Seven years earlier, due to licensing issues, Kecskemét was disqualified from NB I and the team was relegated to the county championship. Last year, the team really started at NB II, when István Szabó was appointed head coach. The 55-year-old teacher did not need to be introduced to the city, as he was a member of the professional coaching staff along with Tomíslav Szivics in the team that won the cup in 2011, and then has been coach since 2012, thus the League Silver Cup and fifth in the Note I have already attached his name.
In the previous season, no one expected a promotion from the Szabó team, but before the favorite Dioscure, they won the silver medal behind champion Vasas in NB II.
Initial predictions are not the best even before this season, as on paper Kecskemét has the cheapest team in NB I, based on a tire value of 4.19 million euros, the team will look like last.
– In general, our players have the least number of NB I matches, next to ZTE, our team is the youngest team with an average age, and in addition, we jumped into two divisions in two years – Szabó went to the list of arguments against them. – I understand that according to many, we are the most likely candidates for disqualification, but I can only say the same as last year, when we were freshmen in NB II, and even then everyone was busy thinking we might get into trouble:
I believe in my team. If I don’t, who?
In the summer, eleven new players moved to Kiskmet. Among them are Kiskmet-born midfielder Bens Banu Szabo, who was lured home from Honved, Ukrainian midfielder who played for Mizukowice between 2018 and 2021, Mihajlo Miszi, and three-time Montenegrin striker, Urus Djuranovic, who scored 15 goals in FK Kolubara, the Serbian in the first division recently. The fact that Kiskemet is undefeated in the other five matches, with the exception of the 2-0 loss to Croatian Isek, can be cause for confidence.
– In today’s football you can measure a lot of things, we did it, we see that physically we are where we planned, but that is only part of this game, the mental and emotional state at least is important – indicated by Szabó. – At Kecskemét we focus so much on teamwork, we almost form a family. Although eleven new players arrived in the summer, we chose them not only based on their footballing skills, but it was also an important aspect that they could fit into this community.
On the other hand, the main champion left in the promotion, Dániel Lukács, who had won the NB II top scorer title with 25 goals in the previous season, and unfortunately, committed himself to Diósgyőr already in the winter from the summer.
“When one of the top scorers leaves, he obviously leaves a void.” Of course, we will miss him, but we saw his departure as a challenge to be resolved – Szabó took stock of the situation. – Last season, the attacking match that was targeting him worked well, and now we will change that, because we did not find the same type of attackers. At the same time, we confirmed the presence of a Montenegrin striker who represents quality.
