László Bölöni
Bölöni with PAOK in 2011
Personal information
Full name Ladislau Iosif Bölöni
Date of birth (1953-03-11) 11 March 1953
Place of birth Târgu Mureș, Romania
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Metz (manager)
Youth career
1967–1970 Chimica Târnăveni
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1970–1984 ASA Târgu Mureș 406 (64)
1984–1987 Steaua București 97 (24)
1987–1988 Racing Jet Wavre 16 (0)
1988–1989 Créteil 11 (2)
1989–1992 Orléans 77 (4)
Total 607 (94)
International career
1975–1988[1] Romania 102 (23)
Managerial career
1994–2000 Nancy
2000–2001 Romania
2001–2003 Sporting CP
2003–2006 Rennes
2006 Monaco
2007–2008 Al-Jazeera
2008–2010 Standard Liège
2010 Al-Wahda
2011 Lens
2011–2012 PAOK
2012–2015 Al Khor
2015 Al-Ittihad
2017–2020 Antwerp
2020 Gent
2020–2021 Panathinaikos
2022– Metz
Medal record
Representing  Romania
Universiade
Gold medal – first place1974 NiceTeam
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

László Bölöni (Romanian: Ladislau Iosif Bölöni; born 11 March 1953) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Ligue 1 club Metz.

After starting out at ASA Târgu Mureș, Bölöni became an integral part of the Steaua București team that won the European Cup in 1986, making it the only Romanian team—and one of two Eastern European sides—to have achieved the honour. He was twice named Romanian Footballer of the Year and took part in 484 Divizia A games, the fourth-most appearances in the history of the competition. Internationally, Bölöni earned 102 caps with the national team, which ranks him fifth in the nation's all-time list, and scored 23 goals, the sixth highest all-time mark. He is thus considered one of the best Romanian footballers in history.

Following his retirement as a player, he went on to coach clubs in France, Portugal, the Arabian Peninsula, Belgium and Greece. Bölöni was also at the helm of the Romania national team between 2000 and 2001. In terms of trophies won, his most successful stints were at Sporting CP and Standard Liège, with three domestic honours each.

Club career

Bölöni at the Stadionul Steaua in 1986, the year he won the European Cup

Bölöni was born in Târgu Mureș, Romania, into an ethnic Hungarian family from Târnăveni.[2] His first team was Chimica Târnăveni, and in 1970 he moved to ASA Târgu Mureș. He stayed there until 1984, when he joined Steaua București, where he was part of the team which won the 1986 European Cup Final (where he missed his penalty in the shootout) and the European Super Cup the following year.[3]

Bölöni remained at Steaua until 1987. In 1988, aged 35, Bölöni left the country to play in Belgium at Racing Jet Bruxelles, and then in France at Créteil. He retired from professional football in 1992. On 25 March 2008, he was decorated by Romanian president Traian Băsescu with Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" — (The Order "The Sportive Merit") class II, for his part in winning the European Cup in 1986.[4][5]

International career

Bölöni won the Universiade gold medal with Romania's students football team in the 1974 edition that was held in France, playing alongside Gheorghe Mulțescu, Dan Păltinișanu, Romulus Chihaia and Paul Cazan.[6]

Playing for the Romania national team in 1983, Bölöni scored one of his most notable goals, in the 1–0 win against Italy in a Euro 84 qualification match, which eventually proved invaluable to the country's qualification for the tournament. At the finals themselves in France, he played in all three of Romania's games, and scored the equaliser in the 1–1 draw with Spain at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard. In total, Bölöni won 102 caps for Romania and scored 23 goals[1]—or 108 caps and 25 goals if the Olympic games qualification is included.[7]

Managerial career

As a football coach, Bölöni started with French club Nancy, where he was head coach for several years. He promoted with the team in Ligue 1. In 2000, he was appointed as national team coach, but in the summer of 2001 decided to leave the job.

Then he joined Portugal's club Sporting CP, where he won both the Portuguese championship and cup in his first year. He was fired at the end of the next season due to mediocre results. His legacy at Sporting was the introduction of youth team players such as Ricardo Quaresma, Hugo Viana and Cristiano Ronaldo into the senior's team starting lineup.

In 2003, he returned to France as manager of Rennes; in 2005, he managed the team to their best position in history (4th in Ligue 1), and a subsequent UEFA Cup qualification.

In May 2006, Bölöni signed a two-year contract with Monaco, but was fired on 23 October for lack of results; Monaco were 19th out of 20 in the league.

On 9 June 2008, Belgian team Standard Liège appointed Bölöni as their new manager, as he succeeded Michel Preud'homme, who led the club to their first Belgian First Division title in 25 years (season 2007–2008). On 24 May 2009, he won the Belgian First Division title in his first season at Standard (season 2008–2009) after playing the championship play-off against Anderlecht. On 10 February 2010, Bölöni resigned from his coaching position at Standard Liege.[8]

On 29 May 2010, it was officially announced that Bölöni signed a contract with United Arab Emirates side Al-Wahda.[9] On 2 September 2010, Al-Wahda sacked Bölöni, despite the team's 3–1 win over Ittihad Kalba.[10]

On 2 January 2011, he was hired by Lens, on a one-year contract, but he couldn't save the team from relegation.[11] Bölöni was immediately released in June, and signed a two-year contract with PAOK on 8 June 2011, following a short negotiation period.[12]

PAOK

Bölöni's tenure at PAOK started with two wins against Vålerenga for the Third Qualifying Round of 2011–12 UEFA Europa League, that brought them against Karpaty Lviv for the Play-off round. PAOK won the first leg at home and drew the second leg, qualifying for the group stage. In a tough group that consisted of Tottenham Hotspur, Rubin Kazan and Shamrock Rovers, Bölöni's PAOK managed to qualify undefeated at the first place, winning the game at White Hart Lane on the process, a remarkable feat considering that no Greek team had won at English soil since 1999, when PAOK defeated Arsenal at Highbury. For the round of 32, PAOK faced Udinese, and although a 0–0 draw at the first game in Italy spread optimism, a weakened PAOK side was eliminated off the competition when the home leg ended with a 0–3 defeat. All and all, the European presence was positive despite the abrupt end, as PAOK managed six wins out of twelve games, with impressive performances and a milestone win against Tottenham.

At the home front, PAOK had a turbulent season, as the team managed to finish third in regular season, with 5th being its final position after Play-off. During the season, PAOK won the away games against AEK Athens and Panathinaikos, marking the end of a winless, ten-year-old tradition against those teams when playing away from home. The team's form was inconsistent though, and the departure – due to the club's financial difficulties – of two of the most significant players of the team, Vieirinha and Pablo Contreras, didn't help matters. Bölöni had to improvise to cover for the roster's lack of depth, with mixed results. Although the season was not deemed successful, fans didn't put the blame on Bölöni, who had won their hearts with his personality, his results against some major opponents and the team's style of play when on good form.

On 25 May 2012, PAOK released Bölöni, after a one-year cooperation.

Coaching in the Middle East

Bölöni was hired by Qatari club Al Khor on 21 June 2012.[13] On 26 January 2013, in a league match against Qatar SC, he was involved in a controversial incident. He threw a water bottle at a ball boy behind the goal after the boy took the ball, which went out of play, off the pitch. The bottle did not hit the boy, however, it was spotted by the match observer, Ali Al-Naimi, who relayed the information to a referee's assistant who eventually informed the referee, Fahad Jaber, who decided to send him off. Instead of going directly to the stands, he chose to illegally stay within the checkpoint. Security officers attempted to guide him off, but he retorted by using foul language and pushing the police officers. As a result, a police report was filed against him. He was later fined 75,000 Qatari riyals by the QFA and banned for 5 matches.[14]

In August 2013, Croatian media speculated that Bölöni might be named the new head coach of Dinamo Zagreb, following the sacking of team's former head coach, Krunoslav Jurčić. Bölöni had previously been linked with Hajduk Split, Dinamo Zagreb's fierce rival, as well.[15]

On 21 July 2015, Saudi club Al-Ittihad announced Bölöni as their new coach.

Royal Antwerp

On 16 June 2017, Bölöni was announced as the new manager of Belgian club Royal Antwerp.[16] In his first season at the club, he finished eighth place in the regular season, and third place in the Europa League play-off group, to keep the team safe from relegation.

In his second season, Antwerp was the surprise package of the championship, finishing the regular season on sixth place, and qualifying for the championship play-offs for the first time. Antwerp recorded important victories over Genk (1–0), Anderlecht (2–1), Gent (2–1), Standard Liège (2–1), as well as a blank draw with Club Brugge in the first half of the play-off, and climbed on the 3rd place, but later losses to these teams meant Antwerp finished fourth, thus going for the Europa League play-offs final. In the final, Antwerp beat Charleroi 3–2 after coming back from 0-2 down in the first minutes. Thus, Antwerp secured qualification in the third qualifying round of UEFA Europa League after 26 years of absence from Europe.

After surprisingly knocking out Viktoria Plzeň on away goals in the third round, Antwerp stopped short of the group stages, as they were subsequently knocked out by AZ in the play-offs. Internally, Bölöni led the team to another fourth-place finish in the league, as well as the Belgian cup final in the 2019–20 season, their first since 1992. However, the competition was postponed until 1 August, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Bölöni's contract subsequently expired on 20 May, leading his successor Ivan Leko to manage the team for the final.

Gent

On 20 August 2020, Belgian League runners-up Gent announced Bölöni as their new head coach.[17] In September, he was sacked after only three games in charge.[18]

Panathinaikos

On 19 October 2020, Bölöni was announced as the new head coach for Greek club Panathinaikos.[19] He drew his first game 1–1 against Volos in the Super League.[20] On May 10, 2021, Boloni was, for the second time this season, sacked, this time by the Greens after failing to guide them to a European qualification spot;[21] he was replaced by Ivan Jovanović on 24 May.[22]

Throughout January 2022, Bölöni was in talks with Romanian Football Federation president Răzvan Burleanu to return as manager of the Romania national team, more than twenty years after leaving the job. The failed negotiations led to the appointing of Edward Iordănescu instead.[23]

Personal life

When Bölöni was 15, his father died of a stroke while watching him play from the stands. The death of the parent strongly affected him, but Bölöni was persuaded by his mother to continue playing football. She moved from their native city Târnăveni to Budapest sometime later in her life. During his time at Steaua București, Bölöni also worked as a dentist for six years; his daughter followed in his footsteps, and studied implantology in France.

When asked why he prefers to be called Hungarian rather than Romanian, Bölöni said: "It's not a matter of preference, I am a Hungarian, period." He also added: "That doesn't prevent me from living in Romania, where I played, including in the national team. Even if I belong to the Hungarian minority, I scored against Hungary, I trained the Romanian team to beat Hungary in the World Cup preliminaries. But I received Hungarian education and culture. Thanks to my parents."[24] In 2019, after anti-Hungarian chants were heard from the stands during the Romanian national team's matches against Spain and Malta, he once again stated: "I am Hungarian", then asked: "what is our fault?"[25] He was both disgusted and disappointed by the actions of the perpetrators.[25]

In 2021, he was hired by the Nemzeti Sport daily to analyze Hungary's matches at the UEFA Euro 2020,[26] and in the same year revealed his support of the Székely Land football team.[27] Nevertheless, after failed negotiations to take charge of the Romania national team in 2022, Bölöni expressed his regret for not being able to represent his country again.[23]

Bölöni holds Romanian, Hungarian and French nationalities.[28][29][30] He acquired French nationality by naturalization on 7 July 1998.[31]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[32]
Club Season League Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
ASA Târgu Mureș 1970–71 Divizia B 1920000192
1971–72 Divizia A 2710000271
1972–73 2600000260
1973–74 3130000313
1974–75 2410000241
1975–76 3342[lower-alpha 1]000354
1976–77 33112[lower-alpha 2]0003511
1977–78 3132[lower-alpha 3]000333
1978–79 3230000323
1979–80 2660000266
1980–81 3160000316
1981–82 311000003110
1982–83 3270000327
1983–84 3070000307
Total 40664600041264
Steaua București 1984–85 Divizia A 2431[lower-alpha 4]000253
1985–86 3199[lower-alpha 5]1004010
1986–87 28101[lower-alpha 6]11[lower-alpha 7]03010
1987–88 1424[lower-alpha 8]100183
Total 97241531011327
Racing Jet Brussels 1987–88 Belgian Pro League 1600000160
Créteil 1988–89 Ligue 2 1120000112
Orléans 1989–90 3240000324
1990–91 2700000270
1991–92 1800000180
Total 7740000774
Career total 607942131062897
  1. ↑ Two appearances in 1975–76 UEFA Cup
  2. ↑ Two appearances in 1976–77 UEFA Cup
  3. ↑ Two appearances in 1977–78 UEFA Cup
  4. ↑ One appearance in the 1984–85 European Cup Winners' Cup
  5. ↑ Nine appearances and one goal in the 1985–86 European Cup
  6. ↑ One appearance and one goal in the 1986–87 European Cup
  7. ↑ One appearance in 1986 European Super Cup
  8. ↑ Four appearances and one goal in the 1987–88 European Cup

International

Bölöni playing for Romania in 1984
Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bölöni goal.
List of international goals scored by László Bölöni
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
12 July 1976Aryamehr Stadium, Tehran, Iran Iran1–12–2Friendly
229 November 197623 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania Bulgaria2–13–2Balkan Cup
321 September 1977Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania Greece2–06–1Friendly
421 September 1977Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania Greece4–16–1Friendly
515 November 1977Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania Yugoslavia3–24–61978 FIFA World Cup qualification
616 February 1980Stadio San Paolo, Napoli, Italy Italy1–01–2Friendly
714 April 1982Lokomotiv Stadium, Rousse, Bulgaria Bulgaria2–12–1Friendly
81 May 1982Corvinul Stadium, Hunedoara, Romania Cyprus3–13–1UEFA Euro 1984 qualification
915 August 1982Areni Stadium, Suceava, Romania Japan3–04–0Friendly
1018 August 198223 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania Japan1–13–1Friendly
112 February 1983Alkazar Stadium, Larissa, Greece Greece1–03–1Friendly
129 March 1983Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania Turkey3–13–1Friendly
1316 April 198323 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania Italy1–01–0UEFA Euro 1984 qualification
1412 November 1983Tsirion Stadium, Limassol, Cyprus Cyprus1–01–0UEFA Euro 1984 qualification
1522 January 1984Estadio Modelo, Guayaquil, Ecuador Ecuador1–03–1Friendly
1614 June 1984Stade Geoffroy-Guichard Saint-Étienne, France Spain1–11–1UEFA Euro 1984
178 October 1986Ramat Gan Stadium, Israel Israel2–14–2Friendly
184 March 198719 Mayıs Stadium, Ankara, Turkey Turkey2–13–1Friendly
1925 March 198723 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania Albania2–15–1UEFA Euro 1988 qualification
202 September 1987Stadion Zawiszy, Bydgoszcz, Poland Poland1–31–3Friendly
217 October 1987Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania Greece2–22–2Friendly
223 February 1988Kiryat Eliezer Stadium, Haifa, Israel Israel1–02–0Friendly
2330 March 1988Kurt-Wabbel Stadion, Halle, Germany East Germany1–13–3Friendly

Managerial statistics

As of match played 14 January 2024
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
PWDLWin %
Nancy-Lorraine July 1994 June 2000 251 92 81 78 036.65
Romania July 2000 June 2001 10 6 1 3 060.00
Sporting CP July 2001 June 2003 89 52 21 16 058.43
Rennes July 2003 June 2006 135 55 29 51 040.74
Monaco July 2006 October 2006 11 2 2 7 018.18
Al-Jazeera June 2007 June 2008 29 16 7 6 055.17
Standard Liège 9 June 2008 10 February 2010 82 42 20 20 051.22
Al-Wahda 29 May 2010 2 September 2010 1 1 0 0 100.00
Lens 1 January 2011 26 May 2011 21 4 7 10 019.05
PAOK 8 June 2011 25 May 2012 51 24 14 13 047.06
Al Khor 1 July 2012 30 June 2015 74 19 32 23 025.68
Al Ittihad 1 July 2015 17 November 2015 9 6 1 2 066.67
Antwerp 16 June 2017 15 May 2020 118 51 33 34 043.22
Gent 20 August 2020 14 September 2020 3 1 0 2 033.33
Panathinaikos 19 October 2020 10 May 2021 30 14 6 10 046.67
Metz 1 June 2022 59 25 17 17 042.37
Total 975 410 273 292 042.05

Honours

Player

Steaua București[33]

Individual

Manager

Nancy-Lorraine[35]

Sporting CP[35]

Al-Jazira[35]

Standard Liège[35]

Individual

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Ladislau Boloni – Century of International Appearances". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
  2. ↑ Csillag, Péter (25 April 2019). "Csak a csend marad – a Bölöni család tragédiákkal terhelt története" [Only silence remains – the tragic story of the Bölöni family]. Nemzeti Sport (in Hungarian). Retrieved 21 May 2022. Önfeledt, napfényes gyermekkor pillanatai ezek, pedig a háttérben egy meghurcolt erdélyi magyar család huszadik századi, könnyel, verítékkel írt küzdelmes története rejlik. [These are moments of an exuberant, sunny childhood, but in the background lies the struggling, twentieth-century story of a persecuted Transylvanian Hungarian family, written with tears and sweat.]
  3. ↑ Apostol, Eduard (29 January 2019). "Boloni îl contrazice pe Lucescu". Gazeta Sporturilor (in Romanian). Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  4. ↑ "DECRET privind conferirea Ordinului și Medaliei Meritul Sportiv" (PDF). Monitorul Oficial al României Nr. 241. 28 March 2008. p. 3. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  5. ↑ "Decorarea unor personalități ale fotbalului românesc". Administrația Prezidențială. 25 March 2008. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  6. ↑ Nicoleta, Medrea (20 July 2009). "Au fost odată campioni mondiali" [Once they were world champions]. ProSport (in Romanian). Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  7. ↑ "Ladislau Bölöni, international footballer".
  8. ↑ "Bölöni steps down as Standard coach". UEFA.com. 10 February 2010. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  9. ↑ Bölöni appointed as head coach of Al-Wahda Archived 6 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ↑ "Al-Wahda sack Boloni". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 8 September 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
  11. ↑ "Garcia appointed new coach of Lens, replacing Boloni". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  12. ↑ Συμφώνησε και υπογράφει ο Μπόλονι Archived 11 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine (in Greek)
  13. ↑ "New Al Khor coach László Bölöni arrives in Doha". QSL. 21 June 2012. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013.
  14. ↑ مقلد : لجنة الانضباط جانبها التوفيق في ايقاف بولوني (in Arabic). Al Kass. 30 January 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  15. ↑ "Trener koji je otkrio Cristiana u Dinamu? "Bölöni je kandidat"". 29 August 2013.
  16. ↑ "Laszlo Bölöni est le nouvel entraîneur de l'Antwerp" (in French). RTBF. 16 June 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  17. ↑ Lancelot Meulewaeter (20 August 2020). "Laszlo Bölöni est le nouvel entraîneur de La Gantoise, il a signé pour deux ans". RTBF (in French). Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  18. ↑ "Gent coach fired ahead of Champions League match". USA Today. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  19. ↑ "Νέος προπονητής της ομάδας ο Λάζλο Μπόλονι". ΠΑΕ ΠΑΝΑΘΗΝΑΪΚΟΣ (in Greek). 19 October 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  20. ↑ "ΠΑΝΑΘΗΝΑΪΚΟΣ – ΝΠΣ ΒΟΛΟΣ 1-1". pao.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  21. ↑ newsroom, sport-fm. "Τέλος ο Μπόλονι από τον Παναθηναϊκό!". sport-fm.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  22. ↑ sportime.gr (24 May 2021). "Παναθηναϊκός: Τελείωσε του προπονητή και παίρνουν άλλοι σειρά". sportime.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  23. 1 2 "VIDEO Ladislau Boloni, conferință-maraton » Culisele negocierilor eșuate cu Burleanu: "Asta m-a deranjat enorm. Atunci, de ce dracu' mă cauți pe mine?!"" [VIDEO Ladislau Boloni, marathon conference » Behind the scenes of the failed negotiations with Burleanu: "That bothered me enormously. Then why the hell are you calling me?!"]. Gazeta Sporturilor (in Romanian). 26 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  24. ↑ "Ladislau Boloni: "Sînt ungur!"" [Ladislau Boloni: "I am Hungarian!"]. Gazeta Sporturilor (in Romanian). 30 December 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  25. 1 2 Kiarash, Amir (10 September 2019). "Boloni, scârbit de ce se întâmplă în România: "De asta suntem consideraţi ţiganii Europei!"" [Boloni, disgusted by what is happening in Romania: "This is why we are considered the gypsies of Europe!"]. Adevărul (in Romanian). Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  26. ↑ "Boloni va lucra la Budapesta pe durata Euro 2020! Anunțul făcut în Ungaria" [Boloni will work in Budapest during the Euro 2020! The announcement made in Hungary] (in Romanian). Digi Sport. 10 June 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  27. ↑ "Naționala Ținutului Secuiesc, susținută de un nume uriaș din fotbalul nostru FOTO" [Szeklerland national team, supported by a huge name of our football PHOTO] (in Romanian). Ziare.com. 19 August 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  28. ↑ Béal, Xavier (7 July 2023). "Qui sont les 18 entraîneurs de la saison 2023-2024 de Ligue 1 ?". Goal.com Français (in French). Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  29. ↑ "Ladislau Bölöni: Lăsați-mă să fiu un bun cetățean român de naționalitate maghiară! Părinții m-au educat să cinstesc națiunea, dar și să respect țara unde trăiesc - NotaBN". 20 January 2019.
  30. ↑ "Mondial 2010. Les Bleus doivent revenir de Roumanie avec la victoire".
  31. ↑ "JORF n° 0157 du 9 juillet 1998 - Légifrance" (PDF). legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). p. 10556. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  32. ↑ "Ladislau Bölöni career statistics". RomanianSoccer.ro. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  33. ↑ "Ladislau Boloni" (in Romanian). SteauaFC.com. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  34. ↑ "Romania – Player of the Year Awards". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  35. 1 2 3 4 "L. Bölöni". Soccerway. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  36. ↑ "Waarom Bölöni een toptrainer is" (in Dutch). Het Nieuwsblad. 9 December 2009. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
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