Back in '66, Hungary played in cherry red – the new shirt for the Euros hints at a lost heritage
The 1966 World Cup is associated with many things. Red shirts would be one of them. This connection extends beyond England, however, for exactly ten days before that fateful final, Hungary strode out in shirts of deep cherry red for the last time on the world stage.
Yes, the Magyars would play in three more final tournaments, between 1978 and 1986 – but by then, their shirts were of a lighter, blander, more standard red, similar in shade to the ones worn by Wales, say, or Switzerland.
For Hungary’s long-awaited return to the international arena at Euro 2016, a slightly darker red was adopted. And now, for Euro 2024, recently presented at adidas HQ in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, and worn by Hungary’s star of Euro 2020, András Schäfer, in a promo video, the national shirt is leaning more towards the classic colour of yesteryear.
No, Hungary haven’t quite gone full cherry, but this is certainly nearer ’66 than ’86 in tone. It even prompted Hungary’s national daily, Nemzeti Sport, covering the news of its arrival, to describe it as meggypiros – ‘cherry red’. Marco Rossi’s players will now stride out in their new-look top before a full house at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest on Friday, March 22 before facing Turkey in a warm-up friendly.
It’s not just the team, of course. This June, with almost half-a-million Hungarians applying for tickets for every group game at the Euros, you can expect the streets and squares of Stuttgart to be awash with red.
For the match there with Scotland, touches of tartan will feature on the pale, freckled torsos of followers of Hungary’s group opponents, while touches of Tintin influence Belgium’s change strip, also presented last week by adidas.
What neither has, however, nor those of Germany, Italy or fellow adidas stablemates Wales, is a single word on the back of the collar: MAGYARORSZÁG. The Hungarian word for ‘Hungary’ is yet another design touch.
Despite the slight change in tone, the latest iteration of the jersey isn’t one that has inspired one Hungarian in particular: Gergely Marosi. Writing on his Twitter account, Marosi expressed disappointment, his opinion more than valid than others in this matter. Few people know as much about this particular aspect of Hungarian heritage as much as this local sports journalist and university lecturer.
In his wonderful history of the Hungary shirt, Gergely Marosi suggests that the Magyars wore cherry red from day one, which is to say the first international on European soil, with Austria in 1902. Why cherry red cannot be explained, however, except with vague nods towards the uniforms of infantry regiments and hussars in the 19th century.
Certainly, for the run to two World Cup finals either side of the war and the legendary 6:3 game of 1953, the Magyars played in shirts of a similar deep tone to 1966, described as ‘cherry red’ at the time in the souvenir programme.
But look at footage 12 years later, the epic and ultimately doomed clash with hosts Argentina, and lifelong friends Nyilasi and Törőkcsik can be seen marching off the pitch one after the other, in shirts as traffic-light red as the card the referee has just brandished at their faces.
By Mexico ’86, the Hungary side that wilted in the sun of Irapuato to the USSR was slain 6-0 in shirts closer to the tomato tone of the national flag.
So when did Hungary lose its cherry? In his extensive article, shirt expert Gergely Marosi reckons it was after a game with Luxembourg in April 1983. Certainly, film of the match ten days later under the floodlights of Wembley shows Hungary in a brighter kit.
But that 2-0 defeat was in the same qualifying tournament for Euro ’84 as the Luxembourg game. Why would Hungary suddenly adopt a change of main strip unless it was for commercial purposes? Or perhaps a deal done because of the huge TV exposure? We may never know.
What we do know is that except for the short, anything-goes period of the new free-market economy immediately post-1989, Hungary have been in adidas for the last half-century or more.
This also goes for the change strip of white, of course, which no longer features its twin bars of red and green as worn by Hungary in their last fateful game of 1966, against the USSR. Favourites to win and progress to the semi-final, the conquerors of holders Brazil that tournament succumbed to the might of their political overlords at the time.
“Bene scores, but it’s not enough,” says the clipped voice in the classic film of the event, Goal!, scripted by Brian Glanville. “The steamroller has crushed the artists!”
If only they had worn cherry red.
Euro 2024 kits available from adidas. Hungary v Turkey, Puskás Aréna, Friday, March 22, 8.45pm.
