Sándor Kocsis statue unveiled

Budapest Mayor István Tarlós, Hungarian Football Federation Vice-President Sándor Berzi, Ferencváros President Gábor Kubatov, Minister for Sport Tünde Szabó, and Nemzeti Sport Editor in Chief György Szöllősi were present at the unveiling of the statue – commissioned by Márk Lelkes – on Saturday afternoon along with Sándor’s two children, Sándor Jr and Alícia, and FC Barcelona director Pau Vilanova.

Born in Budapest on 21 September 1929, Sándor Kocsis grew up in the Kőbánya district of the city before his family moved to the Tisztviselőtelep estate in Józsefváros following the Battle of Budapest. A registered player with local club Kőbányai TK in 1943, Kocsis joined Ferencváros as a 16-year-old and made his debut in the 1945/46 season.

His big breakthrough came in the 1947/48 season following the departures of István Mike and György Sárosi, a season in which Fradi only lost the league title on the last day of the season. Kocsis scored 21 league goals that year as well as setting up countless others for centre-forward Ferenc Deák. Ferencváros won the championship the following season, scoring 140 goals in 30 matches, Kocsis scoring 33 of them (Deák got 59) and he scored a further 21 in the 1949/50 season, which would prove to be his last for Ferencváros. A prolific scorer renowned for his heading ability, his record for the Green and Whites was 70 goals in 89 league appearances.

Still only 20, Kocsis was forced to sign for Budapesti Honvéd in summer 1950 and in his first (half-) season there he scored 24 goals in 15 league matches as Honvéd won their second league title in a row. Kocsis forged a lethal partnership with national-team captain Ferenc Puskás, who was the league's top scorer with 25. Kocsis would win a further three championships with the team from Kispest (in 1952, 1954 and 1955), scoring 177 goals in 160 league matches.

1954 marked perhaps the best year of Kocsis’ career. He scored 33 goals in 26 league matches for Honvéd, as well as 11 at the 1954 World Cup finals to make him tournament top scorer as Hungary fell to a shock 3-2 defeat to West Germany in the final. A national-team player between 1948 and 1956, Kocsis scored a remarkable 75 goals in 68 appearances for Hungary, second behind only Ferenc Puskás on 84.

Kocsis decided to remain abroad in March 1957 following Honvéd’s South American tour, signing for Swiss side Young Fellows Zürich where he scored 7 goals in 11 appearances. In 1958, he joined Barcelona thanks to the intervention of László Kubala, where he soon became a fans’ favourite despite his limited game-time due to numerous injuries in his time at the Camp Nou. His nickname at Barça was ‘Cabeza de Oro’ (‘Golden Head’). With Kocsis, Barcelona won the championship in 1959 and 1960 and reached the 1961 European Cup final and 1962 Fairs Cup final, where they lost to Benfica and Valencia respectively.

Kocsis made his final league appearance for Barcelona in autumn 1964, coaching the Barcelona youth players for a while before briefly taking the helm at Alicante for the 1970/71 season after completing a coaching course. He desperately missed playing though and was rarely seen happy unless talking about games of old or playing dominos or chess.

Illness plagued Kocsis thereafter and in 1974 he had an operation to remove a stomach tumour and also had part of his left foot amputated. Mentally broken, he became ever-more reclusive. Sándor Kocsis died in Barcelona on 22nd July 1979 at the tragically young age of 49, falling to his death – either by accident or by suicide – from a hospital window amidst circumstances, which to this day, remain unclear.