Ferenc Puskás Biro
Nicknames: Puskás Öcsi (Little Brother), The Galloping Major, Cañoncito Pum (The Booming Cannon), Pancho Puskas
Hungarian
Date of birth: April 2, 1927 in Budapest, Hungary
Date of death: November 17, 2006 in Budapest, Hungary
1946-1956 Kispest AC/Honvéd - 354 appearances, 357 goals
1956 RCD Español - (Details unknown)
1958-1967 Real Madrid CF - 261 appearances, 236 goals
1949-1956 Hungary - 85 appearances, 84 goals
1961-1962 Spain - 4 appearances, 0 goals
1966-67 Deportivo Alavés
1967 San Francisco Golden Gate Gales
1968-69 Vancouver Royals
1969-74 Panathinaikos
1974-75 Real Murcia
1975-76 Colo-Colo
1976-77 Saudi Arabia
1978-79 AEK Athens FC
1979-80 Al-Masry
1984-85 Al-Masry
1985-86 Club Sol de América
1986 Cerro Porteño
1989-92 South Melbourne Hellas
1993 Hungary
Hungary
* Olympic Champions: 1 - 1952
* Dr. Gerő Cup Winners: 1 - 1948/53
Honvéd
* Hungarian League: 5 - 1949/50, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955
Real Madrid
* Spanish Championship: 5 - 1960/61, 1961/62, 1962/63, 1963/64, 1964/65
* Pichichi Trophy Winner: 4 - 1959/60, 1960/61, 1962/63, 1963/64
* European Cup: 3 - 1958/59, 1959/60, 1965/66
* Intercontinental Cup: 1 - 1960
* Copa del Generalísimo: 1 - 1961/62
Panathinaikos
* Greek Championship: 1 - 1971/72
* European Cup: 1 - Runner-up: 1971
South Melbourne Hellas
* Australian Champions: 1 - 1990/91
Ferenc Puskas first came to prominence as a marauding goalscorer for the Hungarian Army side Honved, the new name for Kispest, the club he played for as a boy and his father coached at during the 1940s.
Having been given the military rank of major for his performances for Honved, Puskas became known as the Galloping Major and helped fire Honved to five Hungarina league titles between 1949 and 1955.
His debut for the Hungarian national side had came as an 18 year old in 1945 and , true to form, he scored on his debut against Austria. Puskas was perhaps the greatest of that golden generation of Hungarian footballers who became known as the Magical Magyars and went on to play 85 times for Hungary, scoring 84 goals in the process.
That great Hungarian side went on a 32 game unbeaten run which still stands as a record in international football today and during that run became Olympic champions in 1952, beat England home and away in 1953 and 1954 (becoming the first foreign side to ever beat England at Wembley) and finally lost a thrilling World Cup final to West Germany in 1954 bringing the run to a heartbreaking end. Through it all the one constant factor was an unending stream of goals from Ferenc Puskas, be it his four goals in the Olympics, two in each game against England or another four at the 1954 World Cup finals.
Puskas's time with Honved finally ended in 1956 when, as the players were preparing for a European Cup game in neutral Brussels against Athletico Bilbao, the Hungarian Revolution was raging and many players eventually refused to return to Budapest. Puskas summoned his family and began a two year exile from European football as he moved from team to team around Austria, Italy and Spain before finally joining Real Madrid in 1958 at the age of 31.
Real Madrid had already formed a quality side by 1958 and were already triple back-to-back European Cup winners in 1956, 1957 and 1958. The addition of Puskas totally lit the fuse under the club though and he picked up where he had left off for Honved in 1956, scoring goals and winning trophies and forming one of the greatest footballing partnerships of all time with Alfredo di Stefano.
Puskas wrote his name into the annals of footballing history by winning three European Cups in 1959, 1960 and 1966 with Real Madrid as well as five consecutive Spanish league titles between 1960 and 1965, coupled with the Pichichi Trophy (Spanish league's top goalscorer) in 1960, 1961, 1963 and 1964.
