Jenő Kalmár

Who was Jenő Kalmár?

Jenő Kalmár, also referred to as János Kalmar or Kálmár Jenő, is a former Hungarian footballer and coach. As a player Kalmar played for both MTK Hungária FC and Hungary. During the 1928-29 season he finished as top goalscorer for MTK, scoring 20 goals.

In the early 1950s Kálmár was manager at Honvéd and with a team that included Ferenc Puskás, Zoltán Czibor, Sándor Kocsis, József Bozsik, László Budai, Gyula Lóránt and Gyula Grosics, he guided them to four Hungarian League titles. As the Honvéd manager, he also played a prominent role in the development of the legendary Hungary team known as the Mighty Magyars and during this era he also served as an assistant coach to the national team coach, Gusztáv Sebes.

After the Hungarian Revolution, Kálmár like his former players, Puskás, Czibor and Kocsis, ended up in Spain where he managed several La Liga clubs with moderate success. He coached Wacker Wien, and after a brief spell at Sevilla CF, he guided Granada CF to the 1959 Copa del Generalísimo final. They lost 4-1 to a CF Barcelona team that included Kocsis. Kocsis scored twice for Barça while the Granada CF goal was scored by Arsenio Iglesias.