Marked for Mate Botka
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Balazs 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
David Botka 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.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Gustavo Neves. 1‑0 against Bekescsaba, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 8.02 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 38. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.38, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market7 Sep 2026
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.
Market7 Sep 2026
“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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Haladas make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Haladas have 3 straight wins of it.
Match5 Sep 2026
Diosgyor made Haladas work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Haladas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Botka 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Mate Botka is the division's best young player this month
At 20 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Haladas will try very hard not to make too much of it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Gabor Varga 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Nobody could get near Mate Botka
Successful dribbles: 58. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match26 Aug 2026
Haladas march on in the cup
Ujpest are out and Haladas go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Match26 Aug 2026
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Istvan Fiola scored in the 87th minute, Ujpest had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Haladas took the lot.
Market31 Aug 2026
“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.
Market31 Aug 2026
Haladas say no — this time
The offer from Bekescsaba for Viktor Nagy 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Andras Bese 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Whatever happens, Haladas do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Match29 Aug 2026
Three points for Haladas, 2‑0 the final word against Puskas Akademia in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Marked 8.27 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Andras Bese 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Nobody could get near Mate Botka
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Haladas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Botka 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Andras Bese 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Mate Botka runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 52. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market17 Aug 2026
Haladas say no — this time
The offer from Ferencvaros for Szabolcs Fiola 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.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
Supporters turn on the $320.0K sale of Balazs Sallai
He is going to Fehervar, the club has $320.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Balazs 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
Business is business: Balazs Sallai goes
Fehervar paid $320.0K and Haladas took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad17 Aug 2026
David Botka 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.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
Haladas supporters have found a favourite in Mate Botka
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Mate Botka has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Balazs 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Akos Fiola’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Haladas.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Nobody could get near Mate Botka
Successful dribbles: 46. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market10 Aug 2026
Honved 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Ferencvaros have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Szabolcs Fiola. The answer from Haladas has not changed — yet.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Balazs Botka and Haladas agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Balazs 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
David Botka 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Szabolcs Fiola
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Gabor Gulacsi ran the middle of the pitch — 6.53
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 6.53, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Match8 Aug 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Mate Botka runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 62. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Balazs 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Haladas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Botka 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
It needed Akos Fiola to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Vasas, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Balazs Botka asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Akos Fiola finally opens his account
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Haladas have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.