CITY 2 MTK HUNGARY 3
Friendly
6th December 1956
attendance 35,000 approx
Goals
City Hayes, Johnstone
Hungary ???
Taken from BOBBY JOHNSTONE, THE PASSING OF AN AGE by John Leigh
In early December there was a Thursday night friendly match at Maine Road, a most unusual event, but one that Bobby [Johnstone] enjoyed because the opposition were the Hungarian side formerly known as Red Banner.
These were troubled times for that nation, following the unrest that had begun in Budapest only two months before. That uprising had been crushed by a Soviet invasion, and 200,000 refugees had fled the state, and so naturally the arrival of the soccer team in Britain had generated much intersted, and a considerable wave of public sympathy.
The club was now called The Magyar Physical Culture Club, or MTK Budapest and they fielded Sandor and other famous names from the historic 6-3(Wembley), and 7-1 (Budapest) games against England.
Bobby went head to head at Centre Forward against 35 year old Nandor Hidegkuti, probably the greatest exponent of the deep lying centre forward plan.
While the result of this thrilling and romantic encounter is of little consequence, interestingly there are conflicting reports about the end of the game. At least one report records that Bobby equalised with six minutes left to make the final scor 3-3, though most authoratitive sources record the result as a 3-2 win to the Hungarians.
In early December there was a Thursday night friendly match at Maine Road, a most unusual event, but one that Bobby [Johnstone] enjoyed because the opposition were the Hungarian side formerly known as Red Banner.
These were troubled times for that nation, following the unrest that had begun in Budapest only two months before. That uprising had been crushed by a Soviet invasion, and 200,000 refugees had fled the state, and so naturally the arrival of the soccer team in Britain had generated much intersted, and a considerable wave of public sympathy.
The club was now called The Magyar Physical Culture Club, or MTK Budapest and they fielded Sandor and other famous names from the historic 6-3(Wembley), and 7-1 (Budapest) games against England.
Bobby went head to head at Centre Forward against 35 year old Nandor Hidegkuti, probably the greatest exponent of the deep lying centre forward plan.
While the result of this thrilling and romantic encounter is of little consequence, interestingly there are conflicting reports about the end of the game. At least one report records that Bobby equalised with six minutes left to make the final scor 3-3, though most authoratitive sources record the result as a 3-2 win to the Hungarians.
Goals: Joe Hayes and Bobby Johnstone.
Missed Penalty: Jack Dyson.