Hungarian Football Coaches in Latin America in the Interwar Period

Abstract

The aim is to shed light upon the intriguing – and what might seem at first sight mysterious – presence of Hungarian football coaches in the Americas in the interwar period. These years can be referred to as a Silver Age, which had preceded the success Hungary achieved in football in the middle of the twentieth century. The activities of football trainers in Latin America – such as Jenő Medgyessy, Gyula Bíró or György Orth – took place within a migration context. Consequently, the general tendencies of Hungarian emigration to Latin America form the first part of this paper. An analysis of specific push and pull factors follows; then the motives of Latin American clubs for employing Hungarian coaches, and finally, the results and impact they had, both on sport and on migratory processes in general. The methodology is content analysis of the Hungarian sport press of the given period. Academic literature from both sides of the Atlantic complements primary sources.