József Kiprich

József Kiprich started his professional career at the age of 17 in the 1980/81 season at Tatabányai Bányász which played in the highest Hungarian League in football. During the following years Kiprich became a first team regular and a key player for the team. He became known as a goalscorer and made his debut in the national team of Hungary in 1984. He became top goalscorer in the Hungarian League in 1985, scoring 18 goals in 26 matches. In total he played nine seasons at Tatabánya before making his move to the Netherlands.

He had just played his first match in his 10th season at Tatabánya when Feyenoord Rotterdam got interested in signing him. Kiprich didn't hesitate and signed a contract and left Tatabánya for Rotterdam. Kiprich joined Feyenoord in what is known as the worst period in the club's history. Feyenoord, one of the clubs that has never been relegated were underperforming and close to the relegation zone of the Eredivisie when Kiprich joined the club. Kiprich made his debut on 20 August 1989 in Feyenoord's home match versus Fortuna Sittard. The match ended in another disappointing result for the fans as Fortuna Sittard won 0–2. The furious fans entered the pitch and chased the players and referees which were running towards the changing rooms. With Kiprich the team started performing slightly better and eventually ended the season in 11th position, securing their place in the Eredivisie, but missing out on European football for the first time in many years.

Despite the team's performances, Kiprich was loved and adored by the fans for his working rate, his occasional technical skills (while not being a technical footballer), his goalscoring abilities and his humour in the press. Soon he became one of the heroes of the team together with Ed de Goeij and John de Wolf.

Things went better in the 1990/91 season. Feyenoord was still struggling and was only able to finish in eighth position that season. Managers Pim Verbeek and Gunder Bengtsson were replaced by Wim Jansen and Feyenoord reached the KNVB Cup final, where BVV Den Bosch was beaten 1–0. Kiprich won his first trophy.

In 1991/92 Feyenoord finally was back among Ajax and PSV to form the traditional top-3 in Dutch football. The Dutch supercup was introduced and Feyenoord became the first winner of the event. In the Eredivisie Kiprich and his teammates were fighting for the Championship but finished the season in third position behind PSV which finished first and Ajax. The Feyenoord squad in that period turned out to be cup fighters and reached the final of the KNVB Cup again. This time Roda JC was beaten 3–0 in the final, Kiprich scored the third goal in this match. In the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1991-92 Feyenoord reached the semi-finals by beating KF Partizani Tirana, FC Sion and Tottenham Hotspur before falling to AS Monaco 3–3 on aggregate due to the away goals rule.

After the worst period in Feyenoord's history the club was becoming stronger every year, with József Kiprich as one of their key players. In 1992/93 Feyenoord did not win the KNVB Cup, but did perform well again in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1992-93. Hapoel Petah Tikva and FC Lucerne were beaten while FC Spartak Moscow were the stronger side in the quarter-finals. Kiprich and Feyenoord were still able to win a trophy as they managed to win the Eredivisie Championship for the first time since 1984. Feyenoord's decisive match was played away to FC Groningen, with their stadium De Kuip being packed with fans who watched the match live on a huge screen, unique at that time. Feyenoord won the match 0–5, and Kiprich scored the first goal.

Feyenoord was able to catch up in the 1993/94 season, but eventually finished in second position in the league, three points behind winners Ajax. As the Dutch Champions Feyenoord played in the UEFA Champions League 1993-94 but were unable to reach the group stage after being beaten by FC Porto due to a 90th-minute strike by Domingos. Despite that Kiprich was still able to retain his average of winning one prize a season at Feyenoord as the KNVB Cup was won for the third time in four seasons, when NEC was beaten 2–1.

1994/95 was Kiprich's last season at Feyenoord. In this season he played one of his most memorable matches at Feyenoord although he only came in as a substitute late in the match. The team played PSV and were trailing 1-2 when Feyenoord was awarded a penalty. Kiprich who did not even do a warm-up came on the pitch and stepped up to take the penalty and scored the equaliser. He later managed to score the winning goal as well to finish the match in 3–2. Feyenoord finished fourth in the league that season, but managed to win another KNVB Cup. Feyenoord beat FC Volendam 2–1 in the final, which was Kiprich's last match at the club. After the celebrations and the cup was awarded the players took Kiprich on their shoulders and walked him all around the stadium under loud applauds. Kiprich came back to Feyenoord opening day at the start of the next season and the fans were begging him to return with chants, but he told them his skills were no longer good enough to play for Feyenoord.

Kiprich left for Cyprus to play at APOEL and after amazing performances he won the double in his first season, winning the Championship and the Cup. He was worshipped by the APOEL fans who appreciated his skills and passion. His 25 goals in 24 appearances also made him top goalscorer of the league. The next season APOEL won two more titles, the Super Cup and the Cup, but Kiprich played in 16 league matches and scored only 4 goals during that season.

He was not used in APOEL's 1997/98 campaign and he left Cyprus to go to Eerste Divisie side FC Den Bosch in the Netherlands where he played the last couple of matches of the season and scored 5 times in 9 games.

He then moved back to Hungary to play at his former team in Tatabánya that now was named Lombard FC Tatabánya. They were playing in the Raab-Karcher NB2, the second level of Hungarian football and won promotion to the highest level. Kiprich was appointed as the team's player manager and played another 36 matches in two seasons where he scored 11 goals.

While still a player at Lombard FC Tatabánya Kiprich was appointed as a player/manager in July 1999. In his first season, he finished on the fourth position of the Raab-Karcher NB1. The following season a new format was introduced, called the Professzionális Nemzeti Bajnokság. The competition was split in two groups and Kiprich finished with his team in the first position in his group, claiming six bonus points into the second stage of the Championship. Things went worse and Tatabánya was falling down in the rankings and Kiprich was sacked in March 2001. A few months later in July 2001 he was appointed as the manager of Vasas SC, where he was not able to lift the team to high performances and only won 15 points out of 22 matches and was fired in December 2001 as a result. In April 2002 he was appointed as the manager of second league club Kecskeméti FC which he successfully helped avoiding from relegation to the third level of Hungarian football.

In July 2003 Kiprich moved to Romania to manage Divizia B team Olimpia Satu Mare. Kiprich and his team did well, winning 15 points in six matches, but when Győri ETO FC in his home country was in need of a manager he switched back to Hungary. Kiprich won seven points at Györi in his first three matches at te team, before losing 1-0 versus Pécsi Munkás FC. As a result, in the next seven matches only five points were won and he was sacked. He returned to Olimpia Satu Mare and finished the season at the club this time, finishing in third position, but not clinching promotion. At the start of the 2004/05 season he started at Diósgyőri-Balaton FC in Hungary. Only three points out of the first seven matches of the season were won and Kiprich was fired again.

During 2005, Kiprich went back to his old love Feyenoord to become a scout for them in combination with a new job as the under-19 coach at Újpest FC.

• Official József Kiprich Tribute (6 Seasons of Feyenoord)