Hungary's women's first match was 35 years ago today

Gyöngyi Lovász, one of Hungary's heroines in that European Championship qualifier, looks back at the game on its 35th anniversary:

"At that time, West Germany were known to have a good women's team," begins Gyöngyi Lovász, who played for the Hungarian national team and the Szent László korház club before later moving to Germany. In 1985, she was one of the 13 players who, under the leadership of head coach Ferenc Tóth, defeated the Federal Republic of Germany - as they were officially known - 1-0. Thirty-five years on, that single-goal victory remains our women's team's only success against Germany.

Two years earlier, in 1983, the MLSZ announced the advent of the first official national championship for the women's game, following which, in 1984, a Budapest Select side participated in a tournament in Italy and played at home against a Viennese XI. Thereafter, the natural progression was a first official national team fixture.

“We were very excited about the meeting as we wanted to prove ourselves against them, as they had players like Silvia Neid or Martina Voss, the latter of whom is now the Germany Women head coach. They may have underestimated us a bit and we put 120 percent into this match. The goal came from an attack which started on the wing, the shot eventually coming from Ibolya Vrábel". The events are brought to life by 60-year-old Lovász who still clearly remembers the match, it having been a topic of conversation amongst women's football fans ever since. Furthermore, she preserves a different kind of memory from that particular battle, a scar on her right thigh bearing testament to an injury sustained in that meeting.

"My picture was published in the Képes Sport magazine. Usually there was little coverage of women's football in the newspapers, but this game was reported on. Women’s football grew quickly after its formation but regressed just as quickly. At the time, everyone was just so amazed that they'd say: 'Hey, are you playing football?'"

At that point, Gyöngyi Lovász worked as an inventory at the László Hospital and had to ask for unpaid leave in order to be able to attend matches, as was the custom at the time. She recalls that three-day get-togethers were organised before national team matches. These took place at the TVE pitch in the 3rd district of Budapest and the players also received a small daily allowance. The kit they used to play in wasn't new; they played in second-hand jerseys previously used by the men's national team, which they then had to hand back.

"We had the opportunity to play football, but it wasn't like it is today," adds the former international, who is currently a member of the MLSZ Women's Committee and even still plays football today.

"I play football for Érdi VSE, in the team which uses a three-quarter-size football pitch. Unfortunately, there's still the danger (of injury associated with any football match), but we take care of each other. Every year, we organise small football tournaments with the old players, with whom we keep in touch, and we usually go to the national team matches and, of course, to the annual Women's Football Day", Lovász adds. This latter celebration she mentions, Women's Football Day, was first organised by the MLSZ on the 30th anniversary of the 1985 victory and has been held every year since.

Hungary 1-0 West Germany 1-0 (1-0)

Venue: Siófok
Ref.: László I. Kovács (Juhász, Fájdalom). Goalscorer: Vrábel (p. 35).

Hungary: Mária Kiss - Mrs Jenő Bukovszki, Mrs László Kiss, Mária Boda Matskássy, Anikó Jenei - Gyöngyi Lovász, Ágnes Bárfy, Zsuzsa Szegedi (née Lojd) - Ibolya Vrábel (Magdolna Markovics), Edit Kern, Zsuzsa Keresztes. Head coach: Ferenc Tóth.

West Germany: Marion Isbert - Richter Elke, Ingrid Zimmermann, Christel Klinzmann, Frauke Kuhlmann (Britta Unsleber) - Rike Koekkoek, Silvia Neid (Marie-Luise Gehlen), Sissy Raith - Anne Kreuzberg (Martina Voss), Petra Bartelmann, Birgit Offermann (Melanie), Lasrich.
Head coach: Gero Bisanz.