# Mátyás Tóth

Mátyás Tóth (also known as Mátyás Tóth III; 1 April 1918 – 12 February 2002) was a Hungarian–Romanian footballer who played as a forward for teams such as Újpest, Nagyváradi AC, ITA Arad or Vasas, among others.

## Club career

Mátyás Tóth was born on 1 April 1918 in Békés, Austria-Hungary, starting to play football in 1936 at Újpest in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I. After a short period between 1938 and 1939 when he played for Phöbus, Tóth returned to Újpest where he stayed until 1941. Afterwards he went at Nagyváradi AC with whom he won the 1943–44 title in which he contributed with 14 goals scored in 30 matches.
Shortly after winning the title he went at Nemzeti Vasas, then in 1945 he played for a short while for Romanian side, Carmen București before going to ITA Arad with whom he won the 1946–47 Divizia A championship, scoring 13 goals in 24 games. He returned to Vasas in 1947 where he ended his career two years later, having a total of 231 appearances with 83 goals scored in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I.

## International career

Mátyás Tóth played at international level in 16 matches for Hungary, scoring six times, his debut taking place on 22 October 1939 under the guidance of coach Dénes Ginzery in a friendly with Romania which ended 1–1 in which he scored his side's goal.
In 1946 he played two games for Romania at the Balkan Cup, even do he did not have Romanian citizenship, managing to score a goal in his first match when he was used all the minutes by coach Virgil Economu in a 2–2 with Bulgaria.
Afterwards he returned to play again for Hungary, his first game being a 3–0 away victory against Romania at the 1947 Balkan Cup. Tóth's last five games for The Magyars were at the 1948 Balkan Cup in which he scored once in a 6–2 over Poland and in his last game he captained the team in a 1–0 away loss in front of Bulgaria. He was also part of Hungary's squad at the 1936 Summer Olympics, but he did not play in any matches.

### International goals

    Scores and results list Hungary's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Tóth goal.
List of international goals scored by Mátyás Tóth for Hungary :
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1 | 22 October 1939 | Stadionul ANEF, Bucharest, Romania | Romania | 1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly match |
| 2 | 12 November 1939 | Stadion Beogradski S.K., Belgrade, Yugoslavia | Yugoslavia | 2–0 | 2–0 | Friendly match |
| 3 | 1 November 1942 | Üllői úti Stadion, Budapest, Hungary | Switzerland | 3–0 | 3–0 | Friendly match |
| 4 | 15 September 1943 | Helsingin Olympiastadion, Helsinki, Finland | Finland | 1–0 | 3–0 | Friendly match |
| 5 | 15 September 1943 | Helsingin Olympiastadion, Helsinki, Finland | Finland | 3–0 | 3–0 | Friendly match |
| 6 | 15 September 1948 | Stadion Wojska Polskiego, Warsaw, Poland | Poland | 5–2 | 6–2 | 1948 Balkan Cup |
    Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Tóth goal.
List of international goals scored by Mátyás Tóth for Romania :
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1 | 8 October 1946 | Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana, Albania | Bulgaria | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1946 Balkan Cup |

## Later life and death

In 1949 after communism took over Hungary, Mátyás Tóth left the country and fled to Italy. The Hungarian Football Federation suspended him for life, thus ending his career at age 31 even do he had offers to play for A.S. Roma and Lazio Roma. Being a fugitive, he was placed to live in a camp in which his health was negatively affected by the improper living conditions. In order to get out of this situation, Tóth decided to ask the Crown prince of Sweden, Gustaf VI Adolf for help, whom he met in September 1943 before a Hungary away game against Sweden when he knew that the prince was going to come and shake the players hands before the game, thus making an effort to learn some phrases in the Swedish language in order to be able to talk to him. He wrote a letter to him in which he explained his situation, also stating that he was protestant even do he was actually catholic and attached a picture of himself. Three weeks later the prince send him money and an airplane ticket to go to Sweden.
Mátyás Tóth remained in Sweden until the end of his life. He coached a few modest teams and organized the Swedish prison championship. He died on 12 February 2002 at the age of 83 in Halmstad.

## Honours

Nagyváradi AC
* Nemzeti Bajnokság I: 1943–44
ITA Arad
* Divizia A: 1946–47