Barney Corkhill's A Tribute To... series this time looks at football. In this series I look at legends from sport and pay tribute to them.
Today's tribute is to perhaps the greatest shooter in football history, the man who was the star of the all-conquering "Magical Magyars" and the man who played for two different national sides—Ferenc Puskas.
His deadly accurate left-foot struck fear into his opponents worldwide, and his short, stocky frame meant he was often under-estimated, and overlooked, much to his opponents' peril.
Born on April 2nd, 1927 in Budapest, Hungary, Ferenc Purczeld Biro was something of a child prodigy. A supporter of Arsenal in his youth, Puskas' dad lied about his son's age and used a fake name just so he could include him in the youth team he coached, Kispest AC.
It wasn't long before the 12-year-old became the star in a team of players much older than him. By the time he was 15 he was pushing for a first team place in Kispest AC's full team.
His chance came a few months later when a now 16-year-old Puskas made his professional debut. He soon became a regular player and scorer for them, so much so that within a year of his arrival on the scene, there was talk of an international call-up.
That call-up came in 1945, just two years after making his first appearance for Kispest. At just 18 years old, Puskas made his debut for Hungary, scoring in a 5-2 win over Austria. The legend of Ferenc Puskas had begun.
While many thought that Puskas' goal tally would soon run out, it just kept on going. The youngster was scoring for fun, and, in the 1945/46, 1946/47, and 1947/48 seasons for Kispest he averaged more than a goal a game, even managing 50 goals in 32 games in the 1947/48 season.
These 50 goals secured Puskas the title of Europe's top scorer.
In 1948, Kispest was taken over by the authorities and was renamed Honved, a club which was essentially the Hungarian Army Team. This was due to the occupation by the Soviet Union and the transition of the country to a Communist satellite. Puskas ended his Kispest career with a phenomenal 187 goals in 177 appearances.
Honved used the powers of conscription to acquire the best players from all over Hungary. The 'signings' of Zoltan Czibor and Sander Kocsis helped the team become the overwhelming force in Hungarian football, and one of the first truly great club sides.
All the players were given military ranks, despite few, if any, of them actually doing any fighting. Puskas was named a major, which lead to his nickname "The Galloping Major."
The great Honved team cruised to four league titles, spearheaded by a further three top-scoring seasons from Puskas to add to his one from his days at Kispest. While Puskas was experiencing huge success at club level, it was getting even better internationally.
The Hungarian team of the early 50's included many of Honved's great players, and added others such as Jozsef Bozsik, Gyula Grosics and Nandor Hidegkuti, to create a formidable team.
In 1952, Puskas, who was classed as a soldier, so could play in the Olympics, led his team to the Helsinki Games. He scored four goals in the tournament, including the opener in Hungary's 2-0 win over Yugoslavia in the final.
The "Magical Magyars" had been born!
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