Béla Guttmann
Hungarian football player and manager (1899-1981) · Hungary · Footballers · Died at 82
Béla Guttmann is read about 195 times a day, in 35 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 15 October 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 390 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?He survived Nazi torture, won back-to-back European Cups with Benfica, then cursed the club when they denied him a raise - a curse fans still invoke sixty years later.
A life in dates
Also in Deutsch
Photos 8
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Guttmann 1953 (cropped)
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Béla Guttmann (1925)
Béla Guttmann 1966
Béla Guttmann statue at Estádio da Luz
Béla Guttmann statue description at Estádio da Luz
FC Servette speler Nicolas Schindelholz met rechts trainer Bela Gutman in de bus, Bestanddeelnr 919-7916
FC Sevette trainer Bela Gutman bij aankomst op Schiphol, Bestanddeelnr 919-7915Teams 12
Career record
About this person
Born in Budapest in 1899, Béla Guttmann played midfielder for MTK Hungária and Hakoah Vienna, representing Hungary at the 1924 Olympics before the war found him. Deported to a Nazi slave labor camp, he endured torture and survived the Holocaust. From 1933 to 1974 he coached across ten countries, winning ten national titles and pioneering the 4-2-4 formation alongside fellow Hungarian radicals Márton Bukovi and Gusztáv Sebes. He guided Benfica to consecutive European Cups in 1961 and 1962, mentoring a young Eusébio in the process, but walked out after the club refused him a pay raise - leaving behind a curse that lingers in Lisbon. He believed "the third season is fatal" and lived by it, rarely staying anywhere longer than two years, once even sacked by Milan while they sat top of Serie A. He died in August 1981, having coached national teams, giants, and underdogs on four continents, never far from controversy and never quite settled.
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