^ "Gabor Kiraly to retire from Hungary duty following Euro 2016". ESPN FC. 3 August 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
- RSSSF.com. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
- ^ "Gábor Király". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
- ^ "Man Utd 2–1 Aston Villa". BBC News. 7 January 2007. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
- ^ "Burnley recruit goalkeeper Kiraly". BBC Sport. 30 May 2007. Retrieved 30 May 2007.
- ^ "Kiraly Looks Set for Loan to Bayer Leverkusen". Vital Burnley. Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
- ^ "Three Released As Retained List Announced". www.BurnleyFootballClub.com. Burnley FC. 1 June 2009. Archived from the original on 5 June 2009. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
- ^ "tz.de Löwen-Spieler feierten nach FCK-Pleite bis in die Nacht" (in German). Retrieved 11 August 2014.
- ^ "dieblaue24.com: Party und Lästereien! Ein Taxifahrer verpfiff die Löwen-Profis" (in German). Retrieved 12 August 2014.
- ^ "Gabor Kiraly to join Fulham in London". Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- ^ "Gabor Kiraly: Fulham sign ex-Crystal Palace goalkeeper". BBC Sport. 28 August 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
- ^ "Haladás: itt a vége – Király Gábor visszavonul!". nemzetisport.hu. Nemzeti Sport. 22 May 2019.
- RSSSF.com. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
- ^ "Norway 0–1 Hungary". BBC Sport. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
- UEFA.com. 12 November 2015.
- ^ "Europeo, Norvegia-Ungheria 0–1 Kleinheisler condanna i padroni di casa" [European, Norway 0–1 Hungary: Kleinheisler condemns the hosts]. La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 12 November 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
- ^ "Hungary on the offensive with EURO squad". UEFA.com. 31 May 2016.
- UEFA.com.
- ^ "Hungary's Gabor Kiraly becomes oldest European Championship player". ESPN. 14 June 2016.
- UEFA.com.
- UEFA.com.
- ^ "Who is the oldest player to have appeared at a EURO?". UEFA. 24 February 2020.
- ^ "Játékossors: 107 – Király Gábor lemondta a válogatottságot". Nemzeti Sport.
- ^ "Kiraly: So much has changed". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ^ Márk, Herczeg (15 June 2016). "Király Gábor és a saras mackónadrágja az Eb sztárja".
- ^ "Sportsworld – Euro 2016: Gabor Kiraly – Hungary's record breaker & his tracksuit bottoms? – BBC World Service".
- ^ "'Pyjama Man' no laughing matter for Hungary". uefa.com. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
- ^ "UEFA EURO 2016 – Gábor Király". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 27 June 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
- ^ Gábor Király. National Football Teams
- ^ "Ligapokal, 2001, Finale". dfb.de. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ^ "Ligapokal, 2002, Finale". dfb.de. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
External links
- Gábor Király – FIFA competition record (archived)
- Gábor Király – UEFA competition record (archive)
- Gábor Király at National-Football-Teams.com
- Gábor Király profile at magyarfutball.hu
- Gábor Király at Soccerbase
- Gábor Király at WorldFootball.net
- Gábor Király at fussballdaten.de (in German)