Budapest Honvéd Football Club (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈbudɒpɛʃt ˈhonveːd ˈɛft͡seː]), commonly known as Budapest Honvéd or simply Honvéd, is a Hungarian sports club based in Kispest, Budapest, with the colours of red and black. The club is best known for its football team. Honvéd means the Homeland Defence. Originally formed as Kispest AC, they became Kispest FC in 1926 before reverting to their original name in 1944.

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Budapest Honvéd

Full name	Budapest Honvéd Football Club
Nickname(s)	Kispest Oroszlánok (Lions)
Founded	3 August 1909; 114 years ago (1909-08-03)
Ground	Bozsik Aréna, Budapest
Capacity	8,200
Chairman	Dániel Mendelényi
Manager	Aurél Csertői
League	NB II
2022–23	NB I, 11th of 12 (relegated)
Website	Club website
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The team enjoyed a golden age during the 1950s when it was renamed Budapesti Honvéd SE and became the Hungarian Army team. The club's top players from this era, Ferenc Puskás, Sándor Kocsis, József Bozsik, Zoltán Czibor, and Gyula Grosics helped the club win the Hungarian League four times during the 1950s and also formed the nucleus of the legendary Hungary national team popularly known as the Mighty Magyars.

During the 1980s and early 1990s, the club enjoyed another successful period, winning a further eight Hungarian League titles. They also won league and cup doubles in 1985 and 1989. In 1991, the club was renamed Kispest Honvéd FC and adopted its current name in 2003.^[1]

When the club was originally formed in 1909, it also organised teams that competed in fencing, cycling, gymnastics, wrestling, athletics, boxing, and tennis. Later, the Honvéd family was extended to include a water polo team, now known as Groupama Honvéd, a 33-times basketball-champion team and a handball team that were European Champions in 1982.

Budapest Honvéd FC were founded in 1909 as Kispesti AC.^[2] At domestic level they first entered the Nemzeti Bajnokság I in the 1916–17 season. Their first success came in the 1926 Magyar Kupa season when they beat Budapesti EAC in the final. The club played in the first division since 1916, when the club got relegated to the second division in 2003. ^[3]

Budapest Honvéd's first stadium was opened in 1913. On 5 August 2018, the last match was played at the stadium. The match was won by Honvéd against Paksi FC on the 3rd match day of the 2018–19 Nemzeti Bajnokság I. The only goal was scored by Danilo in the 48th minute. The referee was Viktor Kassai.^[4] The stadium was demolished in 2019.^{[citation needed]}

The new stadium of the club was opened in 2021.^[5] The first match was played between Budapest Honvéd FC II and Szekszárdi UFC in the 2020–21 Nemzeti Bajnokság III season. The stadium was selected to host the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.^[6]

• Nemzeti Bajnokság I
  • Winners (14): 1949–50, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1979–80, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1992–93, 2016–17
• Nemzeti Bajnokság II
  • Winners (1): 2003-04
• Magyar Kupa
  • Winners (8): 1925–26, 1964, 1984–85, 1988–89, 1995–96, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2019–20
• UEFA Cup
  • Quarter final (1): 1979/79
• Mitropa Cup
  • Winners (1): 1959

In 2022, Chris Docherty was appointed as the new sport director of the club.^{[10][11][12][13]}

Chris Docherty said in an interview that the club cannot sign any new players for financial problems in the middle of the 2022-23 Nemzeti Bajnokság I season.^[14]

On 22 May 2023, Chris Docherty resigned as sports director.^[15][16] In an article published by Nemzeti Sport, George F. Hemingway, former owner of the club, heavily criticized the management of the club for their relegation to the Nemzeti Bajnokság II after finishing 11th in the 2022–23 Nemzeti Bajnokság I season.^[17] Hemingway said that the solid financial background is not enough if there is no expertise.

• History of Budapest Honvéd FC
• List of Budapest Honvéd FC seasons
• Budapest Honvéd FC in European football
• List of Budapest Honvéd FC managers

• Behind The Curtain – Travels in Eastern European Football: Jonathan Wilson (2006)^[21]
• 50 Years of the European Cup and Champions League: Keir Radnedge (2005)^[22]