Eugen Lakatos

Eugen Lakatos (24 October 1912 – 18 February 1949) was a Romanian footballer who played as a midfielder.^[2][3]

Eugen Lakatos

Personal information
Date of birth	(1912-10-24)24 October 1912[1]
Place of birth	Zichy, Austria-Hungary[2]
Date of death	18 February 1949(1949-02-18) (aged 36)
Place of death	Timișoara, Romania[3]
Position(s)	Midfielder[1]
Youth career
	Chinezul Timișoara
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1925–1930	Chinezul Timișoara[a]	19	(0)
1930–1931	UD Reșița
1932–1937	Ripensia Timișoara	70	(6)
1937–1938	Tricolor Ploiești
1938–1943	UD Reșița[b]	40	(2)
Total		129	(8)
International career
1932–1933	Romania	6	(0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Lakatos was born on 24 October 1912 in Zichy, Austria-Hungary.^[1][2] While he was a child his family moved to Timișoara, Romania where he grew up in the Ronaț neighborhood.^[3] He started to play junior level football at Chinezul Timișoara.^[3] In 1925 when he was around the age of 13 he started to play senior level football for Chinezul.^[1][3] At the end of his first season he helped the club win the title, being used by coach Frontz Dőme in 15 matches from the regional and national championship together, including all the minutes in the 3–0 win over Juventus București from the national championship final.^[1][5][6][7] After the game, the Gazeta Sporturilor newspaper described him as "excelling in brutal play" but also noticing that he "managed to stop any action of the Bucharest wingers".^[5] He would win another title with Chinezul in the following season but this time coaches Dőme and Jenő Konrád used him in only four matches.^[6][7][8] For the 1930–31 season he went to play for UD Reșița where under the guidance of coach Ernest Loukota he helped them win the championship, scoring both goals of the 2–0 victory against Societatea Gimnastică Sibiu from the final.^[9]

Afterwards, Lakatos went at Ripensia Timișoara where his first Divizia A match for them took place on 11 September 1932 in a 3–2 away loss to CFR București.^[1] He won the title in his first season, coach Jenő Konrád using him in 14 games in which he scored two goals, including playing in the final with Universitatea Cluj.^{[1][3][6][10]} In the following season he helped the team reach the 1934 Cupa României final, playing in the first victory with "U" Cluj, winning the cup.^[1][11] In the 1934–35 season he won another title, coaches Josef Uridil and Rudolf Wetzer giving him 19 appearances, also the team reached the Cupa României final where he played the whole match in the 6–5 loss to CFR București.^{[1][6][12][13][14]} Next season, Lakatos helped Ripensia win The Double, netting two goals in the 18 appearances given to him by coaches Wetzer and Konrád, also he played in the 5–1 win over Unirea Tricolor București from the Cupa României final.^{[1][6][12][13][15]} In the following Cupa României edition, the team reached another final but he did not play in the 5–1 loss to Rapid București.^[16]

Afterwards he went to play for Tricolor Ploiești during the 1937–38 Divizia B season, helping them promote to the first league by the end of it.^[1][3] Then he made a comeback to UD Reșița in Divizia A football where he played until his retirement in 1943.^[3][4][17]

International career

Lakatos made six appearances at international level for Romania, making his debut on 2 October 1932 under coach Constantin Rădulescu in a friendly against Poland which ended with a 5–0 loss.^[18][19] He played in three victories against Bulgaria, Greece and Yugoslavia at the conquest of the 1933 Balkan Cup.^[18][20] Lakatos also played in a 5–1 win over rivals Hungary at the 1931–1934 Central European Cup for Amateurs which was another tournament won by Romania.^[18][21] His last match for the national team was a 2–2 draw against Switzerland at the 1934 World Cup qualifiers.^[18][22]

Death

Lakatos died on 18 February 1949 at age 36 in Timișoara.^[1][3][18]

Honours

Chinezul Timișoara

• Divizia A: 1925–26, 1926–27^[1][6]

UD Reșița

• Divizia A: 1930–31^[6]

Ripensia Timișoara

• Divizia A: 1932–33, 1934–35, 1935–36, runner-up 1933–34^[1][6]
• Cupa României: 1933–34, 1935–36, runner-up 1934–35, 1936–37^{[11][14][15][16]}

Tricolor Ploiești

• Divizia B: 1937–38^[1]

Romania

• Balkan Cup: 1933^[18][20]
• Central European International Cup: 1931–34^[18][21]

Notes

1. Only the statistics for the 1925–26 and 1926–27 Divizia A seasons are available.^[1]
2. The Divizia A 1940–41 was the last season before World War II and the Divizia A 1946–47 was the first one after, so the appearances during this period for UD Reșița are not official.^[4]