Ștefan Kovács

Ștefan Kovács (; ; 2 October 1920 – 12 May 1995) was a Romanian football player and coach. Having won two European Cup titles, he is one of the most successful coaches in the history of the game. Various football magazines listed him among their best coaches: in 2013, World Soccer placed him 36th; in 2019, France Football ranked him 43rd; and in 2023, FourFourTwo positioned him 62nd.

Playing career Kovács was born into an ethnic Hungarian family on 2 October 1920 in Timișoara, Romania. He started to play football in 1931, aged 11 at local club CA Timișoara. He led the club once again in the 1954 season when "U" finished again in fifth place, leaving the club in the middle of the following season as he was replaced with Petre Rădulescu. Kovács returned to the club for a third time in the first half of the 1956 season, but was replaced with Nicolae Munteanu for the second half, and the team was relegated to the second league at the end of it. His fourth and final spell at Universitatea took place in the 1957–58 Divizia B season in which the team finished in first place, promoting back to the first league.

Dermata Cluj, CFR Cluj and Romania assistant In 1959 he went for one year at Dermata Cluj in Divizia B, then for the following two seasons he worked at CFR Cluj in the same league.

Steaua București Kovács had his first major coaching success at the helm of Steaua București, where between 1967 and 1970 he won the 1967–68 Divizia A title and two consecutive Cupa României trophies, both of them after 2–1 wins in the finals over rivals Dinamo București. He has a total of 194 matches as a manager in the Romanian top-division, Divizia A, consisting of 83 victories, 50 draws and 61 losses.

Ajax He succeeded Rinus Michels as the head of Ajax in 1971, continuing and expanding on his "total football" philosophy. He also triumphed in the 1971–72 European Cup, overcoming Dynamo Dresden, Marseille, Arsenal and Benfica, then defeating with 2–0 Inter Milan in the final, courtesy of a brace from Johan Cruyff. At his last game as coach of the Sons of the Gods, the players gave him a Ford Taunus as a gift because he always came to training by riding a bicycle.

France After he left Ajax in 1973, he was called up by the French Football Federation to take the reins of the national side. In this position he raised the young generations of French talents, giving debuts to 33 players, including Dominique Rocheteau, Bernard Lacombe and Alain Giresse. His first game was a 3–1 home win in a friendly against Greece. He led the team in the Euro 1976 qualifiers, failing to qualify, as Belgium and East Germany secured the top two positions. Kovács's tenure with The Blues comprised 15 games, resulting in six wins, four draws, and five losses. He then guided the national team in three games in the Euro 1980 qualifiers, being replaced in late 1979 by his assistant Constantin Cernăianu but remaining as the technical director of the squad. During these years he also worked as the vice-president of the Romanian Football Federation. His older brother Nicolae Kovács was one of the few players who participated at all the first three World Cups. Kovács was multilingual, speaking five languages: Romanian, Hungarian, English, French and German.

Death Kovács died on 12 May 1995 in Cluj-Napoca at age 74, twelve days before Ajax won their fourth European Cup.

In his native Timișoara, a street is named after him.

Managerial statistics

Honours Manager Universitatea Cluj Divizia B: 1957–58 Steaua București Divizia A: 1967–68 Cupa României: 1968–69, 1969–70 Ajax Eredivisie: 1971–72, 1972–73 KNVB Cup: 1971–72 European Cup: 1971–72, 1972–73 European Super Cup: 1972 Intercontinental Cup: 1972 Romania Balkan Cup: 1977–80 Panathinaikos Greek Cup: 1981–82 Individual World Soccer 36th Greatest Manager of All Time: 2013 France Football 43rd Greatest Manager of All Time: 2019 FourFourTwo 62nd Greatest Manager of All Time: 2023