Jump to content

Ladislau Bonyhádi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ladislau Bonyhádi
Personal information
Full name Ladislau Ludovic Bonyhádi
Date of birth (1923-03-25)25 March 1923
Place of birth Bonyhád, Hungary
Date of death 13 June 1997(1997-06-13) (aged 74)
Place of death Miami, Florida, United States
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1934–1938 Szegedi
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1938–1940 Szegedi[a] 2 (0)
1941–1945 Kolozsvári AC 65 (39)
1946–1949 ITA Arad 54 (80)
Total 121 (119)
International career
1947–1948 Romania 3 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ladislau Ludovic Bonyhádi (Hungarian: Bonyhádi László; born 25 March 1923 - deceased 13 June 1997 in Miami, Florida, United States) was a Romanian football player of Hungarian ethnicity. During his spell with ITA Arad he was the top-scorer of Divizia A twice, in the 1947–48 season he scored 49 goals, which is a record for the Romanian first league.

Club career

[edit]

Bonyhádi was born on 25 March 1923 in Bonyhád, Hungary, and began to play junior-level football at age 11 in 1934 at Szegedi, four years later starting to play for the team's senior squad.[1][2] In 1941 he went to play for Kolozsvári AC, his first Nemzeti Bajnokság I match for them being on 31 August when under the guidance of coach Béla Kovács he scored a brace in a 3–0 win over Diósgyőri MÁVAG.[1][2][3] Until the end of the season Bonyhádi scored 22 goals, including four more doubles against Csepel, Nagyváradi AC, Kispest AC and Gamma, also a hat-trick in a 3–3 draw against Elektromos.[1] In the following season he scored 11 goals, including two doubles in two wins over Salgótarjáni BTC and Újvidéki AC.[1][2] In his last season at the club, Bonyhádi netted six league goals, including a brace in a 4–0 win over Elektromos, also together with coach Zoltán Opata he reached the 1943–44 Magyar Kupa final which was lost with 5–3 on aggregate to Ferencváros where he scored all three goals of his team.[1][2][4]

In 1946 he went to play for ITA Arad, making his Divizia A debut on 25 August under the guidance of his former coach from Kolozsvári, Zoltán Opata in a 5–1 away win against Libertatea Oradea.[2][5] By the end of the season, he scored 26 goals in 23 matches, being the league's top-scorer as the team won the first title in its history.[2][5][6][7] In the following season he helped The Old Lady win The Double, being the league's top-scorer once again with 49 goals netted in the 29 games under coach Petre Steinbach, also playing the entire match under the guidance of coach Gusztáv Juhász in the 3–2 victory against CFR Timișoara in the 1948 Cupa României final.[2][5][6][7][8] With those 49 goals, Bonyhádi holds the record of most goals scored in a single Divizia A season by a player.[2][5][7] In all the European championships that season, only Ferenc Puskás surpassed him, as he scored 50 goals in the Hungarian league.[2] In the 1948–49 season he made six appearances in which he scored five goals for UTA, with the last two goals coming in a 3–3 draw against CSCA București, totaling 54 games with 80 goals scored in the Romanian league.[2][5]

In 1948, Bonyhádi's father, Geza asked him to come to Budapest because he was very ill and wanted to see his son once more.[2] As Romania's communist regime did not allow anyone to cross the border, Bonyhádi left the country illegally.[2] However, returning proved impossible due to heightened border security, and capture would have resulted in jail time.[2] Consequently, he was forced to remain in Hungary, losing contact with his wife.[2] Furthermore, his "runaway" status prevented him from joining a team, leading to his retirement from professional football at age 24, though he continued to play handball for a while.[2]

International career

[edit]

Although born in Hungary, Bonyhádi played three games for Romania's national team, making his debut on 26 October 1947 when coach Ferenc Rónay sent him at half-time to replace Gheorghe Váczi in a friendly that ended in a 0–0 draw against Poland.[2][9][10] His following games were losses in the 1948 Balkan Cup, a 0–1 to Albania and a 0–9 to Hungary.[2][9]

Style of play

[edit]

Bonyhádi was described in a press report from July 1946 as a strong player who could pass the opponents defense with his physical force, being known to shoot equally powerfully with both legs.[2] He was also known for his speed, at a point reaching 11.2 seconds in a 100 meters sprint, in one year winning a running competition in Arad.[2]

Death

[edit]

Bonyhádi managed to flee from Hungary's communist regime during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, settling in the United States.[2] He died on 13 June 1997 at age 74 in Miami, Florida.[1][2]

A book about Bonyhádi was written by Radu Romănescu called Ludovic Bonyhádi, marele golgeter al Aradului. Povestea neștiută (Ludovic Bonyhádi, the great goalscorer of Arad. The unknown story), which was released on 15 April 2016.[11][12]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Only the statistics for the 1940–41 Nemzeti Bajnokság I season are available.[1]

Honours

[edit]

Club

[edit]

Kolozsvári AC

UTA Arad

Individual

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Ladislau Bonyhádi profile" (in Hungarian). Magyarfutball.hu. Archived from the original on 3 May 2024. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y "DE NECREZUT! Tulburătoarea poveste de dragoste a unui fotbalist fabulos din România » Comuniștii le-au distrus familia, dar legătura lor a fost dincolo de limite: deși nu mai vorbiseră de aproape 50 de ani, ea a simțit când el n-a mai fost: "A murit...!"" [UNBELIEVABLE! The turbulent love story of a fabulous footballer from Romania. The communists destroyed their family, but their connection was beyond the limits: although they had not spoken for almost 50 years, she felt when he was gone: "He died. ..!"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 26 April 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  3. ^ "Kolozsvári AC - Diósgyőri MÁVAG 3 : 0" (in Hungarian). Magyarfutball.hu. Archived from the original on 3 May 2024. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
  4. ^ "Ferencváros FC - Kolozsvári AC 2 : 2" (in Hungarian). Magyarfutball.hu. Archived from the original on 3 May 2024. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
    "Ferencváros FC - Kolozsvári AC 3 : 1" (in Hungarian). Magyarfutball.hu. Archived from the original on 3 May 2024. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Ladislau Bonyhádi at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  6. ^ a b c d "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d "Top Scorers" (in Romanian). RomanianSoccer.ro. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Romanian Cup – 1947–1948". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Ladislau Bonyhádi player profile". European Football. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Romania 0-0 Poland". European Football. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  11. ^ "Cartea dedicată marelui golgeter al Aradului, Ludovic Bonyhadi, se lansează azi" [The book dedicated to the great goalscorer of Arad, Ludovic Bonyhadi, is launched today] (in Romanian). Glsa.ro. 15 April 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  12. ^ "A fost lansat volumul "Ludovic Bonyhadi, marele golgeter al Aradului. Povestea neștiută"" [The volume "Ludovic Bonyhadi, the great goalscorer of Arad. The unknown story" was released] (in Romanian). Arq.ro. 16 April 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ladislau_Bonyhádi&oldid=1302831611"