Perhaps the most eagerly anticipated match of the autumn season is coming up, as we visit league leaders Vasas FC from 20:00 on Monday. The contest will be intense not only because of the two clubs’ shared history of more than 100 years and their old rivalry, but also because of their positions in the table and their performances this season. Vasas last lost in the league in mid-August; since then the red-and-blues have gone unbeaten in 11 consecutive competitive matches. Although NB II will only reach the halfway stage next week, it can already be said that the teams that have spent the most rounds at the top will meet: in the 13 rounds so far we have entered the next matchday from first place six times, while Vasas have done so four times. Vasas currently lead us by three points, but a victory would take us above our opponents in the table thanks to our superior goal difference.
Supporter information:
- The match kicks off at 20:00 on Monday, November 24 at the Illovszky Rudolf Stadium.
- Tickets can be purchased at vasas.csakjegyek.hu.
- Interest in the match is extraordinary: tickets for the away section sold out in essentially 20 minutes, so the away ticket office will not be open at the stadium before the match.
- According to advance information from the club in the 13th district, if our supporters arrive at the entry points for sectors reserved for home fans wearing clothing associated with the away team (shirt, scarf, cap, etc.), the security service may refuse entry to the match and may remove the supporter during the game.
- We again draw attention to the fact that the match has been classified as a high-security-risk event, so both ticket sales and entry into the stadium will be conducted by name.
- The match can be followed live on M4 Sport and online at m4sport.hu.
What you need to know about Vasas FC:
Founded: 1911
Club colours: red and blue
Current league position: 1st
League record: 9 wins, 2 draws, 2 defeats
Goal difference: 24:12
League form: W-W-D-W-D
At home: 5 wins, 5 draws, 1 defeat (4th place)
Head coach: Gábor Erős
Top scorers: Bence Pethő, Milán Tóth (4 goals each)
Major achievements: 6x Hungarian champions, 4x Hungarian Cup winners
Players with links to both clubs:
Each team currently has two players who have also represented the opponent. From the Vasas squad, Botond Baráth came through Honvéd’s youth system and played for our club from 2012 to 2018 and again from 2020 to 2022, and was also a member of the 2016/17 championship-winning team. Barnabás Németh is also a Honvéd academy product, although he only played for the first team in friendlies. Vasas head coach Gábor Erős played in Kispest between 2003 and 2004.
From our squad, Szilveszter Hangya won Hungarian Cup silver with Vasas in 2017, while Sebestyén Ihrig-Farkas became NB II champion with the red-and-blues in 2022.
Head-to-head matches:
The first teams of the two clubs will meet for the 187th time in a league match on Sunday.
- The first league match between the teams took place on December 3, 1916, when we drew 1–1 at the MTK ground, with Zoltán Túri scoring our goal.
- The first major Kispest success away from home came in 1931, when we thrashed the red-and-blues 5–0. Lajos Kormos scored twice, with István Lukács, Lajos Keresztes and Imre Serényi also on target.
- Between 1950 and 1956 we produced our longest unbeaten league run against Vasas, going 13 matches without defeat. During this period our record was 9 Kispest victories and 4 draws, and the sequence included a 4–4 draw and a 6–1 Kispest win.
- The first Honvéd–Vasas cup final was held in 1955. Vasas won 3–2, and then also beat us in the high-scoring 1974 final, 4–3.
- One year after the Match of the Century, supporters who travelled to Angyalföld witnessed one of the highest-scoring meetings as Honvéd, led by Sándor Kocsis and Lajos Tichy, returned home from Fáy Street with a 6–3 victory.
- In 1964, 85,000 spectators witnessed Lajos Tichy’s magic and Honvéd’s comeback live: in the 86th minute Vasas still led 3–2 in Kispest, before two flashes from Tichy, in the 87th and 89th minutes, turned the match into a 4–3 Honvéd victory.
- Between 1981 and 1984 we defeated Vasas in six consecutive matches. In those games we scored 14 goals and conceded only 3.
- We first met the red-and-blues in the second division in the 2003/04 season. We won 1–0 at home and drew 1–1 away. Our goals were scored by István Borgulya and Gábor Vén.
- We hosted Vasas in the Bozsik Aréna for the first time in 2022, when a late brace from Nenad Lukic decided the match and we won 2–0. In that season we also won both league matches in Angyalföld: in the summer of 2022 Ennin and Lukic scored in a 2–1 win, while in spring 2023 Lukic’s goal earned us a 1–0 victory.
- Last season we won 1–0 at home through Noel Keresztes’s goal, while the season finale in Angyalföld ended in a 2–2 draw.
Budapest Honvéd FC - Vasas FC 1-0, Merkantil Bank Liga, Round 15 - highlights
Vasas FC - Budapest Honvéd FC 2-2, Merkantil Bank Liga, Round 30 - highlights
- So far we have visited Vasas five times at the New Illovszky Rudolf Stadium, with a record of two wins, one draw and two defeats.
League record against Vasas:
NB I: 180 matches, 65 wins, 45 draws, 70 defeats, goal difference: 301:290
NB II: 6 matches, 2 wins, 2 draws, 2 defeats, goal difference: 5:9
Our last 5 competitive matches against Vasas:
2024/25: Vasas–Honvéd 2–2 (Our scorers: Bévárdi, Hangya)
2024/25: Honvéd–Vasas 1–0 (Our scorer: Keresztes)
2023/24: Honvéd–Vasas 0–3
2023/24: Vasas–Honvéd 3–0
2022/23: Vasas–Honvéd 0–1 (Our scorer: Lukic)
Referee:
Sunday’s match will be refereed by Ferenc Karakó, who most recently officiated our 5–2 victory over Karcag in September. Honvéd’s record under Karakó: 26 matches, 7 wins, 10 draws, 9 defeats, 36 goals scored and 36 conceded.
MERKANTIL BANK LIGA, ROUND 14
November 24 (Monday) 20:00
VASAS FC–BUDAPEST HONVÉD FC
Budapest, Illovszky Rudolf Stadium
Before the match we spoke to Dominik Csontos:
