Újpest Dózsa's seven-time title winner József Horváth turns 71

Horváth, knicknamed 'Vöri' for his shock of long red hair and the son of a talented footballer in the 1950s, was a highly effective and valued member of the Újpest Dózsa team which dominated Hungarian football between 1969 and 1975. Coincidentally, that was defensively-minded Horváth's period at the club and he won the domestic league title in every full season he played, as well as lifting the Hungarian Cup in 1969, 1971 and 1975 and featuring in all but one match in Dózsa's run to the 1973/74 European Cup semi-finals. Horváth, Hungarian Footballer of the Year in 1974, also won 11 Hungary caps and scored once - against Luxembourg in a European Championship qualifier.

In late 1975 though, Horváth left Hungary, then under communist rule, to seek his fortune elsewhere and after brief spells at FC Zürich, Real Zaragoza and Rot-Weiss Essen, he was made an attractive offer to move to the North American Soccer League, where he spent three years playing for Rochester Lancers, then with Dutch legends Johan Cruyff and Wim Jansen at Washington Diplomats and also for San José Earthquakes where he played in the same team as the legendary George Best during the 1981 season.

Horváth coached in the NASL while winding down his playing career and then settled in America where he worked in the steel and pharmaceutical industries and raised a family. He is now retired and often visits his homeland of Hungary.