Elek Schwartz
Encyclopedia
Alexandru "Elek" Schwartz (23 October 1908–2 October 2000) was a Jewish-Romanian
footballer and coach of the Dutch national football team. With SL Benfica
he won the national Championship and Cup trophies of 1965 and led the club into the final of the European Cup of Champions.
. Later he played professional football in the French Ligue 1
with FC Hyères (1932–1934), AS Cannes
(1934–1936), Racing Strasbourg (1936–1938) and Red Star Olympique (1938/39).
(1948/49) and from there continued to AS Monaco (1950–1952) and Le Havre AC
(1952/53).
. In his second season with the club from the suburb of Duisburg
he led the club to promotion to the western division of the five ways split first division of Germany, the 'Oberliga West.
1955 he was appointed as manager by the then German champions, Rot-Weiss Essen
. In the next couple of years he led the team to ranks 4 and 8 in the Oberliga West.
and took on the reins of the Dutch national football team. He guided the team through 49 matches.
However, this was in an era when Dutch football had yet to achieve the standing it has held since the 1970s. Results varied extremely
and included 7-0 defeat to Germany in 1959 in Cologne
, as well as back to back 1-0 wins against France
and Brazil
in 1963. He held the position of national coach until 1964, when Denis Neville
replaced him.
in Lisbon, then with the legendary Eusébio
. There he led the team to the championship of Portugal.
After this Benfica overcame Real Madrid
in the quarterfinals of the European Cup of Champions
and eventually even made it all the way to the final
, where the "Eagles" had to yield to the masters of the Catenaccio
, the Helenio Herrera
coached team of Inter Milan, if just 0-1.
in the German Bundesliga. There he introduced the 4-2-4 system. Nevertheless, place 4 was as good as it got in the league. During the 1966-67 season he won the UEFA Intertoto Cup
and the Coppa delle Alpi Trophy
.
- in the end Porto was only 9th in the League. This is still their hitherto worst rank ever.
He had more luck in 1976/77, when in the course of his last professional engagement he led Racing Strasbourg to promotion to the French Ligue 1
.
After this he guided the Alsatian amateur side SR Haguenau, today's FCSR Haguenau
, through the 1978/79 season.
Haguenau
, he decided, was also a nice place for him to spend the rest of his life.
History of the Jews in Romania
The history of Jews in Romania concerns the Jews of Romania and of Romanian origins, from their first mention on what is nowadays Romanian territory....
footballer and coach of the Dutch national football team. With SL Benfica
SL Benfica
Sport Lisboa e Benfica , commonly known as simply Benfica or occasionally as Benfica Lisbon, is a Portuguese multi-sports club based in Lisbon. Although they successfully compete in a number of different sports, Benfica is mostly known for its association football team...
he won the national Championship and Cup trophies of 1965 and led the club into the final of the European Cup of Champions.
Player in Romania and France
Elek Schwartz initially started playing in his hometown of TimişoaraTimisoara
Timișoara is the capital city of Timiș County, in western Romania. One of the largest Romanian cities, with an estimated population of 311,586 inhabitants , and considered the informal capital city of the historical region of Banat, Timișoara is the main social, economic and cultural center in the...
. Later he played professional football in the French Ligue 1
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....
with FC Hyères (1932–1934), AS Cannes
AS Cannes
Association Sportive de Cannes Football is a French association football club based in Cannes. The club was formed 1902 as a sports club and currently play in the Championnat de France amateur, the fourth division of French football. Cannes plays its home matches at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin...
(1934–1936), Racing Strasbourg (1936–1938) and Red Star Olympique (1938/39).
Beginnings as Coach on the Côte d'Azur
He started his coaching career in France with AS CannesAS Cannes
Association Sportive de Cannes Football is a French association football club based in Cannes. The club was formed 1902 as a sports club and currently play in the Championnat de France amateur, the fourth division of French football. Cannes plays its home matches at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin...
(1948/49) and from there continued to AS Monaco (1950–1952) and Le Havre AC
Le Havre AC
Le Havre Athletic Club Football Association is a French association football club based in Le Havre. The club was founded originally as an athletics and rugby club in 1872, thus making it the oldest association football and rugby club registered in France...
(1952/53).
Early years in Germany
1953 he was hired by SF Hamborn 07SF Hamborn 07
SF Hamborn 07 is a German association football club based in Hamborn, a district in the north of Duisburg. The team currently plays in the Landesliga, the seventh tier of German football....
. In his second season with the club from the suburb of Duisburg
Duisburg
- History :A legend recorded by Johannes Aventinus holds that Duisburg, was built by the eponymous Tuisto, mythical progenitor of Germans, ca. 2395 BC...
he led the club to promotion to the western division of the five ways split first division of Germany, the 'Oberliga West.
1955 he was appointed as manager by the then German champions, Rot-Weiss Essen
Rot-Weiss Essen
Rot-Weiss Essen is a German association football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia.- Early years :The club was formed as SV Vogelheim on 1 February 1907 out of the merger of two smaller clubs: SC Preussen and Deutsche Eiche. In 1910, Vogelheim came to an arrangement with Turnerbund...
. In the next couple of years he led the team to ranks 4 and 8 in the Oberliga West.
Manager of the Dutch Team
After leaving Rot-Weiss Essen, Schwartz joined the Dutch football association, the KNVBRoyal Dutch Football Association
The Royal Dutch Football Association is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues , the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch national football team. It is based in the municipality of Zeist.The KNVB came into being on 8 December 1889...
and took on the reins of the Dutch national football team. He guided the team through 49 matches.
However, this was in an era when Dutch football had yet to achieve the standing it has held since the 1970s. Results varied extremely
and included 7-0 defeat to Germany in 1959 in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, as well as back to back 1-0 wins against France
France national football team
The France national football team represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation , the governing body of football in France, and competes as a member of UEFA, which encompasses the countries of Europe...
and Brazil
Brazil national football team
The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the...
in 1963. He held the position of national coach until 1964, when Denis Neville
Denis Neville
Denis Charles Neville was an English football player and manager who managed the Dutch national side between 1964 and 1966...
replaced him.
European Cup Final with Benfica
In 1964/65 he coached SL BenficaSL Benfica
Sport Lisboa e Benfica , commonly known as simply Benfica or occasionally as Benfica Lisbon, is a Portuguese multi-sports club based in Lisbon. Although they successfully compete in a number of different sports, Benfica is mostly known for its association football team...
in Lisbon, then with the legendary Eusébio
Eusébio
Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, GCIH, GCM , commonly known simply as Eusébio, is a retired Mozambican-born Portuguese football forward. He is considered one of the best footballers of all-time by the IFFHS, experts and fans...
. There he led the team to the championship of Portugal.
After this Benfica overcame Real Madrid
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
in the quarterfinals of the European Cup of Champions
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
and eventually even made it all the way to the final
1965 European Cup Final
The 1965 European Cup Final was a football match between Internazionale and Portuguese club S.L. Benfica, held at the San Siro, Milan, on 27 May 1965. Inter went on to lift the trophy for the second year in succession by beating Benfica 1–0....
, where the "Eagles" had to yield to the masters of the Catenaccio
Catenaccio
Catenaccio is a tactical system in football with an emphasis on defence. In Italian, catenaccio means "door-bolt", implying a highly organized and effective backline defense which is intended to prevent goals.-History:...
, the Helenio Herrera
Helenio Herrera
Helenio Herrera Gavilán was a Franco-Argentine football player and manager.Although born in Argentina, Herrera's parents were both Spanish, his father being a well-known Spanish anarchist in exile...
coached team of Inter Milan, if just 0-1.
Bundesliga with Eintracht Frankfurt
From July 1965 to June 1968 Schwartz coached - as successor to Ivica Horvat Eintracht FrankfurtEintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt is a German sports club, based in Frankfurt, Hesse that is best known for its association football club.- Club origins :...
in the German Bundesliga. There he introduced the 4-2-4 system. Nevertheless, place 4 was as good as it got in the league. During the 1966-67 season he won the UEFA Intertoto Cup
UEFA Intertoto Cup
The UEFA Intertoto Cup, also abbreviated as UI Cup and originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition for European clubs that had not qualified for one of the two major UEFA competitions, the Champions League and the UEFA Cup. The competition was discontinued...
and the Coppa delle Alpi Trophy
Coppa delle Alpi
Coppa delle Alpi , was a football tournament, first organized by the Italian national league to start 1960 and then aided by the Swiss League in 1962 for the reason that the majority of the Alps are in Switzerland...
.
No success with the "Dragons" in Porto
In 1969/70 he coached FC Porto. Not only that the Dragons exited already in the first round of the national cup competition and in the second round of the Inter-Cities Fairs CupInter-Cities Fairs Cup
The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The competition was the idea of Swiss pools supremo Ernst Thommen, Ottorino Barassi from Italy, and the English Football Association general secretary Stanley Rous, all of whom later became senior officials...
- in the end Porto was only 9th in the League. This is still their hitherto worst rank ever.
End of the career in Munich and Strasbourg
In the season 1972/73 Schwartz coached 1860 Munich, but he could not help them to fulfill their aspirations to return to the Bundesliga after then three years of absence.He had more luck in 1976/77, when in the course of his last professional engagement he led Racing Strasbourg to promotion to the French Ligue 1
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....
.
After this he guided the Alsatian amateur side SR Haguenau, today's FCSR Haguenau
FCSR Haguenau
Football Club Sports Réunis Haguenau is a French association football team founded in 1987. They are based in Haguenau, Alsace, France and are currently playing in the Championnat de France Amateurs 2 Group B, the fifth tier in the French football league system...
, through the 1978/79 season.
Haguenau
Haguenau
-Economy:The town has a well balanced economy. Centuries of troubled history in the buffer lands between France and Germany have bequeathed to Haguenau a rich historical and cultural heritage which supports a lively tourist trade. There is also a thriving light manufacturing sector centred on the...
, he decided, was also a nice place for him to spend the rest of his life.