How a virus affected Hungarian football 102 years ago

One of the victims of the Spanish flu pandemic was MTK and national-team goalkeeper Miksa Knapp (top row, second from right)

“In the fifth year of World War I, our clubs, hardened by the struggles they have had so far, are encountering a great enthusiasm which stems from the boundless love for football, and are therefore planning a rich schedule of events which surpasses those of previous years. The enforced situation caused by the now-permanent state of war means there have been alterations in the teams' lineups, and plans will have to take into account the circumstances, in that the vast majority of players are soldiers who are only present temporarily, and thus their regular replacements must be arranged in advance,” wrote a journalist in the pre-season preview in the 'Sporthírlap' newspaper.

Then, however, everything changed. The best team of the time, MTK, stood out from the field, even though they'd lost their national-team goalkeeper, Miksa Knapp. The Blue-and-Whites undeniably suffered a setback when their 28-year-old goalkeeper passed away on 23rd September, just as he was about to complete his studies at the Technical University, having served his country in the armed forces, most recently as an officer assigned to the military police. He contracted Spanish flu then pneumonia, and the murderous pandemic claimed its latest young victim within ten days. Vilmos Kertész, on behalf of his teammates, and Alfréd Brüll, on behalf of the club and sobbing throughout his speech, bade farewell to 'Sweet, little Misi'. The club later founded an award to preserve the memory of the eight-times capped Hungarian international goalkeeper.

During the Spanish flu pandemic, approximately 30,000 infections were registered in the capital city alone, around 10% of those sadly losing their lives. Miksa Knapp failed to recover but, Ferenc Plattkó, the Vasas goalkeeper who would become world famous as a player and manager of Spanish giants FC Barcelona, survived the illness. Budapest's city counci immediately took action. On 21st October, Sporthírlap reported that: “At the instruction of the Chief Medical Officer of Budapest, the council has ruled that from 21st October to 4th November, all theatres, nightclubs... etc and sports facilities should be closed due to the extremely widespread Spanish pandemic. Thus, all sports facilities in the area of ​​the capital will be closed until November 4th. The Hungary-Austria international football match scheduled for November 3rd will also be postponed”.

Only a few teams accepted the loss of revenue and played their scheduled league matches behind closed doors,for example, MTK who defeated KAC 6-2. The other matches were postponed.

The influenza outbreak also had an impact on the national team matches held or at least planned during this period of political upheaval (the Aster Revolution came in late October this season and that was then overthrown when the Soviet Republic of Hungary was declared on March 21st, 1919). The Hungary-Austria match planned for autumn 1918 in Budapest had not been played, but the next fixture in spring did take place (this is when a famous photo of Alfréd 'Spéci' Schaffer in his national team kit while holding a rifle was taken), albeit the Austria side was missing key players. Sporthírlap reported that it was not possible for their guests to come to Budapest with either their erstwhile centre-half Brandstetter or the devilishly technical Fischerát, because both were confined to bed in Vienna with Spanish flu.