Alexandru "Elek" Schwartz (23 October 1908 – 2 October 2000) was a Romanian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

and coach of the Netherlands national team. With

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904 as ''Sport Lisboa'', B ...

he won the national Championship and Cup trophies of 1965 and led the club into the final of the

European Champion Clubs' Cup The European Champion Clubs' Cup, also known as Coupe des Clubs Champions Européens, or simply the European Cup, is a trophy awarded annually by UEFA to the football club that wins the UEFA Champions League. The competition in its older forma ...

Playing career

RC Strasbourg - Finale de Coupe de France 1937

Elek Schwartz initially started playing near his hometown Recaş, in Timişoara. Later he played professional football in the French

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. ...

with FC Hyères (1932–1934),

AS Cannes Association Sportive de Cannes Football (; commonly referred to as AS Cannes or simply Cannes) is a French association football club based in Cannes. The club was formed 1902 as a sports club and currently plays in the Championnat National 3, ...

(1934–36),

Racing Strasbourg Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace (commonly known as RC Strasbourg, Racing Straßburg, RCSA, RCS, or simply Strasbourg; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Füeßbàllmànnschàft Vu Stroßburri'') is a football in France, French association football ...

(1936–38) and Red Star Olympique (1938–39).Mister Schwartz, bănăţeanul care l-a antrenat pe Eusebio
romanialibera.ro (in Romanian)

Coaching career

Beginnings as coach on the Côte d'Azur

He started his coaching career in France with

(1948–49) and from there continued to

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Fren ...

(1950–1952) and

Le Havre AC Le Havre Athletic Club (; commonly referred to as Le Havre) is a French association football club based in Le Havre, Normandy. The club was founded as an athletics and rugby club in 1872, making Le Havre AC the oldest professional French fo ...

(1952–53).

Early years in West Germany

In 1953 he was hired by SF Hamborn 07. In his second season with the club from the suburb of

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in No ...

he led the club to promotion to the western division of the five ways split first division of Germany, the Oberliga West. In 1955, he was appointed as manager by then German champions,

Rot-Weiss Essen Rot-Weiss Essen is a German association football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club currently plays in the 3. Liga, at the Stadion an der Hafenstraße. The team won the DFB-Pokal in 1953, and the German championship in 19 ...

coaching among others

Helmut Rahn Helmut Rahn (16 August 1929 – 14 August 2003), known as ''Der Boss'' (The Boss), was a German footballer who played as a forward. He became a legend for having scored the winning goal in the final of the 1954 FIFA World Cup (West Germany vs ...

there. In the next couple of years he led the team to ranks 4 and 8 in the Oberliga West.

Manager of the Netherlands national team

After leaving Rot-Weiss Essen, Schwartz joined the Netherlands football association, the

KNVB The Royal Dutch Football Association (, ; KNVB ) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues (Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch men's and women ...

and took on the reins of the

Netherlands national football team The Netherlands national football team ( nl, Nederlands voetbalelftal or simply ''Het Nederlands elftal'') has represented the Netherlands in international men's football matches since 1905. The men's national team is controlled by the Royal ...

. He guided the team through 49 matches. However, this was in an era when Dutch football had yet to achieve the standing it has held since the 1970s. Results varied extremely and included 7–0 defeat to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

in 1959 in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

, as well as back to back 1–0 wins against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

and world champions

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

in 1963. He held the position of national coach until 1964, when

Denis Neville Denis Charles Neville (6 May 1915 – 11 January 1995) was an English football player and manager who managed the Dutch national side between 1964 and 1966. Upon leaving the Dutch national side, Neville moved back to England to manage non-lea ...

replaced him.

European Cup Final with Benfica

In 1964–65, he coached Portuguese club

, then with

Eusébio Eusébio da Silva Ferreira (; 25 January 1942 – 5 January 2014), nicknamed the "Black Panther", the "Black Pearl" or "O Rei" ("The King"), was a Portuguese footballer who played as a striker. He is considered one of the greatest players of ...

. There he led them to their first third-consecutive league title.Goleada com o selo de Yaúca
''Record'' (in Portuguese) After this, Benfica overcame

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

in the quarterfinals of the

European Cup of Champions The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

and eventually even made it all the way to the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

, where Benfica had to yield to the masters of the

Catenaccio ''Catenaccio'' () or The Chain is a tactical system in football with a strong emphasis on defence. In Italian, ''catenaccio'' means "door-bolt", which implies a highly organised and effective backline defence focused on nullifying opponents' ...

, the

Helenio Herrera Helenio Herrera Gavilán (; 10 April 1910 – 9 November 1997) was an Argentine, naturalized French, football player and manager. He is best remembered for his success with the Inter Milan team known as '' Grande Inter'' in the 1960s. During ...

coached team of

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter i ...

, who won 1–0, thus failing what would be Benfica's third European Cup title.

Bundesliga with Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Porto spell

From July 1965 to June 1968 Schwartz coached – as successor to Ivica Horvat –

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

in the German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footbal ...

. There he introduced the 4–2–4 system. Nevertheless, place 4 was as good as it got in the league. During the 1966–67 season he won the International Football Cup and the

Coppa delle Alpi Coppa delle Alpi (translated as ''Cup of the Alps'') was a friendly football tournament, first organized by the Italian national league as it started in 1960 and then they were aided by the Swiss League from 1962, for the reason that the majori ...

. In the same year he led his side to the semifinals of the

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecessor to the UEFA Cup (n ...

. In 1969–70, he coached

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Por ...

. Not only that the Dragons exited already in the first round of the national cup competition and in the second round of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup – in the end Porto was only ninth in the league, the club's worst finishing ever.

End of the career in Munich and Strasbourg

In the 1972–73 season, Schwartz coached

TSV 1860 Munich , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's football team currently plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football. 1860 Munich was one of the founding members o ...

, but he could not help them to fulfill their aspirations to return to the Bundesliga after then three years of absence. He had more luck in 1976–77, when in the course of his last professional engagement he led

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

to the French

. After this he guided the Alsatian amateur side SR Haguenau, today's

FCSR Haguenau Football Club Sports Réunis Haguenau is a French association football team founded in 1987 as a result of the merger of FC Haguenau 1900 and Sports Réunis Haguenau 1920. They are based in Haguenau, Alsace, France and currently play in the Cham ...

, through the 1978–79 season.

Haguenau Haguenau (; Alsatian: or ; and historically in English: ''Hagenaw'') is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department of France, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is second in size in the Bas-Rhin only to Strasbourg, some to the south. To the ...

, he decided, was also a nice place for him to spend the rest of his life.

Tribute

In 1996, he was invited by the

Royal Dutch Football Association The Royal Dutch Football Association (, ; KNVB ) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues (Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch men's and women ...

to the inauguration of the

Amsterdam Arena The Johan Cruyff Arena ( nl, Johan Cruijff Arena ; officially stylised as Johan Cruijff ArenA) is the main stadium of the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam and the home stadium of football club AFC Ajax since its opening. Built from 1993 to 1996 ...

References

External links

Data about Elek Schwartz
racingstub.com

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schwartz, Elek 1908 births 2000 deaths Sportspeople from Timișoara People from the Kingdom of Hungary Romanian footballers Romanian football managers Jewish Romanian sportspeople Austro-Hungarian Jews French people of Romanian-Jewish descent CA Timișoara players AS Cannes players RC Strasbourg Alsace players Red Star F.C. players Ligue 1 players Ligue 1 managers Eintracht Frankfurt managers Netherlands national football team managers Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate football managers in West Germany Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in Portugal Eredivisie managers Bundesliga managers AS Cannes managers AS Monaco FC managers Le Havre AC managers Rot-Weiss Essen managers S.L. Benfica managers FC Porto managers Sparta Rotterdam managers TSV 1860 Munich managers RC Strasbourg Alsace managers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Romanian expatriate sportspeople in France Romanian expatriate sportspeople in West Germany Romanian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate football managers in France Expatriate football managers in Monaco Expatriate football managers in the Netherlands Expatriate football managers in Portugal Association football defenders