’Discovering Puskás’ events take place in the United Kingdom

Two events focusing on Ferenc Puskás, former captain of the Hungary national team and worldwide football legend, took place in England and Northern Ireland earlier this month as the ’Discovering Puskás’ series of events started its journey around the United Kingdom.

Firstly, a display highlighting the incredible story of one of international football’s greatest goal-scorers opened at the National Football Museum in Manchester on 2nd September, the unveiling of which took place alongside a one-hour lecture on the former Honvéd and Real Madrid forward featuring former England captain Jimmy Armfield and English Professional Footballers’ Association head Gordon Taylor in the presence of Hungarian Ambassador to the UK Péter Szabadhegy. Another participant in this captivating discussion was György Szöllősi, head of the Puskás Institute and author of the definitive new biography of Puskás which was originally published in Hungary in 2005 and being launched in English at the same event.

Ferenc Puskás was and still is regarded as a superstar. Indeed, he was one of the very best footballers ever, both in his ‘first’ 13-year career with Honvéd and as a World Cup runner-up with Hungary and his ‘second’ 9-year period with Real Madrid and Spain, who helped everyone he could; homeless people or those who needed a break, any Hungarians he met abroad…etc.

The striker was captain of the team which humbled England in two epic matches in the 1950s. He became player of the tournament at the 1954 World Cup before going into exile after the Hungarian uprising of 1956 and, at the age of 31, joining Real Madrid where he became Spanish champion five times, European Cup winner three times and was the inspiration behind Real’s victory in the first ever Intercontinental Cup in 1960.

The display of objects, a first for the country of England, was been brought together in collaboration with the Puskás Institute in Hungary. It includes Puskás’ gold medal and final-game-worn boots from the 1952 Olympics, a football from the 1954 World Cup Finals and his match-worn Real Madrid shirt, along with many other awards and trophies from his career as a player and a manager, most famously with Panathinaikos. The Institute and the National Football Museum dedicated the display to the memory of Mrs Erzsébet Puskás, widow of Ferenc, who died earlier this month aged 83.

The Puskás Institute was established together with Mrs Puskás to support and launch initiatives which help preserve Puskás’ legacy and also curates the Puskás personal collection, having already exhibited some of this wide range of memorabilia in the Santiago Bernabéu stadium in Madrid in 2013 and in Athens in 2014.

David Pearson, Deputy Director of the National Football Museum commented “This is the best collection of one of the true greats of world football ever assembled for display in the UK. We are delighted to be able to unveil it. It will be a real treat for football fans.”

Mr Szöllősi, also director of the Puskás Institute, said: “We are delighted that Ferenc Puskás, not only a Hungarian national hero but also an example for all professional footballers and one of the first real global football stars, is being honoured in this way through an exhibition at the National Football Museum in England.” To coincide with the opening, György Szöllősi launched his new biography of Ferenc Puskás, co-published by Backpage Press and Freight Press, as part of the Manchester Football Writing Festival being held that week.