Daniel Botka

Central Defender - Haladas
20 Sep 2026
Sunday
Process

Marked for Daniel Botka

6 Edition

The Haladas Chronicle

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Haladas throw away a 2-goal lead

2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Diosgyor the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Haladas will enjoy reviewing.

Market

David Varga puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Haladas, and it is not being withdrawn.

Player ratings

Erik Kusnyír pops up at the right end — 7.19

7.19, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.

Squad

Zsolt Dibusz in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Haladas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Haladas count the cost of losing Zsombor Bévárdi

19 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Balazs Orban

At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Squad

Daniel Botka gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Player ratings

Balazs Orban was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.21. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Squad

Gabor Kleinheisler falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

In brief

Back issues
5 Edition

The Haladas Chronicle

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

The cup run ends for Haladas

1‑2 against Ujpest, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

Market

Haladas say no — this time

The offer from Ujpest for Zsolt Dibusz was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Market

Franco Tombesi asks to leave Haladas

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Zsolt Dibusz

Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Daniel Botka in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Haladas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Zoltan Bese falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Peter Szalai was the difference for Haladas

Marked 7.55. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

Match

Peter Szalai rescues a point for Haladas

It needed Peter Szalai to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Puskas Akademia, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

Squad

No hiding place for Zsolt Fiola

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zsolt Fiola, and the manager let it.

In brief

4 Edition

The Haladas Chronicle

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Haladas refuse to lose, and Dominik Gulacsi leads them

The 2-goal deficit was real and so was the recovery. Dominik Gulacsi was at the centre of it, Ferencvaros were at the end of it, and everybody who left early will hear about this one for years.

Player ratings

A brace, and Dominik Gulacsi takes the afternoon — 8.29

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Dominik Gulacsi provided it, and the 8.29 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Tamas Szalai

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

Zsolt Fiola puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Haladas, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Haladas turn down Akron for Balazs Orban

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Match

Haladas cannot stop winning

4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Squad

Tempers go at Haladas

Daniel Botka was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

Haladas see off Ferencvaros

Three points for Haladas, 3‑2 the final word against Ferencvaros in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Squad

Words at Haladas training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zoltan Bese is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

In brief

3 Edition

The Haladas Chronicle

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Market

Ferencvaros come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Haladas did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Tamas Szalai

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Zsolt Dibusz

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Haladas cannot stop winning

3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Squad

Daniel Botka in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Haladas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Haladas see off Honved

Three points for Haladas, 2‑1 the final word against Honved in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

One of those days for Mate Fiola

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.18, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Words at Haladas training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabor Kleinheisler is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

Dominik Gulacsi ran the middle of the pitch — 7.71

He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 7.71, and not one of them will make a highlights package.

In brief

2 Edition

The Haladas Chronicle

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Haladas refuse to lose, and Balazs Orban leads them

The 2-goal deficit was real and so was the recovery. Balazs Orban was at the centre of it, Fehervar were at the end of it, and everybody who left early will hear about this one for years.

Player ratings

A brace, and Balazs Orban takes the afternoon — 9.13

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Balazs Orban provided it, and the 9.13 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Market

Haladas turn down Fehervar for Zoltan Bese

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Ferencvaros join the queue for Daniel Botka

Add another name to the list: Ferencvaros have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Daniel Botka. The answer from Haladas has not changed — yet.

Player ratings

Zsolt Dibusz runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Zoltan Bese signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Zoltan Bese and Haladas agree another 4 years.

Squad

Daniel Botka in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Haladas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Haladas get the job done against Fehervar

A 3‑2 win over Fehervar, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Squad

Words at Haladas training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mate Fiola is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

In brief

1 Edition

The Haladas Chronicle

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Player ratings

Laszlo Sallai could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.97

Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.97, 1 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.

Match

Laszlo Sallai breaks Vasas hearts

Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Laszlo Sallai scored in the 88th minute, Vasas had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Haladas took the lot.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Gabor Kleinheisler

Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Zsolt Dibusz, 33, rolls back the years — 8.00

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.00 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Squad

Tempers go at Haladas

Daniel Botka was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

Laszlo Sallai sends Haladas past Vasas

It finished 4‑3, and it was Laszlo Sallai’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Haladas.

Squad

Words at Haladas training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zoltan Bese is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Bence Orban

At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Squad

Akos Gazdag signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Akos Gazdag and Haladas agree another 1 years.

In brief