FLORIAN ALBERT

Hungarian Flórián Albert was one of the most prolific goalscorers in Europe in the 1960s. Spending his entire club career at Ferencvaros in Budapest, he established a reputation as one of the most feared attacking players in the game and helped to rebuild the Hungarian national team after it had been decimated by the exodus of star players following the revolution of 1956.

Flórián Albert made his debut for Ferencvaros in 1958, and went on to become one of the club's most successful players over a sixteen year career. Inspired by Albert, Ferencvaros won four Hungarian League Championships in the space of six years in the 1960s, adding European success in 1965 in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (forerunner to the U.E.F.A. Cup). Three times in the early 1960s Albert was leading goalscorer in the Hungarian League, and he reached an individual peak in 1967 when he was named European Footballer of the Year.

On the international stage, Hungary were struggling to repeat the successes of the early 1950s, but with Albert leading their attack won a bronze medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics, hinting at more good results around the corner. Albert went on to play in two World Cups, in 1962 and 1966, leading Hungary to the quarter-finals of both, as well as the semi-final of the 1964 European Championships. Altogether, he would play 75 times for Hungary, scoring 31 goals.

The early years of the 1970s brought more success at club level as Ferencvaros won the Hungarian Cup in 1972, but Albert's playing career was coming to an end and he would retire in 1974, having played more than 350 games for Ferencvaros, and scoring more than 250 goals. He would go on to have a short managerial career in Libya, as well as being involved in coaching at Ferencvaros.