Kaposvár promoted to OTP Bank Liga

Requiring just one point from their last two fixtures to ensure top-flight football in Somogy County next season, Kaposvár got off to a great start in Dorog, Richárd Nagy giving them the lead in the 2nd minute. Patrik Paudits brought Dorog level in the 19th, but Csaba Vachtler and Krisztián Nagy had Róbert Waltner’s side in the driving seat by half-time. Lénárt Tomás brought Dorog back into the match at 3-2 in the 65th minute, but further strikes from Martin Ádám and veteran ex-Újpest striker Péter Rajczi ensured that Kaposvár returned to the OTP Bank Liga after a five-year hiatus.

Formed in 1923 by workers from a local sugar factory, the club took on the name Rákóczi – after the 17th and 18th century Transylvanian prince Ferenc Rákóczi – in 1925. Somogy FC were the town’s more successful club at that time, playing six seasons in the top division between 1928 and 1935, Rákóczi usually yo-yoing between the second and third divisions.

Despite this, there have been a few famous footballers among the Kaposvár ranks over the years. Perhaps the most famous was István Avar, who won four league titles and a Mitropa Cup as a player with Újpest and was also a member of the Hungary squad at the 1934 World Cup. Avar became player-manager during World War II and head coach again in the late 1950s.

Like Ferencváros, the Kaposvár club was renamed ÉDOSZ in 1950 and then Kinizsi in 1951. Once again called Rákóczi by the 1970s, the club reached the top division for the first time in 1975 under former Vasas and Hungary midfielder Imre Mathesz, and with a young Győző Burcsa – later to play for Hungary, and a UEFA Cup finalist with Videoton in 1985 – in the team. Relegated after three seasons in NB I, the club was promoted again in 1980 and 1987, but were relegated after one season on both occasions, before spending another sixteen years in the second and third tiers.

The club’s most successful period began in 2004 when the returned to the top division, the club staying there until 2014 and succeeding in one 6th place and two 7th place finishes under László Prukner, star players including André Alves, Nemanja Nikolić, Péter Szakály and Dušan Vasiljević. The squad for the club’s last season in the top division – 2013/14 – included former Boca Juniors forward Waltner (now head coach) and current Ferencváros midfielder Lukács Bőle.