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Somogy FC was a Hungarian football club from the town of Kaposvár, Somogy County, Hungary.^[1] It was founded as Kaposvári AC in 1926.

123 years ago in Kaposvár, in the courtyard of what is now the Táncsics Mihály High School, Somogy County’s first soccer team, KAC, established its home field. Two years later, it had already played an international match against an opponent from Zagreb. In the pre-war period, the team competed in the Pécs region sub-division of the Transdanubian district, with mixed success.

The introduction of professional soccer in Hungary also piqued the interest of the commercial town; in its July 25, 1926, issue, the Uj-Somogy reported that KAC was being revived. “The glorious old Kaposvár Athletic Club is being resurrected like a phoenix by those enthusiastic sportsmen who realized that a healthy sporting life can only be created by joining forces. Neither MÁVTE nor KDLTE could remain viable; both were merely struggling. They bitterly realized that they could only succeed by joining forces to form a single, large association. “In the hope of strengthening and developing Kaposvár’s sports scene, we gladly welcome the merger of the two clubs, from which every sports enthusiast expects only benefits,” stated the article, which also revealed that the future team had been classified in the professional second division.

At a board meeting held at the Korona Hotel, it was announced that the professional soccer team would compete under the name Somogy, and its colors would be black and red. The club’s financial backing was to be secured through what we would today call “crowdfunding.” In fact, two days later, the Somogyi Ujság reported that the club had appealed to the city’s citizens: “Yesterday, posters in red letters from the Kaposvár professional team, Somogy FC, appeared on the streets, calling on the residents of Kaposvár and the entire county—all those enthusiastic about beauty, goodness, and nobility—to subscribe to 72-pengő cooperative shares.”

Meanwhile, the club needed to bolster its roster; a few days later, the team faced off against KAC’s amateur squad and then Turul FC—also from Kaposvár—defeating both opponents convincingly. On August 29, a league match against Erzsébetváros followed; Somogy took the field with the lineup of Erdőss II – Szatyin, Morvay – Tallián, Nyul II, Buday – Gacsár, Weisz, Csida, Zaviza, and Göllesz, and, according to a report in the Somogyi Ujság, “in front of a record crowd.” The exciting, fast-paced match ended in a 1–1 draw, with Morvay equalizing for Kaposvár on a penalty kick in the 85th minute.

According to the paper, the match report noted that “Zakál refereed the match with a steady hand, though the game had to be interrupted several times to revive players writhing on the ground.”

Somogy finished in fifth place in its first season, and just one year later, it was promoted to the top division as the champion. The team played it safe at the end of the season, buying the home-field advantage for its remaining two away matches in early May. Of course, Kaposvár’s “rivals from Pesterzsébet” also gave it their all before the final match, as reported by Uj-Somogy: “Although the match began at five o’clock, the flood of people had already started heading toward the stadium at four. Cars and carriages brought people in droves, but the crowd arriving on foot was so dense that Szent Imre Street was black with people. Everyone arrived full of hopeful anticipation. The importance of the match was reflected on their faces. No one took the game lightly, because word had quickly spread that Somogy’s Budapest rivals had bribed the Húsos with 400-pengő bonuses.”

The four hundred pengős and the high stakes left their mark on the match; the chant “Go, Somogy!” roared from three thousand throats, and the winning goal was scored in the final moments. Weisz II’s goal was met with such a roar of cheers that, according to the paper, it could be heard all the way to the train station. The Pesterzsébet team tried to save their match against Órások at the green table, but they were unsuccessful; Somogy advanced to the top division.

Somogy FC debuted in the 1928–29 season of the Hungarian League and finished third.^[2]

The Kaposvár team, led by former Ferencváros star Zoltán Blum in his role as player-coach, played their first top-flight match in Szeged, where they defeated Bástya 2–1 thanks to goals from István Csida and Miklós Vadas.

“The winning team arrived on the 1:00 p.m. train. At the station, an enthusiastic crowd of 200 to 300 people, led by the team’s management, awaited the team, which was greeted with thunderous cheers as it stepped off the train,” writes Uj-Somogy.

In their first season, Csida held their own in the top division, finishing in 8th place out of twelve teams thanks to their 17 points. A year later, they finished last, but they bounced right back in 1931 (Pál Jávor, signed from Újpest, scored 54 goals all by himself!). As newcomers, they marched on again, finishing in seventh place, though they did lose 10–1 to Ferencváros, for example…

By the end of the 1932–33 season, the team had managed to retain its top-flight status only after a hard-fought battle. The fact was that, at the start of the season, the Somogy team had refused to play in Soroksár because there was no police presence at the match. In the end, they played the match and lost 1–0, but they successfully defended their position. Somogy won the rematch 2–1, but Soroksár wasn’t happy with that. In Budapest, the mayor (!) ruled in favor of the Soroksár team, after which the case was taken up by the Ministry of the Interior. The minister ruled in favor of Somogy, which was thus able to play in the promotion-relegation match as the second-to-last-place team, while Soroksár was eliminated. While this legal dispute was ongoing, the team was playing exhibition matches in Fiume.

“Knowing His Excellency’s sense of justice, we were certain that the decision could only be favorable to us. It was crystal clear that Somogy was in the right. Now we’re preparing for the playoff, and knowing the team’s fighting spirit, I’m confident we’ll win!” said club president Gyula Andorka to Uj-Somogy.

According to a report by Nemzeti Sport, on Béke Street in Angyalföld, “Vasas gave the impression of a demoralized team; they couldn’t even threaten Somogy’s victory.” The visitors were able to head home comfortably with a 3–0 win. Vasas arrived for the rematch with a rejuvenated squad and suffered a decisive 5–2 defeat at the hands of the home team.

In the following season, Somogy once again remained in the relegation round, where they faced an old “acquaintance,” Erzsébeti TC FC, and won both legs 2–0. In the 1934–1935 season, the Kaposvár team managed only one victory—beating III. Kerület 2–1 on Hungária út in front of twelve thousand spectators—and was the last team to be relegated. On May 30, 1935, only 250 spectators gathered on Üllői út, where Somogy FC played to a 1–1 draw against Budai 11. Decades passed after Ferenc Kollár’s goal before another Kaposvár goal was scored in the top division. Although Somogy FC began the professional second division as a Kaposvár team, the city effectively relinquished it due to the financial burdens weighing on the club.

“Somogy has died—Baranya-Somogy has been born. Its tombstone reads: ‘Here lies Somogy. It lived for 10 years,’” wrote Uj-Somogy on April 19, 1936. “When enthusiastic sportsmen founded Somogy in 1926, no one imagined it would last 10 years. Somogy bore the proud title of champion and was part of the group representing the Central European standard of soccer in the First Division. It brought glory to Kaposvár and the county, and everyone who loved sports and their local community even a little bit cheered for the black-and-red colors. It played abroad and reaped laurels there as well. It nurtured great players who remain the pride of Hungarian sports to this day. It has run its course! The last year was merely a period of decline, and let’s be honest. In the end, we were glad to be rid of it. At least we could help in Pécs—if you can call it help that they’re now struggling to keep a professional team afloat,” the paper reflected, and that final sentence also serves as a snapshot of Hungarian provincial soccer in the 1930s.

“Kaposvár has handed over the club in its entirety and henceforth has no stake in it whatsoever,” the author concluded somberly. The Somogyi Ujság added only this: “Those who, through their incompetence, orchestrated the funeral procession of the Pécs team—shame on you.” Incidentally, Baranya-Somogy played its first match (1–1) as a Pécs team against Erzsébeti TC.

In Kaposvár, they had to wait forty years for the next top-tier team; at that time, Rákóczi reached the highest division. Today, the team wearing green and white leads the Southwest group of the Nemzeti Bajnokság III league. Incidentally, there is a connection between Rákóczi and Somogy: in 1926, KAC launched an amateur team alongside its professional one, which merged with Rákóczi eight years later.^[3]

• 1926: founded as Kaposvári AC
• 1926–1935 Somogy FC
• 1935: merger with Pécs-Baranya FC
• 1935–1936: Somogy Baranya FC
• 1936: dissolved

• Nemzeti Bajnokság II:
  • Winners (2): 1927–28, 1930–31

• Profil