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We held a career orientation day at our academy, where we wanted to show the children the path to follow and the work required to reach a high professional level, using the examples of experts who have reached international level within football.
László Szalai, one of the former founding members of our academy, also gave a presentation to the young students, and we asked him, among other things, about the beginnings and the changes taking place in world football.
"In 2007, George F. Hemingway approached me because he wanted to establish an academy within Honvéd. He knew that I had already worked in places like that – at MTK's Sándor Károly Akadémia – and that I had been involved in youth football for quite a long time, so he was directed to me. That is how we sat down to discuss what Honvéd would need in order to have an elite residential academy of its own" – said Szalai.
"The basic aim was to give the children and young players a little more. To provide them with comprehensive training, allow them to spend more time with football and spare them from having to split themselves between rushing to school and everything else. We created an institution through which we were able to pass on a great deal of the Honvéd spirit. I considered it very important that the boys training with us should have a close bond with Honvéd." – he added, before also discussing the results.
"It was a great joy that, building on these boys, Honvéd were able to win the Hungarian championship. Boti Baráth, Geri Nagy, Filip Holender, Endre Botka and Dani Gazdag, among others, all came through those age groups. I am proud of the seven years I spent here. I spent the best years of my life at the Honvéd academy."
"You can never work enough, because the world has changed enormously and many good players are arriving from other parts of the world, forming a huge market in football. If you want to break into that, half measures are not enough. The competition is enormous; Asia, Africa and South America are also developing tremendously, which is exactly why you have to live football 24/7. Anyone who thinks they can break into this field at half speed will be in for a rude awakening" - the expert concluded.
