This statue of Laszlo Kubala stands outside the Nou Camp. He is regarded as the pioneer of @FCBarcelona.

Today the Catalans take on Kubala’s boyhood club @Fradi_HU in the @ChampionsLeague. This game is of huge historic significance.

Kubala was adored by Barcelona supporters. His first love was Ferencvaros: “My dad was a big Ferencvaros supporter, he was the reason why I joined Fradi. Me and him bled white and green. I had an unforgettable year and a half at the club.” He said in an interview before his death

Kubala played 49 games for @Fradi_HU scoring 27 goals as a teenager after WWII.

After fleeing the country he moved to Barcelona where he played 357 games and scored 281 goals.

He is thought to have been a major influence in the construction of the Camp Nou.

His childhood friend Sandor Kocsis who used to attend Ferencvaros games with Kubala in his youth replaced the Barcelona legend at Fradi when Kubala left the club in 1946. Kocsis later followed Kubala to @FCBarcelona over a decade later.

Kocsis played 117 games for Ferencvaros scoring 105 goals.

For Barcelona Kocsis played in 240 games and scored 164 goals.

He was one of the finest forwards of his generation.

This is what Kocsis once said about the two clubs: “There’s no money in the world that would make me leave Catalonia, like Kubala said I found a new home here. I understand the fans and they are much like the fans back home (Ferencvaros).”

During Kocsis’ time at Ferencvaros he also played with Zoltán Czibor. The pair of them were influential in helping @Fradi_HU lift the 1949 league title against a strong Honvéd side that had Ferenc Puskas. When Kocsis left Budapest, Czibor followed him and joined @FCBarcelona.

Czibor only played three seasons with Barcelona but he was magnificent.
He played 84 matches in total scoring 36 goals.
This goal in the European Cup against Benfica was his finest.

The above quotes were taken from a book on Kocsis and Czibor written by a close family relative of mine, Miklos Bocsak. He interviewed Czibor, Kubala and Kocsis’ widow in 1983.

Since then only Otto Vincze a key part of Ferencvaros’ last UCL squad in 1995, came even close to competing for both clubs during a short spell with Barcelona B in 1997.

Current @Fradi_HU manager Serhiy Rebrov will have fond memories of the Nou Camp. He scored this goal in @dynamokyiven’s 4-0 demolition of @FCBarcelona on his last visit. Incidentally Dynamo Kiev are also in this @ChampionsLeague group.

Today will be the first competitive match between Barcelona and Ferencvaros.

How Kocsis, Kubala and Czibor who grew up with Fradi would have loved to have seen it.

If you want to know more make sure you check out this piece I did for @firsttimefinish. https://firsttimefinish.co.uk/2020/09/05/barcelona-kubala-kocsis-czibor/

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