György Orth was born on this day 129 years ago

György Orth was born in Budapest to Marika Müller, a 40-year-old washerwoman with whom - in the absence of a father he never knew - he formed a ferociously close bond. They were desperately poor; friends would share their lunch with György so that he would be able to eat during the day and he was only able to complete primary school because neighbours clubbed together to pay for the books required for the final year.

A true product of Hungary's 'grund' culture of local kids playing football on whatever land was free, Orth nevertheless grew to be an imposing physical specimen, lean but nearly six foot tall with extraordinary flexibility, vision and technique. He first played for Terézvárosi Sport Kör, then Erzébetváros and Vasas amongst others before settling at MTK in 1917 under English head coach Jimmy Hogan, a move which partially soothed his family's financial difficulties and - still in these days of amateur football - handed Orth a job in a bank.

International recognition would soon follow in the form of his debut for Hungary aged just 16, in a 2-1 away loss against Austria in November 1917. Indeed, his first international cap against a non-native-speaking German team would come four years later, against Sweden in 1921 when he scored a hat-trick in a 4-2 success. Orth represented Hungary at the 1924 Olympic football tournament in Paris and ultimately earned 32 caps, scoring 13 goals.

At club level, meanwhile, Orth, alongside fellow outstanding talents such as József 'Csibi' Braun, Gyula Feldmann, Imre Schlosser, Alfred Schaffer and Gyula Mandl, had established MTK as the dominant team of their time. The elegant yet powerful midfielder won eight Hungarian league titles and a Hungarian Cup there between 1917 and 1929, either side of a short stint at First Vienna in 1923.

Serious injury was to cut short Orth's playing career at the top level but that short sojourn in Austria was the first hint that Orth's ambitions lay further afield than just his homeland and in 1930 he accepted the job of Chile's national-team coach at the inaugural FIFA World Cup in Uruguay. This was the first stop in a 32-year coaching career which included periods at Genoa 1893, Olympique de Paris, 1.FC Nürnberg, FC Metz, Chile twice more, San Lorenzo, the Mexico national team, Boca Juniors as Head of Youth Development, the Peru national side, Sporting Clube de Portugal and finally FC Porto, where he passed away in January 1962 aged 61.

*additional research courtesy of Jonathan Wilson's book 'The Names Heard Long Ago'.