NB I record appearance-maker Zoltán Végh turns 49 today

Photo: Nemzeti Sport

Végh started his professional football career at Veszprémi SE and made his top-flight debut for the club against Rába Vasas ETO on 1st October 1989, finally gaining his first victory against Debrecen six weeks later at his eighth attempt.

The year of 1991 saw Végh make his international debut for Hungary against El Salvador and secure a transfer to Győri Rába ETO, where he remained for four years before embarking on a one-year foreign stint at Hapoel Haifa. The 187cm-tall Végh returned to Hungary in 1996 to play for Budapesti VSC, the first of five clubs he signed for in Hungary's capital city.

From BVSC, where he reached the 1997 Hungarian Cup final, moves to Vasas, MTK and Videoton followed before a return to MTK saw him make the most appearances for any club in his career, 183 matches between 2003 and 2009 during which he won his first major silverware,the Hungarian league championship in 2008.

By this point, Végh had won the last of his 25 Hungary caps a 4-0 loss in a UEFA European Championship qualifier away in Norway in 2007. He left MTK for Újpest in 2009 but failed to make an appearance before heading back to Vasas for two years. The last of his record 570 NB I appearances came for Ferencváros - a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Haladás in August 2011- before he announced his retirement in July 2012 at the age of 41:

"I feel my career is complete; I've won the league, the Hungarian Super Cup, I've kept goal for the national team and all these Hungarian clubs, added to which I've travelled the world and earned my living doing what I love, playing football", Végh said after bringing his professional playing career to an end.