Barça's golden boy

Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho, Diego Maradona, Johan Cruyff...the list of footballing legends that have trickled through the rich history of FC Barcelona is second to none. But in an era when the likes of Messi and Suárez reign supreme, there’s one name that may not resonate as strongly with an international audience: Ladislau Kubala (or László in Hungarian). It’s a name that harks back to an earlier golden era for FC Barcelona. Those were the days when Barcelona was a city hungry for redemption during Franco’s regime, and Kubala was the venerated, golden-haired hero who perpetuated the power of impossible dreams. A precocious talent with a formidable right foot, he was Barcelona’s original poster boy.

“Throughout the Fifties, Kubala was the most famous person in Catalunya, a phenomenon incomparable even with the popularity of Leo Messi today,” a spokesman from FC Barcelona told Metropolitan. It was no surprise then that during the club’s 1999 centenary celebrations, he was voted the best player of all time by fans. 

FC Barcelona described him as “the factotum of FC Barcelona’s stadium”, emphasising his importance to the Catalan people, and the need for his statue at Camp Nou. “Kubala had the enormous merit of bringing enthusiasm back to Catalan society, traumatised since 1939 by defeat in the Civil War. The victories of Kubala’s Barça were the best way to escape the sad realities of the dictatorship.”

At FC Barcelona, Kubala scored 280 goals in 345 appearances and won La Liga five times. As a naturalised Spaniard, he donned the Spanish shirt 19 times to represent the nation, scoring 11 goals. He also became a two-time winner of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (predecessor of the UEFA Cup). Following his retirement, he worked as a coach for Barcelona, Spain and the national Olympic team.

Kubala was born in 1927 to working class parents in postwar Hungary. At 18, he signed to Ferencvárosi TC in Budapest and a year later, in 1946, he joined ŠK Slovan Bratislava, which saw a move to his parents’ native Czechoslovakia. His stay was short-lived as he soon returned to Budapest after signing for Vasas SC.

In 1949, amidst fears of the country’s alarming political instability, he fled to Austria with his family, hiding under a tarpaulin in the back of a truck. From there, they moved on to Italy, where Kubala lived in a refugee camp before playing for Pro Patria in Lombardy.

His talent did not go unrecognised, and he soon caught the attention of Torino FC, the four-time Italian league champions at the time. He was offered a trial game with them against Portuguese side S.L. Benfica in Lisbon. At the last minute, Kubala’s son fell ill and he made a fateful decision not to travel to Lisbon. On May 4th, 1949, as the Torino team travelled back from Lisbon, the plane crashed into the retaining wall at the back of the Basilica of Superga in Turin, killing all 31 people on board, in what has been described as Italy’s greatest footballing tragedy.

Meanwhile, following Kubala’s departure without the necessary permissions, Hungary called for his extradition and, as a result, FIFA gave him a one-year ban. Kubala became part of a team that consisted of other refugees. In 1950, the team played a series of friendlies in Spain, where he peaked the interest of Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. Soon after, Kubala signed for the club, although he didn’t make his La Liga debut until 1951 because of the ban. 

"Kubala, who arrived in Barcelona as a refugee, became one of the city's most loved sons"

It was a move that would catapult his meteoric rise to superstardom. “His arrival at FC Barcelona was the beginning of the creation of a legendary side—el Barça de las Cinco Copas (the Barça team of the five cups)—an invincible side for two seasons (1951/52 and 1952/53) which won everything. The team’s extraordinary success awoke a newfound enthusiasm in Barça fans and accelerated the construction of the Camp Nou,” explained FC Barcelona.

So much was Kubala revered that many famous songs were made in his honour and children recited popular rhymes about him. Those not old enough to recall his heyday, may have heard the tales of Barcelona’s previous stadium, Camp de Les Corts, being too small to accommodate all the fans who wanted to see Kubala play. The 60,000 capacity stadium was always jam-packed and electrified by the thousands of eager fans who waited outside, simply for a glimpse of their beloved Kubala. His popularity is credited as the impetus for the construction of Camp Nou, the largest European stadium with a capacity of almost 100,000.

 “Kubala took the Barcelona fans’ breath away with his footballing qualities and his unusual physical force. He had the technique of a juggler, an extraordinary vision of play, great finishing ability, an unsurpassable mastery of set pieces and penalties, plus tremendous leadership qualities on the pitch. In addition, he was the perfect definition of a ‘larger than life’ character.”

He also became known for his profound generosity. FC Barcelona confirmed that a significant amount of his earnings was donated to assist many families in financial difficulties. He often provided shelter for other refugees like himself in Barcelona, and gave freely to people in need.

Kubala never lived to see the unveiling of his statue at Camp Nou in 2009. At the time of his death in 2002, Alfredo di Stefano—regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time and a former teammate of Kubala for the Spanish national team and RCD Espanyol—said, “Kubala was one of the best there has ever been. His game was pure, crystalline, a real joy for the fans.”

To this day, adoration from his fans continues all across the city. Paulo Consentino is an award-winning Brazilian artist who paints footballing heroes all over the world. He organised Barcelona’s recent ‘Take Over’ art festival and painted a huge mural in honour of Kubala, after becoming fascinated by his story. “It’s amazing,” he said. “When I was painting him, people recognised him every day. They would get excited to talk to me about him and some of them even had personal stories of meeting Kubala.” The man, who arrived in Barcelona as a refugee, became one of the city’s most loved sons.