On March 29, 2021 – leaving an irreplaceable void behind – our academy’s former youth coach Gábor Isa passed away at the age of 54.
Gábor Isa began playing football in Kispest and, after Honvéd, played for Építők and BKV Előre. His coaching career began with those latter clubs, before he worked with our youth teams between 2004 and 2008. From 2008 to 2013 he served as a youth coach at the Vasas Kubala Academy, then returned to Kispest, where he spent eight seasons as the professional head of the U15 team. Holding a UEFA A Licence, Gábor Isa won four league titles with our teams, including an unbeaten championship season in 2014–15. In addition to the league titles, he achieved success with Kispest youth sides at several international tournaments and was also named coach of the year at the Academy. In his memory and to support young people, his family established the Gábor Isa Foundation, while our club is organising the Gábor Isa Memorial Tournament for the first time, with four U15 teams competing for first place.
Participants in the tournament:
Alongside our club, FK Csíkszereda, Ikarus BSE and Monori SE will take part in the two-day event.
Ikarus BSE:
Ikarus BSE is Honvéd’s official partner club from Budapest’s 16th district and has been an important part of the capital’s amateur and youth football scene for decades. The club has a particularly strong youth base with teams in numerous age groups and places major emphasis on technical, passionate football. Visitors are welcomed by excellent infrastructure and a family-oriented, community-building atmosphere. Their aim is to provide local youngsters with opportunities to develop while keeping the senior team a stable participant in the Budapest championships.
Monori SE:
Their relationship with Honvéd has lasted for eight years, with the partner-club cooperation standing out in professional collaboration, talent development programmes, knowledge-sharing and joint participation in community events. Honvéd’s official partner club Monori SE is one of Pest County’s traditional football clubs and has been an important part of sporting life in the region for many decades. The team usually competes in NB III and currently leads the NB III South-East group, while also placing great emphasis on youth development. They play their home matches at the sports ground on Balassi Bálint Street, and continuous development is taking place at the club: this year new pitches and an irrigation system were added.
FK Csíkszereda:
FK Csíkszereda is one of Transylvania’s most dynamically developing football clubs, based in Miercurea Ciuc, and has made significant professional progress in recent years. The club has an exceptionally strong academy system and places major emphasis on developing young local talent from Székely Land. With its modern stadium and professional background, the club has now become one of the region’s football centres. We recently signed a cooperation agreement with the club. The partnership covers the senior teams and their associated youth development structures, meaning both Honvéd’s academy and the Székelyföld Football Academy. Among other things, the parties committed to providing professional exchanges for their pre-academy and academy coaches, mutually hosting each other at training camps, organising joint friendly matches, and seeking to invite one another to youth tournaments several times a year on a reciprocal basis. The Gábor Isa Memorial Tournament is one such opportunity.
