Former South Devon League Sides

Then more you shall know Barton


HANGING ON the wall of a Torquay town centre office is a remarkable piece of football memorabilia — with a history to match.

The faded black-and-white photograph will be 56 years old tomorrow, but it's a precious link with one of the most famous episodes in the game.

It was on November 25, 1953, that the illusion of England's football superiority was finally shattered when Hungary routed them 6-3.

It was the first time that England had ever lost at Wembley. In the return six months later in Budapest, Hungary won 7-1.

The victors were dubbed 'The Magical Magyars' by a spellbound British press.

The star of the shows was the brilliant inside-forward Ferenc Puskas, who went on to inspire the great Real Madrid sides of the 1950s.

In Hungary at the time a young Alex Novak dreamed of following in the footsteps of Puskas, Hidegkuti, Kocsis, Czibor, Bozsik and Grosics, who went on to lose the 1954 World Cup Final 3-2 to underdogs West Germany.

Alex even had a trial for the national U18 team.

But in 1956 Russian tanks rolled into the streets of Budapest and Alex, like many of his countrymen, tried to escape to the West.

Caught once, he was eventually released after a month's interrogation.

At the second attempt Alex, only 16, succeeded, escaping to Austria with his girlfriend Eva, and her three elder sisters.

Although the sisters went to Australia, Alex and Eva, now married, headed for Britain.

While Alex worked as a toolmaker and engineer, they lived in London, North Wales, Evesham — where he had a trial for Wolves — and in 1964 moved to Torquay.

After settling here, the Novaks worked at the Palm Court Hotel and then went into business, opening the Budapest Grill in Market Street among other ventures.

It's Alex's son Steve, who now runs Window Services in Abbey Road, who boasts the Hungary team photograph on his office wall.

"As a kid, I was taken by mum and dad to Hungary on holiday, and during one of those trips he was given the photograph by a relative," says Steve.

"The amazing thing is that every player in that team which beat England has autographed it.

"My dad left it to me when he died in 2003.

"The photograph is interesting enough, just from a football point of view — anyone is welcome to pop in and see it — but it also has so much history for our family."

Alex Novak did not give up his own football career in Torquay.

With other compatriots, he formed the Torquay Hungarians club, and he also played for the Torquay Hotels team in what was then a highly competitive Wednesday League.

Steve has another photograph, taken at Newton Abbot Recreation Ground against the backdrop of the town's old gasworks, of an early Hungarians side.

They evoke wonderful memories. 'Magical' memories, in fact.

The two Torquay Hungarians founders and players that really stand out in my memory are Alex Nadji (pronounced 'Nodj') and Julian Jurak.....................both incredible characters.

Alex (tall, good looking and debonaire) ran a little cafe in the alleyway down the steps from Torquay's Odeon Cinema for many years and then opened a cafe in the Torquay Railway Station which became a haven of the local taxi drivers ~ anyone remember their particular football club, Torquay Taxis as it happens; who played in the defunct Torbay Wednesday League?

Julian (short, fat and blond) was a lovely, but a perenially troubled and grumpy guy and goalkeeper extraordinaire who was known to chase a referee or two back to the halfway line when conceding a goal over which he felt agrieved. He worked at Centrax and almost single handedly held Centrax FC together as they rapidly declined in line with the declining stregnth of the factory workforce in the seventies.

Whilst Alex and Julian were tremendous Magyar compatriots, I don't recall their football club ever being one hundred per cent "ethnic" and particularly remember Ian Sharrock and goalkeeper Terry Coombe as two of their better players ~ they became part of the youth set up at Newton Spurs and if I remember correctly BOTH played for Torquay United reserves as well ~ Ian's brother in law, Peter King was a very good twin striker with him and when not around town being mistaken for Plainmoor hero Jim Fryatt; he formed the company that ran the go kart business on the Newton Racecourse stock car circuit.

They played on that bloody awful pitch at Steps Cross.................surely the most ridiculously sloping gradient of all time!