Season One: Hungarian Division II Preview
The Hungarian Division II is the second highest division in Hungary and runs from the
end of August until the
beginning of June. There are sixteen teams competing in this league; everybody plays each-other twice (home & away) to make thirty games each. The
top two teams win promotion to the Hungarian Division I, while the
bottom three teams face relegation. The transfer windows are slightly different to what most people are used to. The summer transfer window runs from 8th June until 31st August, while the winter transfer window runs from 20th January until 20th February. There are a couple of interesting match rules which we must comply with:
The match squad must have no more than 3 non-EU players.
The match squad must have at least 2 Hungarian under-21 players.
All that's left for me to explain is the title/promotion race. There are three main contenders to earn promotion to the top division, us included. I will give you a brief overview of what you can expect from each club this season.
ZTE Football Club
Manager: Miklós Lendvai
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Captain: Géza Vlaszák
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Key Player: Milan Bogunovic
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Predicted Finish: 1st
ZTE Football Club is the favourite to win the league this season, and you can understand why when you look at their squad. Based in the city of Zalaegerszeg, ZTE play their home games in a 12,000 capacity stadium called Október 6. Tér. ZTE's manager, Lendvai, is known for using a 3-4-3 formation and ZTE's strongest point is it's midfield, which is by far the best in the division. It will surely be a question of how many points ZTE will win the league by, as they are the big favourites to come up trumps at the end of the year.
FC Tatabánya
Manager: László P. Nagy
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Captain: N/A
Key Player: Gábor Szamosszegi
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Predicted Finish: 2nd
FC Tatabánya will be pushing for promotion this season, as they are the "best of the rest", so to speak. The club from Tatabánya, who play their home games at Ságvári Endre út, like to play some adventurous football and their main strengths come from wide play and a fast, fluid midfield. However, their strikers lack experience which could be a huge disadvantage for them if they cannot get them firing. Tatabánya's goalkeepers may come under scrutiny also, as they are not of the highest calibre. Can Tatabánya challenge for the title? It will be tough but surely they can!
Nyíregyháza Spartacus FC
Manager: Ryan Ferguson
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Captain: N/A
Key Player: Péter Szilágyi
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Predicted Finish: 3rd
Nyíregyháza Spartacus FC, nicknamed Szpari, will be under the spotlight this season after the much-criticised hiring of managerial newbie Ryan Ferguson. The gaffer who can't speak Hungarian will find life tough in his new surroundings and will have immense pressure on him to produce results this season. His team's main strength is in central midfield and attack, where there is plenty of quality to produce chances and score goals. However, central defence is an issue with only one reasonable player covering that position currently. It is unknown how Ferguson will set his team up but he is expected to use a tactic which allows his creative players to make an impact on the game.
So that's a look at the league rules and the top three challengers. I did get the idea off of
pompeyblue, so credit to him for such a good idea which I could emulate! Next up is tactics discussion and then,
finally, pre-season! I hope these updates haven't bored you all to death so far, I can promise you that more is to come soon enough!
Previous Update: Season One: Squad Overview
Next Update: Season One: Tactics Discussion
's = 3 Star Players
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