Soroksár SC: An Overview

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Jonathan Hogan
20/07/20

With Alexander Robertson refusing my interview and making a point of disappearing from the stadium, I was given the low-down on the club by the Director of Football, Attila Dragóner.

Soroksár SC

The current version of Soroksár SC was founded in 1999, February 23rd to be exact, having merged with a team in Csepel. This merger, allowed Soroksár SC to bypass some of the lower leagues and the club have since established themselves as a solid yet unremarkable NB2 team. Originally the district of Soroksár was represented by Soroksári AC who won a Hungarian cup in 1934, they underwent various name changes through the war and communism including becoming Red Banner Sortex. Which to me sounds like an expensive plumbing component the plumber asks you to purchase to stop the flood of water out your pipes “cause the normal Sortex just won’t cut it”. AC however ceased in 1958 when the textile company bankrolling the team folded. They eventually became Soroksári Vörös Október SE which in turn became Soroksár SC after the aforementioned merger. 

With a 5,000 capacity stadium essentially on the banks of the Danube there is certainly space for plenty of fans to help the club through the financial worries of COVID-19. However, NB2 is not known for its large attendances and Soroksár had an average attendance of under 500 last season. With less than 1/10th of the stadium filled prior to COVID-19 the main source of income is severely limited. Could the club run into financial trouble in the coming months?

Being a Budapest based side means you are in fairly close proximity to some of the countries biggest and most historic clubs. This proximity may impact on the close relationship between Ferencváros and Soroksár. Ferencváros have currently loaned 5 squad players into Sori for the upcoming season. The closeness also usually provides Soroksár with staff as many of the current backroom team have previously played for Fradi.

The Squad

Captain

Gábor Gyömbér

Current club captain and arguably the most experienced player in the squad. Aged 32, Gyömbér has racked up experience most notably with Ferencváros, winning 1 NB1 title, 2 Hungarian Cups and 2 League Cups. He was also club captain for a period during the 2013-14 season. His solitary Hungarian cap came in a 5-1 against Estonia. He joined Soroskar in 2017 and has since made 122 club appearances resulting in over 10,000 minutes on the pitch.

Primarily used as a CDM throughout his career, his main emphasis on simple play with strong and dynamic leadership makes him an important player. Although, not the tallest he is also regularly used at CB, due to his ability further up the pitch he is a good option for a more creative outlet in the backline. With his obvious leadership qualities evident, it is also clear that the traditional “hard graft” required in lower league football isn’t his forte, relying more on his technical abilities to see him through matches. It will be interesting to see how Robertson shapes his side up and whether this lack of “putting in a shift” regularly will impact his playing time.

Key Player

Tamás Huszák

Arguably the key player in the side, Tamás Huszák, has really made his career at Soroskar despite playing for numerous clubs prior to joining. Interestingly, making his professional debut in Finland, he broke into the title-winning Debrecen side playing a squad role in both the league wins of 08/09 and 09/10. Adding a Hungarian cup to his trophy cabinet as well in 09/10. Whilst technically staying on the books of Debrecen until 2013 he had a string of loan deals, never quite establishing himself a permanent move until 2013. Where he had an approx 18-month stay at Nyíregyháza Spartacus before moving to Soroskar. He has since made his home in Budapest at Soroskar, making 184 appearances since 2015.

Huszák is mainly played as a centre-midfielder but with his creative talents he is also often pushed forward into the CAM role, whilst not the most defensively solid centre-mid his creativity may prove a vital component to the Soroskar team moving forward. He has history with his productivity having supplied 25 assists and 22 goals in those 184 appearances. Now, at 31, can one of the elder statesmen help to guide Robertsons side to success?

Prospect

Róbert Kópis

With NB2 requiring a U-20 player in the starting 11 and a second in the squad on match days, young players are vital. The most promising in the current Soroskar youngster is Róbert Kópis. Mainly a right-back but also fairly comfortable playing at right midfield his versatility may prove handy in a squad with few players that fit the U-20 criteria. 

With Dragóner describing the U-19 squad as “greyed out” it doesn’t appear that he has huge faith in the current crop, will this be a target for what might be limited moves in the transfer market?

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  Gábor Gyömbér

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  Tamás Huszák

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  Róbert Kópis

A huge thank-you to Gaby @DjGabyG on Twitter for his help with the club history. He is involved in the fantastic website Hungarian Football.com which is a great resource to learn about Hungarian Football. They also run the Hungarian Football Podcast available on Spotify, Apple and other podcasting Apps, this podcast was my gateway into Hungarian football and is always a great (usually pessimistic) listen!

Onto the next one! Linked when posted.