Iosif Bükössy

Iosif Bükössy (12 August 1936 – 30 October 2006) was a Romanian footballer who played as a forward.

Playing career
Iosif Bükössy was born on 12 August 1936 in Mediaș, Romania and he started to play football in 1948 at local club, Sparta. In 1954 he moved to neighboring club, Flacăra where he spent two seasons playing in Divizia B. Then after another short Divizia B spell at Progresul CPCS București, Bükössy went to play for CCA București where he made his Divizia A debut under coach Ștefan Dobay on 27 May 1956 in a 3–1 away loss in front of Progresul Oradea, gaining a total of three appearances in his first season spent at the club, helping it win the title. After two more seasons spent with The Military Men he went to play for two seasons at rivals Dinamo București, in the first one the club finishing on the second position in the league and winning the 1958–59 Cupa României where coach Iuliu Baratky did not use him in the final. In his second season he scored once in a derby which ended 3–3 against his former team, CCA. Afterwards he went to play two years at Divizia B club Dinamo Obor București, returning to Divizia A football in 1962 where he had a successful period in his career, being a part of the team's prolific offensive trio alongside Constantin Dinulescu and Ion Ciosescu. Iosif Bükössy made his last Divizia A appearance on 7 May 1967, playing for Farul in a 1–1 against Politehnica Timișoara, having a total of 103 matches with 23 goals scored in the competition, ending his career after spending three more seasons in Divizia B at Portul Constanța.

Bükössy also represented his country internationally, having appearances for Romania's under-23 and B squads.

Coaching career
After he retired from playing football he worked mainly at Farul Constanța's youth center where he taught and formed generations of players, which include Gheorghe Hagi, Ianis Zicu, Vasile Mănăilă and Dorel Zamfir, also he had a three-year spell at Elpis Constanța. After Iosif Bükössy's death in 2006, Gheorghe Hagi said that Bükössy was the best coach he had in his entire career, also saying:"For me, Bukossy was like a second father. Now that he is no longer among us, I feel a great sadness in my soul. I knew that he went through a difficult period and that he could not recover after the operation. I feel very sorry for him, may God forgive him! I will never forget him (...) I learned everything from him, he showed me the secrets of football. Basically, he is the man who raised me. He was an extraordinary man, who dedicated his whole life to raising children. He did only good in life. Even though I have done it many times before, I want to thank him once more for what he did for me".

Honours
CCA București Dinamo București
 * Divizia A: 1956
 * Cupa României: 1958–59