Vasas are not as famous, successful or storied as their brethren in the Hungarian league. Most football fans outside of Hungary have not even heard of them, and inside Hungary they exist in the shadows of Ferencvaros, MTK and Honved. But they do have a tale to tell, about two memorable expeditions into the European Cup in the late 50’s and early 60’s. The story begins in 1957, the first season that play continued after being brought to a halt by the Hungarian Revolution. The Revolution was an uprising of the Hungarian people against the Soviet controlled government. Disorder and violence spread across Budapest and the rest of the country, leading to the downfall of the government. Thousands of people formed armed militias, doing battle with Soviet troops in the streets. After stating that they would withdraw Soviet forces from Hungary, the Politburo changed its mind and made moves to crush the revolution. By the end of it all, over 300,000 lay dead and 200,000 Hungarians fled as refugees, including numerous prominent footballers.

 

Very shortly after all this took place, the small Budapest club Vasas won the Hungarian league for the first time. The consequence of this was, that they were then invited to play with the big boys in the 1957-58 European Cup. And in this event, they gave an excellent account of themselves. To start, they swept aside CSKA Sofia 8-2 on aggregate in the preliminary round, after somehow losing the first leg. After seeing off BSC Young Boys, in was time to face the Dutch giants Ajax. Incredibly, Vasas held them to a 2-2 draw in Holland and then, even more surprisingly, defeated them 4-0 at Nepstadion. But many more upsets were to come. Finding themselves in the semi-final of the greatest club competition of the planet, the Hungarians travelled to the fabled Santiago Bernabeau (then called Estadio Charmartin) take on the might in white, Real Madrid, and their star studded line up of the time. As perhaps expected, Vasas were beaten 4-0, but the return leg took everyone by surprise. With a goal from their number 10, Bundzsak followed by a Csordas penalty just before the hour mark, Vasas had achieved something worthy of praise. They had defeated the Real Madrid team of the era, possibly the greatest team of all time. Even with their legends Di Stefano, Kopa, Marsal, Rial, Gento and co, they were unable to topple Vasas on Hungarian soil. However, it didn’t make any difference to the overall result, and Vasas were out, while Mardid went on to win the tournament – their third of five UEFA European Cups in a row. Regardless, Vasas became the most successful Hungarian team in the history of the European Cup. 

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On the back of another Hugarian league title in 1960-61, Vasas again entered the European Cup, although this time they were not quite as successful. They were eliminated early on by who else but Real Madrid.  However, the 1961-62 Hungarian season saw them replicate their domestic success of a year earlier, and yet again Vasas ended up on the European stage. On this occasion, they were able to beat Norwegian side Fredrikstad by a whopping aggregate of 11-1. They were then hosted by Eredivisie champions Feyenoord at De Kuip, holding them to a 1-1 draw. Unfortunately, a 2-2 draw in the return leg in Hungary meant Vasas were out on the away goals rule. A third league title was added to the trophy room in 1965, and the following season  they set an amazing record by winning the title again with zero defeats. Vasas qualified for the second round of the 1966-67 European Cup after a momentous 7-0 aggregate thrashing of a top quality Sporting Lisbon side. However at the San Siro, they went down 2-1 to Inter and then said goodbye to European football with a 2-0 loss to the Italians at home. Vasas - a promising team that never quite reached expectations.

Achievements: Hungarian League – Champions x5
                              Hungarian Cup – Winners x1
                              Mitropa Cup – Winners x3
                              European Cup – Semi finalists x1