Budapest Atletikai Klub (Hungary)
I get loads of requests to cover clubs from all over the world. North America, South America, Europe, and Asia and we try to cover them all. This next club is from Europe, Hungary to be exact. When we think of football and Hungary, we think of the legendary Puskas. Although, Hungarian football hasn’t been the strongest in recent years, it’s nation still loves it’s football and their fans are just as passionate about the sport as anywhere else in the world. This is shown in the work that has been put into this next club. Getting it up and running and competing has been a challenge but one they have stepped up to. Influenced by their love of football and history of the sport in their country, this club could be called a phoenix club, although it was a slow birth. 70 years to be exact since the original club dissolved. This is the story of Budapest Atletikai Klub or BAK for short.
Budapest Atletikai Klub were originally founded in
1900 by a group of athletes who were part of a sports club called MTK Budapest.
The sports club had no football section so a few of them decided to break away
and form a football club. BAK was formed and entered the Hungarian League in
190-07 season. There they competed for 15 years, coming 4th in their
debut season,(MTK Budapest actually formed a football club and entered the
league in 1903, becoming one of the most successful Hungarian football clubs
with 23 league titles and 12 Hungarian cups.)
After being relegated for the first time in 1921 the club never reached
the dizzy heights of the Hungarian top tier and eventually folded in 1947. And
that was that for the club. Many years past with the club left in the memories
of those who played and ran the club in the first part of the 20th
century. But like most of the club we cover, they come back, with the help of
the supporters. This club might have taken it’ time but in 2018, more than 70
years after the original club had folded, the new BAK was formed. A group of
football enthusiasts, who had taken inspiration from one of BAK’s most famous
former player, Erno Egri Erbstein, who played for the club in the years 1916 to
1924.
BAK merged with another existing club named,
Respect and took the place of BLSZ III in the sixth tier of Hungarian football.
The logo for the club would be that of a rams head, which comes from the work
‘BAK’ which means Ram in Hungarian. And so the new BAK were formed in 2018.
Forgotten Clubs was lucky enough to get an
interview with the man behind the reformation of this old club, current club
president, Bertalan Molnar. When we asked why he brought BAK back to life,
instead of creating a brand-new club his answer was direct.
‘BAK was one of the most popular clubs in Hungary
originally, but after 70 years of non-existence, no one knew even the name of
the club. It was crucial for us to bring back life to this legendary club in
Hungary and pay some respect to the players and managers who did a lot for
Hungarian football in the last century.’
In regards his favourite player, well, Bertalan, isn’t shy when naming
some of BAK’s former players, but his personal all time favourite is hard to
disagree with.
‘Ernő Egri Erbstein is our club icon, together with
Jenő Karoly and Alfréd Schaffer. They played in our team in our glory period at
the beginning of the last century. These players became world famous managers
after their active playing years. Erbstein is a club icon in Torino, Karoly was
the first manager of Juventus, and Schaffer, known as the FussballKönig in
Germany, won the first scudetto for AS Roma in the 1940s. Personally, my
favourite player was Diego Armando Maradona. He was the best ever. By far.
Period.’
Despite his obvious passion for BAK, Bertalan does
not see his club reaching the dizzy heights they were once at. It’s all about
the honour of playing for the club.
‘No, I think this would be an impossible task right
now, even in the long run. However, this was never our goal when we decided to
re-establish BAK. We want to be the best amateur club in Hungary, a club that
all the players are proud to play for, and it should be an honour for everyone
to put on the blue-black striped shirts.’
But that is not to say he does not have long term
plans for the club.
‘We want to establish ourselves as a strong amateur
club, playing in the second division in Budapest (the fifth tier nationally).
For our futsal team, we want to play in the Hungarian Second Division and for
our blind football team, we want to compete in European competitions as an
important club for the Hungarian national team.’
So, does that mean they have fans anymore? Bertlalan explains that this
is probably the most difficult task for the club due to the lack of success for
Hungarian clubs on the European stage but also the Hungarian national team.
‘At this level, there are no fans, unfortunately,
in Hungary. People are disillusioned because of the non-successful period for
Hungarian football and the culture which surrounds football nowadays. Having
fans again at a BAK game is our most difficult task in the future.’
Of course, reforming a club can’t just be done by
one man and there are a whole host of people that Bertalan thanks for the clubs
reformation.
‘I have a bunch of people who I am personally very
grateful to, for their help in re-establishing our club. In Hungary my club
directors have all done an incredible job, and internationally Dominic Bliss
and John Forrest at Corinthian-Casuals helped our work tremendously. Thanks for
that, my friends.’
BAK is a different type of club than we have covered before. A club that
once was great in Hungarian football is now content to play amateur football
and represent and honour those who played in their colours many years ago. It
is quite refreshing that their dream is not to become something that most other
clubs dream to be. They remember what they were, they appreciate it, and in the
world of football, where money is king, this is one of the few clubs that are
back for different reasons. BAK just want to play football.