Lajos Détári – Even the Gods have gone mad

The summer of 1988 was somewhat strange. A teachers’ strike had had postponed the national university entrance exams, which in Greece is a very big deal. The heat in Athens was also stifling.

On a much less solemn note, compared to taking exams that may determine your livelihood, and turning to football, in early June PSV Eindhoven had beaten Benfica 6-5 in a penalty shoot-out to win their first and only European Cup during a final played in Stuttgart. Forty days later would witness the Dutch national team also winning the only European Championship in its history, beating the former Soviet Union in a final played in what was then West Germany.

However, in Greece the hot topic of discussion at dinner tables, coffee shops and even board rooms was businessman Giorgos Koskotas, the mysterious banking executive who had arrived from the United States only years earlier and was now the outright majority shareholder of the Bank of Crete. Pivoting from banking and a nascent media empire, Kostokas had also purchased Olympiacos FC and promised to make the Club a European power.

The press during that period – sans Koskotas’ periodicals and a radio station he owned – had begun to ask questions on the sources of Koskotas’ almost unlimited supply of capital – which he was lavishing spending, by the way.

One column in the sports daily “Filathlos”, in fact, jokingly said Koskotas had a printing press in his basement to freely churn out dollars. So, when Olympiacos announced the acquisition of Hungarian super star Lajos Détári from Eintracht Frankfurt most people weren’t taken aback.

The money Koskotas paid to Eintracht for Détári was never made known, something that could not happen in 21^st century pro football. In Greece a then astronomical figure of one billion drachmas – roughly 3 million euros by some estimates – was cited in some press reports, a figure that exceeded, in fact, the share value of the entire football team at the time.

The German sports journal “Kicker”, nevertheless, reported that Koskotas had actually paid 9.8 million Deutschmarks – 3 billion drachmas or 3 million in today’s euros – for the Magyar, which meant that Détári’s transfer at the time was the fifth most expensive in European football history, the first being Maradona’s transfer from Barcelona to Napoli for $10 million. Be that as it may, no player transfer in the world has ever been the subject of such a fuss that year or even previous years, and very few footballers had ever received such a reception by the fans of their new team.

The Hungarian star shined on the field, yet he too was lost in the chaos of the era. He left in a manner that didn’t match his contribution.

The ’scenario’

Détári, along with his wife, were initially welcomed at the airport by more than 3,000 Olympiacos fans. Due to a strike action by air traffic controllers, however, his flight from Frankfurt was initially postponed, and then it was unclear when he’d arrive. Once landed he was to be greeted at the airport and then driven to town hall in Piraeus in the afternoon of the same day for a welcoming ceremony.

What followed, however, exceeded everyone’s imagination. Besides then Piraeus Mayor Andreas Andrianopoulos, Olympiacos’ management and team captain Tasos Mitropoulos, the Détári couple was welcomed by a huge crowd gathered at Korai Square, the likes of which had never been seen before in Greece for a football-related event outside a stadium. The newspapers of the time spoke of 50,000 people, while a police bulletin referred to more than 30,000: in any case, it was a spectacular gathering.

Did Détári deserve such a monumental welcoming? Regardless of his subsequent escapades in Greece, undoubtedly yes. The German fans and press had nicknamed him “the blond Platini”, as his style was reminiscent of the French superstar. Born in April 1963, Détári had begun his career in the youth academy of Budapest’s Honvéd, with whom he had won three Hungarian first division championships. He was also the biggest name on the Hungarian national team, playing in the 1986 World Cup.

In 1987 the Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt acquired him for the equivalent of 500 million drachmas. As a team standout he won the West German Cup with Eintracht, which defeated Bochum 1-0 with his game-winning goal. He was also voted MVP of the Bundesliga. As such, when his sale to Olympiacos was announced there was a major backlash in Frankfurt by the fans and press.

Speculation over … Klinsmann, too

On his first night in Piraeus, Détári was, without a doubt, shocked by the huge welcome he had received. Koskotas and his brother Stavros opened champagne bottles upon his arrival in full view, only to turn peevish from repeated press questions on how much the player cost. “Intoxicated” from the unprecedented fan turnout and media frenzy, the two Koskotas brothers even bragged that it was only a matter of time before they also acquired premier international striker Jürgen Klinsmann – something that never happened.

Did Détári justify the outrageous amount of money paid to bring him to Olympiacos? Perhaps not, but he was adored by the fans. In his first year with Olympiacos he shined and was the best player, scoring 15 goals in 27 games (11 shots hit the goal posts).

Nevertheless, Olympiacos lost a championship title that appeared in its clutches, losing a crucial next-to-last game against AEK Athens at the Athens Olympic Stadium in front of 50,000 fans of both teams.

Détári and the rest of the Olympiacos players swamped AEK for much of the match that evening, until a counterattack in the 83rd minute saw a more defensively suited Takis Karagiozopoulos run practically the length of the field to score the game-winner. Poor officiating that night against Olympiacos also affected the outcome.

The loss of the championship, however, was mainly due to turmoil in the front office throughout that season. When the “Koskotas scandal” broke and it was revealed that the money Koskotas was spending wasn’t his, but rather from the Bank of Crete’s depositors, he fled Greece with his brother Stavros in the dark of the night. Unfortunately, Olympiacos FC passed into the hands of the person who helped them flee, namely, one Argyris Saliarelis.

The self-described “king of the rubies” was unable manage such a big club like Olympiacos and the void left in the administration generated huge problems.

Détári, on his part, began to quarrel with Polish manager Jacek Gmoch, with whom he was at odds since the beginning of the season. In fact, six games before the end of regular play, and after a raucous argument, the Hungarian forced Saliarelis to fire the coach. Among others, Détári claimed that Gmoch would play Soviet army anthems in his presence to humiliate him, knowing that he disliked the Russians.

Détári left Olympiacos after having played in 81 official games in two years and having scored 46 goals – 35 in first division play

Détári’s second season with the Reds saw him clash with veteran manager and one-time AEK player Miltos Papapostolou, something that was objectively very difficult, as the good-natured Miltos was believed to have never argued with anyone.

In the end, the feisty Hungarian even managed to have his … father-in-law, Imre Komora, hired as Olympiacos’ coach, a development that served as the “last straw” for many of Olympiacos’ veteran players and created dissention in the locker room.

Komora, in turn, quarreled with Anastopoulos and Mitropoulos before a game against PAOK. That pretty much summed up the season for Olympiacos, who slipped from the standings in the championship race. Nevertheless, the team did win the Cup by beating OFI 4-2 in the final, with Détári putting in a majestic performance in his last game with Olympiacos. He had stopped getting paid in regular intervals over the past few months.

In the summer of 1990, Saliarelis sold him to Seria A side Bologna and with the money he received from the Italians he purchased a trio of top players from a rapidly dissolving Soviet Union: Ukrainians Oleh Protasov and Hennadiy Litovchenko and Russian Yuri Savichev. The “king of rubies” had also promised the fans to bring Igor Dobrovolski, which never panned out. In fact, in order to avoid fan reactions over the sale of Détári, Saliarelis claimed he was forced to sell the Hungarian because he hated the Soviets so much that he could not co-exist with the new Olympiacos manager, renowned Ukrainian forward Oleg Blokhin

Détári left Olympiacos after having played in 81 official games in two years and having scored 46 goals – 35 in first division play. When he left Olympiacos he continued his career in Italy, as after Bologna he played for both Ancona and Genoa. He also had stints in Austria (St. Pölten) and Switzerland (Neuchâtel Xamax) before returning to play in his native Hungary, retiring from football at the age of 38.

In a relatively short coaching career that followed he went on to work as an assistant coach for the Hungarian national team in 2006. Years later, when his biography was published, he referred to the welcome he had received in Piraeus, which he described as a dream.

“I can tell you a great about what my eyes saw on that first day in Piraeus. But I’m afraid you won’t believe anything. Generally speaking, anyone who hasn’t experienced it won’t believe it,” he said. And he is right.