Gyula Grosics (; 4 February 1926 – 13 June 2014) was a Hungarian football

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

who played 86 times for the

Hungary national football team The Hungary national football team ( hu, magyar labdarúgó-válogatott) represents Hungary in men's international Association football, football and is controlled by the Hungarian Football Federation. The team has made 9 appearances in the FIF ...

and was part of the "

Golden Team The Golden Team ( hu, Aranycsapat; also known as the Mighty Magyars, the Magical Magyars, the Magnificent Magyars, the Marvellous Magyars, or the Light Cavalry) refers to the Hungary national football team of the 1950s. It is associated with seve ...

" of the 1950s. Regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he was thought to be the first goalkeeper to play as the sweeper-keeper. Grosics was nicknamed "Black Panther" ( hu, Fekete Párduc), because he wore black clothing while playing. He won a gold medal in football at the 1952 Summer Olympics.

Early life

Gyula Grosics was born 4 February 1926 in Dorog, Hungary. Growing up, his mother encouraged him to be a priest. Instead, Grosics began his professional football career in Dorog, playing for Dorogi Bányász in 1943. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he briefly fought for the Axis and was captured by American forces.

Career

In 1947, Grosics made his debut with the Hungary national team. With the rather short Grosics in the goal, the team started an unbeaten streak in 1948 that would last until the

1954 FIFA World Cup The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the fifth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzer ...

. In 1949, he attempted to defect and was caught. He was charged with

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

and

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

by the secret service and placed under house arrest. The charges were eventually dropped due to lack of evidence, but Grosics was banned from the national team for two years. However, after a year he returned to the national team. He also joined the

Budapest Honvéd FC Budapest Honvéd Football Club (), commonly known as Budapest Honvéd or simply Honvéd, is a Hungarian sports club based in Kispest, Budapest, with the colours of red and black. The club is best known for its football team. ''Honvéd'' means th ...

in 1950. In 1952, Grosics led the team to Olympic gold. In 1953, Hungary beat

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in a game dubbed " The Match of the Century". Hungary won 6–3, becoming the first team outside the British Isles to beat England at home. He was selected as the goalkeeper of the 1954 World Cup's All Star Team. Hungary entered the

on a four-year unbeaten streak and as heavy favorites. However, the team lost in the final 3–2 to

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, a team they defeated 8–3 in the group stage. Grosics was selected as the Team of the Tournament goalkeeper. By 1954, Hungary had recorded 42 victories with Grosics in goal, 7 draws, and just that one loss. During the

1956 Hungarian Revolution The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hung ...

, Grosics and his family fled the country and attempted to start a new life. However, they were forced to return. Grosics then transferred to Tatabánya Bányász SC. The national team went into decline, but made the

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

and 1962 World Cups with Grosics in goal. When he was banned from transferring to

Ferencvárosi TC Ferencvárosi Torna Club, known as Ferencváros (), Fradi, or simply FTC, is a professional football club based in Ferencváros, Budapest, Hungary, that competes in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I, the top flight of Hungarian football. Ferencváros ...

after the 1962 season by the Communist Hungarian Sports Ministry, he retired. In total, Grosics played 86 games for the national team. He played in 390 Hungary first division games. In 2011, the Tatabánya football stadium was named after him.

Style of play

Grosics is credited with developing the " sweeper-keeper" style of play, whereby the goalkeeper can act as an extra defender when needed. This also allowed his teammates to press deep in their opponents' half, plus Grosics' willingness to come out and challenge opposing attackers caused them to miss shots on net.

Later life, and death

After retiring, Grosics went into coaching. During his career, he held positions with several Hungarian teams and the Kuwait national team. When Hungary became a democracy in 1990, Grosics unsuccessfully ran for parliament under the

Hungarian Democratic Forum The Hungarian Democratic Forum ( hu, Magyar Demokrata Fórum, MDF) was a centre-right political party in Hungary. It had a Hungarian nationalist, national-conservative, Christian-democratic ideology. The party was represented continuously in the ...

. In 2008, Grosics was given the opportunity to play for Ferencvárosi TC, 46 years after being barred from signing with them. The 82-year-old Grosics performed the kick-off in a friendly match against

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

. He was then substituted as the crowd gave a standing ovation. Grosics died on 13 June 2014 after suffering from cardiac and lung problems. He was 88 years old.

Honours

Budapest Honvéd *

Hungarian League Hungarian may refer to: * Hungary, a country in Central Europe * Kingdom of Hungary, state of Hungary, existing between 1000 and 1946 * Hungarians, ethnic groups in Hungary * Hungarian algorithm, a polynomial time algorithm for solving the assignm ...

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

, 1954, 1955 Hungary * Balkan Cup Champions: 1947 * Olympic Champions: 1952 * Central European Champions: 1953 *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

runner-up: 1954 Individual *

Hungarian Football Federation The Hungarian Football Federation ( hu, Magyar Labdarúgó Szövetség, MLSZ) is the governing body of football in Hungary. It organizes the Hungarian league and the Hungarian national team. It is based in Budapest. Honours ;National Team * Worl ...

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

: 1949, 1950 *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

: All-Star Team 1954 * World Soccer World XI: 1960, 1961"ERIC BATTY’S WORLD XI – THE SIXTIES"
Retrieved on 29 November 2015

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grosics, Gyula 1926 births 2014 deaths Sportspeople from Komárom-Esztergom County Association football goalkeepers Hungarian footballers Hungary international footballers Hungarian military personnel of World War II Hungarian prisoners of war World War II prisoners of war held by the United States 1954 FIFA World Cup players 1958 FIFA World Cup players 1962 FIFA World Cup players Footballers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Hungary Olympic gold medalists for Hungary Olympic medalists in football Dorogi FC footballers Budapest Honvéd FC players FC Tatabánya players Ferencvárosi TC footballers Hungarian football managers FC Tatabánya managers Kuwait national football team managers Expatriate football managers in Kuwait Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Kuwait Hungarian expatriate football managers