Zalaegerszegi TE

Football club infobox
clubname = ZTE


fullname = Zalaegerszegi Torna Egylet
nickname = ZTE
founded = 1920
ground = ZTE Arena,
Zalaegerszeg
capacity = 14,000
chairman = flagicon|Hungary Ferenc Nagy
manager = flagicon|Hungary Mihály Nagy
league = Hungarian League
season = 2007-08
position = 7th
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Zalaegerszegi Torna Egylet (ZTE) is a Hungarian football team from the city of Zalaegerszeg.

ZTE traces its roots back to 1912, at the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Its first match was a 4-2 defeat to a team from Vasvár. The team was first composed of members of a literary and debating society. ZTE flourished under coach József Vadász, but World War I halted its progress. In 1920, Zalaegerszegi TE, or "Gymanistics Club of Zalaegerszeg," was born. They were defeated in their debut match, losing 2-1 to AK Szombathely on August 21, 1920, but were motivated by a crowd of over 2,000 fans.

ZTE's league history began in 1924, when they joined the Hungarian second division. The club won the title a decade later and entered the top flight in 1934. However, the start of World War II under the regime of Admiral Miklós Horthy saw ZTE's field and equipment confiscated. After the war, in 1957, ZTE merged with two other local teams, signalling the rebirth of the club.

From then on to the 1990s, however, ZTE did not really challenge the Hungarian title much. The league was dominated by Budapest club Ferencvárosi TC. In 1994, ZTE managed to gain a solid foothold on the Hungarian first division. History was made during the 2001-02 season when ZTE won their first Hungarian title, pipping Ferencváros. However, in 2002-03, ZTE, as reigning champions, managed just a first place in the relegation league. In the following seasons ZTE came 9th, 6th and 11th, respectively.

During the 2002-03 UEFA Champions League, ZTE defeated Croatian champions NK Zagreb on away goals in the second qualifying round and met Manchester United in the third qualifying round. In the first leg, ZTE provided a stunning shock by winning 1-0 in Hungary. However, in the return leg at Old Trafford, Man United won a convincing 5-0 victory. The English side progressed to the first group stage with a 5-1 aggregate victory.

Honours

* Hungarian League
** Winners (1): 2002

Current squad

"As of February 28, 2008"

Zalaegeszegi TE current line-up

European record

:"As of July 14, 2007:"

A = appearances, P = matches played, W = won, D = drawn, L = lost, GF = goals for, GA = goals against.

External links

*hu icon [http://www.ztefc.hu Official site]