World Soccer - UK (2020-04)

Peterjon Cresswell reports

The minnows of

Mezokovesd eye

Europa League

An impressive campaign could see newcomers

enter continental competition for the first time

eyewitness

HUNGARY

While Europe’s elite challenge for a

place at the top table of the Champions

League, the Europa League remains the

holy grail for smaller clubs and the fallen

giants of domestic leagues further down

the food chain. This year’s Final will be

staged in Gdansk, with the showpiece

having previously gone to Baku,

Bucharest and Warsaw.

In 2022 Budapest will join that list,

but before then there is a far more

obscure town in Hungary’s north east

hoping to be involved in the competition.

With recent wins against Debrecen

and champions-elect Ferencvaros,

Mezokovesd – who are based near the

famous wine destination of Eger in the

town of the same name – are a team

very much in line for a berth in next

season’s Europa League.

Having only reached the Hungarian

top flight for the first time in 2014,

Mezokovesd have been relegated twice

since but are currently enjoying a third

consecutive season of rubbing shoulders

with the big boys.

The club’s general manager, Jozsef

Hagyacki, takes up the story, explaining:

“Local chess, handball, boxing and other

sports clubs from the 1950s joined

together in 1975.

“This was pared back to the

more football-focused Mezokovesd

Sports Association in 1990, then