How life went sour for a trailblazing teenager
STEVE GORDOS looks into the sad tale of the talented youth who became Wolves’ first ever signing from a European club
A signing from a European club is nothing out of the ordinary at Molineux these days but who was the first?
It’s doubtful if the keenest of Wolves fans would come up with the answer – Istvan Kovacs.
Stan Cullis signed the teenage defender at the time of a Russian invasion of a neighbouring country, which has an eerie resonance with the present awful events in Ukraine.
Leading Hungarian club Red Banner, who had just changed their name to MTK, were in England on tour and played Wolves to raise money for the Hungarian Relief Fund, set up after the Soviet Union’s invasion to quell the Hungarian Revolution.
Red Banner played Wolves at Molineux in December 1956. Main focus of attention in the Red Banner side was the great hat-trick hero of the Magyars’ famous 6-3 defeat of England at Wembley in 1953. Hidegkuti did not disappoint and created a goal for Peter Palotas on six minutes. Amateur leftwinger Phil Neil, on his first-team debut, levelled for Wolves four minutes later. Despite many close calls that was how the
Nandor Hidegkuti,
scoring ended. Hidegkuti, having taken a knock, didn’t turn out for the second half.
Crowd
The 43,540 crowd also saw, for the last nine minutes, a farewell first team appearance by wing legend Johnny Hancocks, who was substituted for Jimmy Murray. The England international took up his familiar position on the right wing, Harry Hooper moving to centreforward. Hancocks might have landed one of his cannonball free kicks but sent the ball wide.
It was the last game of the Hungarians’ trip before they flew to Switzerland, hoping eventually to meet up with relatives who had fled their homeland in the wake of the Soviet invasion.
After games in Switzerland, the Hungarians announced they would not be returning home and it was then that Cullis flew to Geneva eight days after the Red Banner game and brought back Kovacs, believing he would be a fine addition to the Wolves squad.
No fee was involved as, officially, all Hungarian players were amateurs, though in practice they had jobs which enabled them to devote most of their time to football. Cullis and Kovacs arrived at Dover late on the eve of Wolves’ home game against Blackpool. So the team for the visit of the Seasiders were chosen by the club’s directors, who made only one change, Bobby Mason having to make way for Dennis
Wilshaw.
It was quite a return journey for Cullis and Kovacs. It lasted 36 hours. Fog prevented them flying from Geneva or Zurich so they made the journey to Dunkirk by train. On the five-hour leg from Paris to the coast, the train was crowded and Cullis and Kovacs shared seats alternately with famous orchestral conductor Sir
and Lady
John Barbirolli Barbirolli.
Happy to be in England, Kovacs was reported to be staying with members of the Hungarian community in Wolverhampton and was hoping to find work in the area.
Alas, there was not a happy ending to the bold signing by Cullis. The snag was getting clearance from the Hungarian FA for Kovacs to play.
Wait
The Football Association said that if the Hungarian FA did give permission, then Kovacs could play as an amateur. He would have to wait two years before he could sign professional forms. If the Hungarians refused then FIFA might be able to intervene and grant a certificate but not until a year had elapsed.
Kovacs was left in limbo and was not allowed to turn out for any of Wolves teams at that stage. It was not until the end of March that Kovacs managed to play football again. He was centre-forward in a Bert Williams XI who faced a Wolverhampton Boys’ Clubs XI under lights at the Revo Ground in Tipton, and scored twice.
Cullis was there and said afterwards: “He played quite well but he’s dreadfully short of match practice.” By then Kovacs was working in a local drawing office but could not sign any forms for Wolves, amateur or professional. It was reported he was quite happy and waiting for the day he could pull on a gold shirt.
In early April, clearance finally came through and Kovacs was able to sign amateur forms for Wolves. His first game in gold and black, again at centre-forward, was on April 19, 1957 when he was in the Wolves side who beat Wulfrun College Old Boys 2-1 in the Wolverhampton Amateur League. He scored one of the goals.
All seemed set for Kovacs to make a career with Wolves – then came a hammer blow from FIFA, who decreed that all players who left Hungary at the time of the revolution would be suspended. Kovacs would not be able to sign as a pro until October 1958.
Cullis said: “There is nothing we can do about it but I do think FIFA could have taken a firmer stand with the Hungarians.”
Wolves said they had no alternative but to let Kovacs go.
Sadly, the story does not end there. In November, 1958 a headline in the Birmingham Post said “Hungarian footballer admits theft”, and below was this report:
“Istvan Kovacs (21), a Hungarian footballer who was formerly on the books of Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, pleaded guilty at Wolverhampton yesterday to two charges of shoplifting. He asked for four similar offences to be taken into account. Kovacs, of Allan Road, was conditionally discharged for stealing nail varnish and put on probation for stealing women’s clothing.”
Factory
“Kovacs never played for Wanderers because of the suspension of Hungarian footballers in this country. After a year in a Wolverhampton factory, he went to Germany for six months to play for Borussia Dortmund. He returned to Britain and had been unemployed since.”
Kovacs did not learn his lesson. In December 1958 he breached his probation order and was jailed for 12 months for shoplifting. Kovacs and Istvan Bodnak (18) pleaded guilty to thefts from Woolworth’s in Birmingham. Bodnak was fined £5.
Kovacs asked for six other offences of shoplifting to be take into consideration. He told the court: “I would not mind going for sentence because I am writing a book on English life and it would give me some experience.”
In March 1959, in a feature on refugees, a friend of his, told the People newspaper: “He only did it because he wanted to be sent home to Budapest. Istvan was earning £4 10s a week and could not save the £14 fare. He was very homesick and wanted to rejoin his mother.”
However, Kovacs was still in Britain and later that year he signed for Southern League side Guildford City, whose new boss was the onetime Chelsea reserve
Charles Barrany, Albert Tennant.
The club also found him a job as a draughtsman. It did not work out and, Kovacs made just three first team appearances in the Metropolitan League and 15 in the club’s lower sides. He was released at the end of the 1959-60 season.
Kovacs’s exit was probably not deemed newsworthy – unlike his dramatic arrival in Wolverhampton.