Ferenc Hirzer
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 21 November 1902 | ||
| Place of birth | Budapest, Hungary | ||
| Date of death | 28 April 1957 (aged 54) | ||
| Place of death | Trento, Italy | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1913–1923 | Törekvés SE | ||
| 1923–1924 | Makkabi Brno | ||
| 1924–1925 | Union 03 Altona | ||
| 1925–1927 | Juventus[1] | 43 | (50) |
| 1927–1929 | MTK Hungária | ||
| National team | |||
| 1922–1932 | Hungary[2] | 32 | (14) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1935–1936 | Mantova Sportiva | ||
| 1936–1938 | Salernitana | ||
| 1938–1939 | Anconitana | ||
| 1940–1941 | Salernitana | ||
| 1946–1947 | Sestrese | ||
| 1954–1955 | Aosta | ||
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | |||
Ferenc Hirzer (21 November 1902 – 28 April 1957) known in Hungarian as Ferenc Híres was a Hungarian football player during the 1910s and 1920s, he is perhaps best known for his time with Italian side Juventus. He also played for the Hungarian national football team thirty-two different times, scoring fourteen goals.
Football career
Hirzer began his football career in 1913 with local Budapest side Törekvés SE, which was put together by railroadmen. In the early 1920s, the club reached the upper parts of the Hungarian League but it was largely dominated at the time by MTK Budapest.
After around a decade playing for his hometown club, Ferenc Hizer moved to the Czech Republic to play this club football for Makkabi Brno. The following season he moved to Germany to play for Union 03 Altona in the town of Hamburg, they finished runners-up in the Norddeutschen Liga.
For the 1925–26 season, Hirzer moved country again; this time to Italy with Turin giants Juventus. A fellow Hungarian, Jenő Károly was manager at the time and he had already brought former Toerekvés player József Viola to the club. He made his debut in October 1925 against Parma scoring a hat-trick.
Juventus were crowned champions of the Italian Football Championship for the first time in 20 years; Hirzer himself had a very impressive end of season record, scoring 35 goals in 26 games. This record still stands as the most goals scored by a Juventus player in a single season. After one more season at Juve, where they finished 3rd behind Torino and Bologna he left Italian football. Hirzer had scored a total of 50 goals in 43 games for Juventus during his time with them.
He returned to Hungary in 1927 and played for MTK Hungária back in Budapest. During 1928-29, Hirzer's final season as a player, the club won the Hungarian League title. After his playing career, Hirzer returned to Italy and managed several Italian clubs until around the time of his death, the club he managed for the longest period was Salernitana in Campania.
International
Hirzer was first called up for duty in the Hungarian national side for a match against Switzerland in June 1922, the game ended in a 1-1 draw. He represented Hungary at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, where he scored two goals in the first round 5-0 victory against Poland, in the next round however they were knocked out with a shock 2-0 defeat to Egypt. In total he scored 14 goals in 32 games for his country.
Honours
- 1925–26 Serie A (Juventus)
- 1928–29 Hungarian League (MTK Hungária)
References