On Sunday it became certain that our team will continue in the top flight from next season. Although promotion can now be treated as a fact, the changes of recent months have raised many questions around the club. With that in mind, our sporting director Sándor Fórizs responded to the topics raised at the request of M4 Sport.
“When we arrived here in the summer of 2024, we said realistically it would take three years to win promotion to the top flight. In the end we managed to do it in two, so I think everyone can be very happy. I hoped it would not take three years; we put a huge amount of work into it, and that is what brought this success,” – our sporting director began his summary in the M4 Sport studio. The new ownership group took over the club in a difficult position in the summer of 2024, but thanks to deliberate building over the period since then and a strengthened squad, our team can play in the top flight again after three years.
“When we took over Honvéd, we knew the club was in a very difficult position and also that the team was not strong enough to fight for promotion. We could also see that a few injuries could put us in an especially difficult situation, but we never imagined we would spend 217 days below the line in NB II. In October 2024 we had already started working on which players we could sign to strengthen the squad, and I think that went well. Seven players arrived in the winter, players we knew would be important figures in the second division. I would not say every one of them worked out, but most performed well and, in fact, are still performing well today. Another important thing was that in December we also had to make a decision about the coach. We decided he should leave and then reached an agreement with Tamás Feczkó. We trusted that with the strengthened squad he would be able to take the team up. We laid the foundations for promotion already in the spring, then strengthened this squad with four quality players, creating even greater competition for places, which improved the quality of training and made the team better. We owe our promotion to the top flight to our autumn performance.”
Sándor Fórizs highlighted that he knew our head coach from Diósgyőr, so he was certain Tamás Feczkó was capable of building a strong, united team. Our sporting director also responded to reports about the coach potentially leaving, saying a decision on his future may be made in the coming weeks.
“I know Tamás Feczkó from Diósgyőr. I knew he could build very strong unity, and he did exactly that. Whether he stays, I cannot answer precisely yet, because if I compare what Honvéd were like in the autumn with what we were like in the spring, we have to think about the direction the team is moving in — whether the curve is going upward or downward. We need to discuss that with the owner. I think in the next few days, or within a week or two, we will be able to say for certain whether we continue with him or without him. I have only read that DVTK approached him. One thing I know about him: he can help a great deal when it comes to getting a team promoted from the second division to the top flight, because he has already done it with Balmazújváros, MTK and us. And yes, his contract was extended by the promotion, but I still cannot say whether we will continue with him or without him.”
He added that the club management has already begun planning next season's squad, and that six to eight signings are needed to create the necessary competitiveness and competition for places.
“Along the way we had already started thinking about which players we should sign if we achieved promotion. I think this squad needs to be strengthened with six to eight players so that there is competition within the team. I do not know how many of the players we want to bring in we will manage to sign, but I do know that we need players with whom we can be successful,” – he concluded. Our sporting director also discussed the introduction of the new system, under which, in addition to one automatic relegation place, the team finishing 11th will play a relegation/promotion play-off against the second-placed team from the second division.
“If we look at the recent rounds, I would not say our performances are encouraging. In recent weeks we have not played the way we want to. What is encouraging is that for an individual match the team can raise itself to a level where it can play well, but in the top flight, when you are playing NB I matches week after week, it is not enough to lift yourself once a month. You have to be ready every weekend, and that is much harder. We need to strengthen the team so that the question is not whether we will be relegated, but how high up the table we can finish.”
