Ferenc Plattkó

1916/19 Vasas S​C (HON)

1919/20 Wiener AF (AUT)

1920 Middlesbrough (ENG)

1921/22 KAFK Kula (ex-YOU)

1922/23 MTK Budapest (HON) 17 matches

1923/30 FC Barcelona (ESP) 226 matches

1930/31 Recreativo Huelva (ESP)

1931/32 FC Bale (SUI)

1932/33 FC Mulhouse (FRA) 8 matches

1933/34 RC Roubaix (FRA)

With the National Team :

6 selections

(Friendly matches: 6 selections)

1st selection: July 15, 1917 against Austria (4-1)

Last selection: March 11, 1923 against Switzerland (6-1)

Franz Plattkó Kopiletz

Born December 2, 1898 in Budapest (HON)

Died September 2, 1983 in Santiago (CHL)

Hungarian, Goalkeeper, 1m88

Nickname: The Blond Bear

Ferenc Plattkó was born in Budapest in 1898 and started playing football at the age of 10. He quickly chose to become a goalkeeper, a position he would never leave. Very gifted and quite tall, 1.88 metres tall, he began his career with the seniors in 1916 at Vasas SC. In this club in northern Hungary, he was already a starter at 17 and ended his first season as a great hope for Hungarian football.

He was seen as one of the best goalkeepers in the country, on 15 July 1917, less than a year after his debut, he was already called up to the national team in a match between Hungary and Austria, a 4-1 victory for the Hungarians. Unfortunately for him, the First World War was wreaking havoc, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was on the verge of implosion. He had to leave. Like many of his compatriots, the Hungarian international left his country for his Austrian neighbor. The start of a fabulous tour of Europe for the goalkeeper.

He left Hungary in 1919 to join Wiener AF. In Austria, he changed his first name to Franz, but the future was short-lived, and the player signed in England with Middlebrough, which was then a club in the English first division. Again, it was a short-lived adventure since the player left after a few months.

Plattkó then joined Serbia (Yugoslavia at the time) and KAFK Kula, today better known as Hajduk Kula. A very rare thing, Ferenc was a player, captain and coach there. With him, the club won the Subotica Sub-Federation championship and thus gained access to the country's first division.

After 1 year in Yugoslavia, Plattkó changed clubs again and became the goalkeeper of MTK Budapest with whom he won the Hungarian championship. This was the 7th consecutive title for the club that dominated the championship. And while everyone was saying that MTK finally had its goalkeeper for the next few years, Ferenc left the club. The reason? During a friendly tournament where MTK invited big foreign teams, the player was spotted by FC Barcelona. Indeed, the Spanish club that had been invited by MTK saw its future in this goalkeeper. Why? Because FC Barcelona had not managed to score a single goal against the goalkeeper in 2 games, while the Spanish team was largely dominant in the game. Conquered, the Spanish leaders were ready to do anything to sign the goalkeeper from the Hungarian club. Plattkó accepted their offer without hesitation and packed his bags. He thus left Hungary, where he would not play again, and his national team, with which he had played six times between 1917 and 1923, for five wins, one draw and only four goals conceded.

Arriving in Spain as a replacement for a certain Ricardo Zamora, the player must prove his talent and make people forget the Spanish legend who left for Espanyol after falling out with president Hans Gamper who had refused to give him a raise.

With Plattkó in goal, FC Barcelona will establish itself on Spanish soil. Ferenc perfectly replaces the Spanish legend and establishes himself as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Reassuring, decisive and making very good saves, the Hungarian goalkeeper wins the Catalan Championship upon his arrival, a championship that Barcelona had failed to win the previous year.

The player who was supposed to replace a legend does much more than that, because he himself becomes a legend of the club. He stayed at the club for 7 years, between 1923 and 1930. Plattkó won the Catalan championship 6 times, even better, he achieved a double in 1925 by also winning the Spanish Cup, 2-0 against Arenas Getxo. A feat that he would also achieve in 1926 (3-2 against Atlético de Madrid) and in 1928 against Real Sociedad at the end of a play-off won 3-1.

In 1929, FC Barcelona failed to win the Catalan championship, but they won the very first edition of La Liga, the Spanish championship. However, the season did not start well. While Real Madrid was leading the championship from the first day, the Catalans sank, going as far as being in 9th and penultimate place in the standings on the evening of the 7th day. Plattkó was not a starter at the time, as his coach Romà Forns preferred the local Ramón Llorens. But at the end of the first leg matches, when the club had climbed to sixth place, Forns was relieved of his duties. The Englishman James Bellamy then succeeded him. Under his orders, Plattkó found his place in the Barcelona goal again. And it was once again a total success. With the return of its Hungarian goalkeeper, Barça won eight of its nine matches (for one draw) and conceded only four small goals. Enough to come back to level and pass Real Madrid on the last day. If the stars of the team were then the strikers Paulino Alcantara and Josep Samitier, Francisco Plattkó was indeed at the heart of this miracle.

In 1930, the legendary goalkeeper of FC Barcelona left the club at the age of 32 and went on to play for several clubs in Spain, Switzerland and France. He then had the status of player-coach. Often on the bench, he replaced players when they were injured. He definitively ended his playing career in 1934 before starting as a coach.

- Voted Best Hungarian Footballer of the Year in 1917

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