That man Gera has just lifted a trophy; please log in to view this image "Ferencváros have won their first Hungarian league title in 12 years with six games to spare despite a 2-1 defeat by 2013/14 champions Debrecen on Saturday. The Green Eagles clinched their 29th championship after nearest rivals MTK Budapest lost 4-1 away at Paks, a result which ensured an insurmountable 22-point lead for Ferencváros, who have played a game more than their challengers. Winning the division for the first time since 2003/04 marks the end of a tumultuous period in Ferencváros's history, during which the club spent three seasons in the second tier having been relegated for off-pitch reasons. Key to their success this season has been league top scorer Dániel Böde, as well as the steadying influence of Zoltán Gera" Link to story and video: http://hungarytoday.hu/news/otp-ban...ins-title-despite-defeat-debrecen-video-13327
Watched a program with Tom Watt (Eastenders fame) going round European teams who had european glory but were now floundering, and they had a section on Ferencvaros and Zoltan spoke about how the Champions league format had killed Hungarian football in terms of crowds and players leaving, but he was hoping that now they could use the Europa or qualification into the CL group stage to boost their profile. The program is European outposts shown on BT but can be found on YouTube is very interesting, teams like Parma, Steaua Bucharest and others.
And .. Ferencvaros have done the double. They won the Hungarian Cup last night beating Ujpest 1-0. Guess who got the winning goal? please log in to view this image Link to match report: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/re...cvaros-land-double-winning-Hungarian-Cup.html
Yesterday the Club announced that Ross McCormack was Player of the Season for 2015/16. Well 6 years ago today it was this man And this is what they had to say at the time: "Zoltan Gera has been voted Fulham's 2009/10 Player of the Season following an online poll on fulhamfc.com. Gera received the highest number of votes with Bobby Zamora (2nd) and Aaron Hughes (3rd) finishing behind the Hungarian attacking midfielder. 'Zolly's' goals in Europe played a crucial role in Fulham reaching the Final of the UEFA Europa League last season and his partnership in attack with Bobby Zamora turned into one of the success stories of the 09/10 campaign. In 14 UEFA Europa League appearances last season, Gera scored six goals against CSKA Sofia, Basel, Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus (2) and of course, THAT winner against Hamburg in the Semi Final at the Cottage. It was not just Zoltan's goals that earned him the most votes. The Hungarian has been a credit to himself and Fulham Football Club with his determination, composure, contribution and attitude on and off the pitch. Speaking to fulhamfc.com on Thursday afternoon, Fulham's Player of the Season paid tribute to the Club's fans following a quite remarkable 12 months. "I'm very, very pleased to receive this award and I'm also very surprised! I want to thank my teammates, the Manager, the Club and especially all the supporters who were absolutely fantastic last season. "I enjoyed every game I played in last season and our European campaign was fantastic. Every single match was a great experience, especially from when we beat Shakhtar Donetsk and put a real run together. "It's important that we all get a good rest now and once the holidays are over we return excited for the new season. Hopefully I can play well again next year and have another good season." Fulham FC would like to congratulate Zoltan on winning the Club's Player of the Season Award for 2009/10 and thank the Club's supporters for casting their votes over the past few weeks."
Eight years ago today ... "Fulham have finally completed the free signing of midfielder Zoltan Gera from West Brom after the Hungarian passed a medical today. please log in to view this image Albion manager Tony Mowbray admitted two days ago that Gera, 29, had turned down a new contract at The Hawthorns and was leaving the newly-promoted Baggies to join Fulham, who dramatically avoided relegation from the Barclays Premier League on the last day of the season. Gera, who scored 25 goals in 155 games for the midlanders, including 10 strikes last term in their latest promotion campaign, cost them £1.5 million when signed from Hungary's Ferencvaros in July 2004. He has won 53 caps for his country and has often captained them. Gera recovered from a hernia operation which kept him out for a long spell in 2005 to emerge as one of the Baggies' most outstanding recent performers and Fulham have jumped in front of at least two other Premier League contenders for his signature. He is Fulham manager Roy Hodgson's third signing of the season - after goalkeepers Mark Schwarzer on a free from Middlesbrough, and David Stockdale, who joined for a small fee from League Two Darlington. But that is likely to be only the start of a new spree by Hodgson who has promised a string of new faces before the start of a season in which he intends to establish Fulham as a mid-table side after two years fighting the drop. Hodgson brought in six new signings during the January transfer window and has pledged to keep much-coveted midfielder Jimmy Bullard at the club. He has released 10 players including former captain Brian McBride, fellow American defender Carlos Bocanegra, goalkeeper Tony Warner and midfielder Simon Elliott. Another American, veteran goalkeeper Kasey Keller, has not been offered an extension to his expired one-year contract and is likely to retire."
Apparently it was a 'Grey Bottoms Day' in Hungary in support of Gabor Kiraly. They'll be wearing crowns as well in support of this man against Portugal today.
