Makkabi Brno

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The Maccabi Brno ( Makabi Brno ) is a former Jewish sports club in Brno , which existed 1919-1939. After the club was dissolved by the National Socialists , it was re-established in 1945 and dissolved again by the Communists in 1950 .

The early years

In the early 20th century, national Jewish sports clubs were founded in a number of European cities, such as the VAC Budapest or the SC Hakoah Vienna . These societies within the meaning of of Max Nordau promoted muscular Judaism devoted to physical education of the Jewish population, thereby a basis for the implementation of the Zionist to make goals. The founding of the Brno Makkabi in 1919 followed this tradition.

The Makkabi was a multi-sport club, whose external impact was mainly achieved through the football department. From the beginning, the company was not limited to local players, but tried to win over Jewish footballers from Budapest and Vienna, which was only possible by paying appropriate fees. For example, the Hungarian international Alexander Neufeld played in Brno in 1921 while serving a suspension from the Austrian federation. The Brno team first attracted attention in 1921 when they remained undefeated in friendly competitions throughout the year and also drew against Sparta Prague .

In 1922, the club expanded its sports grounds and new grandstands, cabins, tennis facilities and athletics facilities were created. Through these investments the association took over financially and became insolvent. The foreign players had to be fired and local players were tried, but without the desired success. In the course of the year, the association was financed by local business people from the textile industry, who provided the association with sufficient funds to build a top team.

The heyday

The first new acquisition was the Hungarian national player Gyula Feldmann , who also took over the training of the club. Due to the fees paid by the club, a number of other Hungarians could be committed, many of which were also active in the Hungarian national team, such as Ernő Schwarz and Rezső Nikolsburger . Since most of these players had no clearance from their home clubs, the club was soon boycotted by the Hungarian association.

Through these commitments, the Maccabi turned into a purely professional team, which quickly departed from its original political roots. Since the team soon consisted almost exclusively of Hungary, the club was also controversial as a "mercenary troop". This did not affect the level of play, however, the team played a number of friendly matches in Brno and undertook extensive tours through Europe, where they measured themselves against the respective top clubs. In a successful spring tour, for example, Real Madrid were beaten 3-1, while they were defeated by FC Barcelona .

In the course of 1923 the team was further strengthened by national players such as Ferenc Hirzer , Árpád Weisz and Gábor Obitz . In November 1923 Maccabi made a guest appearance in Vienna, where SK Rapid Vienna was beaten 4-1. Also wins against Sparta Prague and Juventus Turin . The Brno were recognized as the top European team because of their playing strength, but were either perceived as a Hungarian team or were controversial because of their transfer policy.

The decline

In its intention to catch up with the European leaders, the club had meanwhile not only neglected its original political goals, but had also turned the association against itself by signing non-Jewish players such as Hirzer and Obitz. The Czechoslovak Football Association instructed its Jewish branch, to which Maccabi was a member, to maintain order at the club.

Under the threat of being expelled from the association, the club had to surrender its non-Jewish players, whereupon other players also left the club and the team was considerably weakened. The coach Feldmann also left the club and the newly committed players could not replace the departures qualitatively.

In the summer of 1924, the association issued a ban on playing the Maccabi, which meant that a planned Scandinavian tour did not materialize. The club decided to completely dissolve the professional football team and only to be active as an amateur club.

A number of players from the disbanded professional team then joined the newly founded Blue Star Brno , which belonged to the Hungarian sub-association and again new Hungarian national players such. B. János Hungler engaged. Due to problems with the player contracts, the club was banned by the association for several months. Czechoslovakia introduced professional players at the beginning of 1925, but the Blue Star's application for participation in the new professional league was rejected by the association.

The lack of prospects for the future made many players leave the club, although a return to Hungary proved to be difficult, as professional football had not yet been introduced there and a re-amateurization had to take place, for which a committee of inquiry was introduced. Due to the lack of income due to the ban on gambling and the failed tours, the Blue Star became insolvent and a merger with the German-Bohemian Brno SK took place . The Blue Star provided the majority of the players, while the infrastructure and financial resources came from the BSK. In this form, some games were played in 1925, but in July the players' salaries could no longer be paid and the club was dissolved.

The Brno Makkabi existed as a pure amateur club until 1939, before it was dissolved after the German occupation. A new establishment after the end of the war was followed by a further ban in 1950. After the velvet revolution , a new club was founded in 1990 under the name Maccabi Brno , which, however, has no football department.

Former players (all Hungarian national players)

literature

See also