Gyula Lóránt

Gyula Lóránt began his football career at the age of 16, playing for his hometown club, Kőszeg SE. He then played for Szombathelyi Haladás and subsequently moved to Nagyváradi AC, winning the Hungarian Championship in 1944. In 1947, he won the Romanian Championship with UTA Arad. It was while at Vasas SC, with Ladislao Kubala as a teammate, that his career prospered. However, in January 1949, Hungary became a communist state and Kubala fled the country in the back of a truck. He formed his own team, Hungaria, which was made up of fellow refugees fleeing Eastern Europe. Lóránt also planned to flee the country with three other footballers - Béla Egresi, József Mészáros and Károly Kéri - but was arrested by the State Protection Authority and imprisoned with his companions in the Kistarcsa Central Internment Camp.

Hungarian international

Lóránt made his international debut on 24 October 1948 in a 5–1 away win against Romania. In early 1949, his career was put into a halt due to his imprisonment and he was released from detention after the intervention of Gusztáv Sebes, the Hungary national team coach, who considered him pivotal for the creation of a strong national side. Sebes wanted Lóránt to participate in a friendly match against Austria and he personally guaranteed to the country's Interior Minister János Kádár, that his player would not abscond while in Vienna. Kádár consented and Lóránt responded with a solid performance as Hungary won the game 4–3 on 16 October…

After the end of his football career, Lóránt was accepted at the Hungarian University of Sports Science (TF) and in 1961, he obtained his coaching qualification. He pursued a managerial career, guiding teams such as Honvéd, Kaiserslautern, Köln, Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayern Munich, Schalke 04 and PAOK Thessaloniki among others. In 1965, he completed the coaching course at the renowned German Sport University of Cologne (DSHS). Lóránt quickly gained a reputation as a coach who implemented hard training in order to improve his teams' stamina and demanded discipline and tactical commitment from his players. During his tenure as Kaiserslautern manager (1965–67 and 1969–71), a member of the squad was Otto Rehhagel, a tough defender, as Lóránt himself had been in the past. In 1973, the Hungarian was on the bench of Kickers Offenbach and for 39 matches he had Otto as his assistant, who was then taking his first steps in coaching. Rehhagel took over as Kickers' head coach after Lóránt's departure and has stated that he considers him his mentor.

With PAOK, Lóránt won the Greek Championship in 1976, the first in the club's history, having 21 wins, 7 draws and two losses in thirty matches. PAOK finished the season having the best overall attack and defense in the league and also recorded some impressive wins, such as a 0–4 away victory over Olympiacos at Karaiskakis Stadium. In order to renew his contract, Lóránt demanded from PAOK president Giorgos Pantelakis to provide the team with…

Born with the name Gyula Lipovics in Kőszeg on 6 February 1923, he was the son of a police officer. He grew up with his older brother Károly (born in 1921) and his younger brother Imre (born in 1925). Their family name was changed to Lóránt in 1928. He started his education at a Catholic school and then attended Benedictine Gymnasium in Kőszeg, where they placed great emphasis on physical education and sports. He also studied at the Commercial School in Szombathely and he obtained his high school diploma in 1943. He was married twice. His first wife was named Ibolya and the second Zsófia. He had an adopted daughter, Éva Adrienne (born in 1943) and a biological daughter named Eszter (born in 1956).

Player

Hungary

Olympic Games: 1952 gold medal Central European International Cup: 1948–53 FIFA World Cup runner-up: 1954 Nagyváradi AC

Hungarian Championship: 1944 UTA Arad

Romanian Championship: 1947 Honvéd

Hungarian Championship (3): 1952, 1954, 1955

Manager

PAOK

Greek Championship: 1976

Individual

Order of Labor Merit of the Hungarian People's Republic (1953) Meritorious Athlete of the Hungarian People's Republic (1954) Posthumous honorary citizen of Kőszeg (1998) Posthumous member of the Vas County Immortals Club (1999) Posthumously promoted to the rank of Major in the Hungarian Defence Forces (2011)