DVSC has signed a cooperation agreement with Road Service Kft., the official dealer of Toyota and Lexus.

The agreement was announced on Tuesday, August 1, at Nagyerdei Stadium by managing director Balázs Makray, together with Kálmán Illés-Tóth and Rudolf Gánya, the owners of Road Service Kft.

Before the opening game against Mezőkövesd, there were joyful and sad moments at the same time. As a lead-up to the game, the U14, U15 and U15 teams of the DVSC Football Academy were celebrated because of their national championship titles.

We also held one-minute silence to bid farewell to our fellow supporter, who tragically passed away suddenly. Roland Nagy passed away at the age of 25, leaving an irreplaceable void. He had been part of the DVSC family for long years, supporting the team at home and away since he was a child. Also, the audience commemorated our former player Papp II László, who passed away at the age of 85. The former left-back of DVSC, nicknamed Sutyi, had been a player of the first team of Loki since the age of 17, from 1955 until 1961.

Now, let’s talk about the match. János Ferenczi and Alexander Mojzis were not in the squad because of their injuries, while Brandon Domingues was banned as a result of his red card that he received during the last game of the previous season. On the other hand, among the starting eleven were Joao Oliveira, who arrived this summer, the 19-year-old Botond Vajda, as well as Donát Bárány and Ádám Bódi.

Right from the beginning of the match, it was evident that the guest team was focusing on organized defence and it would not be easy to break through that. The midfield play dominated and the first shot was in the 19^th minute, when Balázs Megyeri confidently saved the curl of David Babunski. In the 22^nd minute, after a cross from Botond Vajda, Joao Oliveira shot from close-range but Piscitelli saved with his leg. Not long after, following a corner, Meldin Dreskovic headed just wide of the goal from 9 meters.

By the middle of the first half, Loki had some chances but in the 27^th minute, Mezőkövesd took the lead due to Drazic, who shot a rebound into the net from 12 meters (0-1). DVSC appeared in a tough situation but reacted well as they equalized already in the 33^rd minute! Stefan Loncar received the ball about 23 meters away from the goal and then brilliantly curled it into the top left corner, leaving the goalkeeper with no chance to save. It was an amazing goal (1-1)! Until the halftime, no more goals were scored, so the match was decided in the second half.

After the break, in the 47^th minute, Erik Kusnyír’s shot was blocked by the defenders, but in the 55^th minute, Loki turned the game around. Ádám Bódi delivered an excellent cross from the left, and the arriving Stefan Loncar slid the ball into the net from 8 meters to score his second goal (2-1). Our team played superbly during this period, impressing the fans and earning applause multiple times.

Mezőkövesd also tried to score but the superiority of Debrecen was obvious. In the 67^th minute, after a nice dribble, Botond Vajda hit the left bar, then Márk Szécsi and Balázs Dzsudzsák came on as substitutes. In the final minutes, Piscitelli saved Christian Manrique’s clear-cut chance, then Dorian Babunski and Alexandros Kyziridis also came on. There were some exciting moments even in the final minutes but in the 92^nd minute, Dorian Babunski finished the match with a great clear-cut chance (3-1). Thus, Loki won and started the championship with valuable 3 points.

We will continue on Thursday against the Armenian Alashkert in the UEFA Conference League, starting at 9 pm. at Nagyerdei Stadium.

With the eyes of the coach

Srdjan Blagojevic: It’s a great pleasure to start the season with a victory. The start of the championship is always difficult though. In the first half, we were too shy and energy was missing, and we also did some basic mistakes. We conceded a goal but the beautiful shot of Stefan Loncar kept us alive. During the halftime, we realized what kind of tactical changes we need to make. These changes were successful, we scored goals, so I’m satisfied with the second half. We don’t have time to celebrate as we have an important match on Thursday. This victory is also a call for our fans to come to the stadium and support us because it helps a lot.

Attila Kuttor: Congratulations to Debrecen, they deserved to win. For a long time, we managed to realize our plans, it worked for some time but then the opponent broke us.

OTP Bank Liga, 1^st round.

DVSC-Mezőkövesd 3-1 (1-1).

Nagyerdei Stadium, 4844 spectators. Referee: Káprály.

DVSC: Megyeri – Kusnyír, Dreskovic, Romanchuk, Manrique – Lagator, Loncar (Ojediran, 92.) – Joao Oliveira (Szécsi, 70.), Vajda B. (Dzsudzsák, 70.), Bódi (Kyziridis, 78.) – Bárány (Dorian Babunski, 78.). Head coach: Srdjan Blagojevic.

Mezőkövesd: Piscitelli – Kállai, Lukic, Pillár, Filip – Prudnikov (Cseri, 59.), Brtan, David Babunski (Hudák, 75.), Illés (Cseke, 75.), Vajda S. – Drazic. Head coach: Attila Kuttor.

Goal: Loncar (33., 55.), Dorian Babunski (92.), and Drazic (27.).

Yellow card: Lagator (64.), and Lukic (24.), Brtan (29.).

For three years now, Tranzit Group has been the main sponsor and partner of DVSC. On a press conference on Monday, July 31, the parties announced the extension of their contract for one more year. The name and logo of the Tranzit Group will stay on the jersey of DVSC and be present at Nagyerdei Stadium as well.

On the press conference, the mayor of Debrecen Dr. László Papp stated that Loki successfully finished the previous season, and we can be proud of the team.

“In my opinion, the composition and mentality of the team is excellent, and DVSC can fight for significant goals in the next season as well. In this case, the stable financial background is especially crucial, and it is important that those who have stood by the club, stand still in the future too. For this reason, it is a pleasure to announce that the contract between the club and the Tranzit Group has been extended for one more year. For me, it is an important confirmation that a company, such as Tranzit Group, is a representative of local commitment,” said the mayor.

Miklós Szabó, the founder of Tranzit Group, stated that the company group has been supporting sports in Debrecen for over 30 years.

“Why is it worthy for the company? I always say that because of Debrecen, but of course, it can also be beneficial from a business perspective. We do love football, and if everything happens according to our plans, we can even prolong our cooperation”, stated Miklós Szabó.

Balázs Makray, managing director of DVSC, talked about the fact that similarly to Tranzit Group, DVSC also aims to reach higher levels.

“We are really glad that a company from Debrecen supports the football club of Debrecen. We do everything in order to continue our cooperation. During the last season, the team progressed and they are on the right path,” said the managing director.

Tranzit Group

The Debrecen-based Tranzit Group, with over three decades of history, is now recognized in the global market for the production, processing and trade of waterfowl. Founded and led by Miklós Szabó and his family 33 years ago, the company has become a significant player in the Hungarian and European poultry industry thanks to their work over the past decades, a stable team of experts and continuous growth.

Matar Dieye leaves DVSC. The Senegalese forward arrived in Debrecen last summer and spent the spring season at the Finnish KuPS on loan. It has become official that Matar Dieye permanently leaves DVSC.

We wish him good luck in his future career!

On Thursday, the international cup has started for Loki in Armenia. Our team stepped onto the pitch against Alashkert in the 2^nd qualifying round of the Conference League in Abovyan, the city next to Yerevan. There were several supporters who even this far accompanied DVSC and some fans could not be at the match because of flight cancellation.

Antonio Mance and Alexander Mojzis were not in the travelling team because of smaller injuries but the others were ready for the fight in the really hot weather (35 °C). There were no big surprises in the starting eleven, Márk Szécsi and Alexandros Kyziridis started on the two sides.

At the beginning of the match, Loki almost took the lead: in the 3^rd minute, Balázs Dzsudzsák hit the crossbar and his next shot, not long after, was brilliantly saved by the Armenian goalkeeper. The home team was also trying but Balázs Megyeri confidently saved the long-range shot of Wheymar. Both teams were giving the maximum and there were a lot of actions.

In the 8^th minute, Márk Szécsi shot wide from 17 meters and in the 11^th minute, Cancarevic saved the close-range curl of Dorian Babunski, which was a great chance. DVSC was definitely playing better but we weren’t able to convert our chances to goals. In the 26^th minute, the Armenian goalkeeper saved another shot from Dzsudzsák, while on the other side, Agdon slid wide from 8 meters in the 31^st minute.

In the final minutes of the 1^st half, Khurtsidze headed wide of the goal. In the 41^st minute, Jánost Ferenczi had to be substituted because of an injury and Oleksandr Romanchuk came instead of him. After the substitute, Christian Manrique was playing as left-back and Dusan Lagator stepped higher. There were no goals scored until the break.

After the halftime, Loki tried to put bigger pressure on the opponent, and we succeeded. In the 50^th minute, Dorian Babunski passed from the left to the centre and Stefan Loncar, who arrived on the long side, tackled and scored to the bottom right corner from 14 meters (0-1).

We had an advantage but had to be cautious in the back as well: in the 55^th minute, Khurtsidze headed just wide of the goal. In the 60^th minute, Dorian Babunski shot over the goal from 11 meters, but our team had several great build-ups. In the 69^th minute, Brandom Domingues and Joao Oliveira, the two new summer transfers, came on as substitutes and Loki tried to finish the match with a victory.

The final minutes were also exciting, in the 80^th minute, Balázs Megyeri made a brilliant save when Wbeymar shot from close-range. Alashkert did everything to equalize, and meanwhile, Ádám Bódi and Donát Bárány also stepped onto the pitch. In the final minutes, there were some chances on both sides but the final result was the 0-1 victory away for Loki. On Monday, DVSC will play the first league match against Mezőkövesd at home, and a week later comes the return match against Alashkert in the Conference League.

With the eyes of the coach

Srdjan Blagojevic: The match was tough as expected, and it was the first competitive match in this season. In spite of the hot weather, we had some periods of good play but we weren’t able to score for some time. For 60 minutes, we were controlling the game and scored as well. In the last part of the match, we had to be more defensive but all in all, I’m satisfied with the play of the team. It was only the first match of the duel and we know that the return match in Debrecen won’t be easy.

UEFA Conference League, 2^nd qualifying round, 1^st match.

Alashkert (Armenian)-DVSC 0-1 (0-0).

Abovyan City Stadium, 1400 spectators. Referee: Vassilis Fotias (Greek).

Alashkert: Cancarevic – Ustinov, Carrillo, Voskanyan, Muzek – Racines (Fatai, 77.), Mimito (Gareginyan, 77.), Khurtsidze (Naibandyan, 90.), Wbeymar, Flores – Agdon (Kutalia, 60.). Head coach: Vahe Gevorgyan.

DVSC: Megyeri – Kusnyír, Dreskovic, Lagator, Ferenczi (Romanchuk, 41.) – Loncar, Manrique – Szécsi (Joao Oliveira, 69.), Dzsudzsák (Bódi, 87.), Kyziridis (Domingues, 69.) – Dorian Babunski (Bárány, 87.). Head coach: Srdjan Blagojevic.

Goal: Loncar (50.).

Yellow card: Muzek (65.).

On Monday, DVSC organized its usual pre-season conference, which was of great interest. The venue of the event was the press conference room at Nagyerdei Stadium. Among the participants were: Ike Thierry Zaengel, president, Balázs Makray, managing director, Srdjan Blagojevic, head coach, Balázs Dzsudzsák, captain and the young Botond Vajda.

Ike Thierry Zaengel expressed his appreciation to the staff, the players and the fans too.

“For those who are here today, Loki is very important as it is for me personally. When we arrived here, we asked everyone to give us 3 years. This amount of time is needed for putting DVSC back on the place that it deserves to be at. I believe that we are on the right path, the play of the team is different now than it was earlier. I want a strong team with a strong identity. I want to see warrior players and warrior fans who consider Nagyerdei Stadium as their own home,” the President stated.

The managing director Balázs Makray told us that he sees the progress of Loki in various aspects.

 “Great thanks to everyone who believed and believes in this club and this project. During the spring season, there were two times when there were 14,000 people at the stadium, which represents the support and trust of the fans. The 40% increase in the average number of viewership means a lot to the players as well,” said the managing director.

Srdjan Blagojevic expressed his hope regarding the future support of the fans during the season, and added that he is satisfied with the conditions of the preparation.

“We are physically prepared but regarding the play, there is always room for progress. We are really motivated and are eagerly waiting for the matches. A long season is in front of us, which can mainly be compared to a marathon,” said the Master of Loki.

Balázs Dzsudzsák was glad to participate in the conference. He feels that the team, the staff and the fans are reunited.

“We can talk about a big DVSC family again. I’m hopeful but we are planning only match by match. We always try to thank the fans for their support and do our best to deserve it,” pointed out the captain of the team.

Botond Vajda said that he was greatly welcomed in Debrecen, he feels good here and wants to prove himself in the colours of Loki.

The third qualifying round draw of the UEFA Conference League took place on Monday. Right now, the most important thing is the match on Thursday but it was already obvious on Monday that if DVSC qualifies for the next round against the Armenian Alashkert (the first match will be at 17:00 on Thursday in Yerevan, the return match will be at 9 pm. on August 3 in Debrecen), then our opponent can be the winner of the matchup between the Serbian Partizan Belgrade, the Israeli Maccabi Tel-Aviv, and the Moldovan FC Petrocub-Hincesti, as well as the Austrian Rapid Vienna, the Bulgarian CSKA Sofia and the Romanian Sepsi OSK (Sepsiszentgyörgy).

The UEFA draw revealed that the winner of the DVSC-Alashkert matchup will face Rapid Vienna in the next round. The first match will be in Vienna, at the home of the 32-time Austrian champion.

Match days: August 10 and 17.

The season starts for DVSC with an away cup match against Armenian Alashkert. We asked our head coach, Srdjan Blagojevic, about the preparation, new players, and the Conference League.

Have you managed to complete the work that was planned for the training camp?

Yes, we managed to complete all the training sessions and matches that were planned for the training camp, nothing was postponed or cancelled. All players completed all training sessions and all of them had approximately the same number of minutes during the games. However, as coaches, we always miss at least one more practice, one more training or at least one more quality player.

How satisfied are you with the players’ attitude?

As I have already mentioned, I am very satisfied with the work and commitment of each player. Maybe, at some point, someone grumbles, complains but everyone does their job. Each player is aware of the fact that there is no success without dedication in work and without leaving the comfort zone. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their efforts and praise them. This must be the standard, regardless of the circumstances of the next season. The only thing that I’m not satisfied with is how we looked like in most of the first half of the last game against Al-Shabab. Regardless of the fatigue, regardless of the fact that we played against one of the best teams in Saudi Arabia… Perhaps, some people think that individual and collective success will come without much effort. However, we are not a special team, I’m not a special coach, only hard work and a serious approach, along with passion and ambition can lead us to similar results. If we lose that, we have nothing to hope for.

At which stage of the progress is the team now? Are they ready for the start of the season?

My impression is that we have progressed compared to the winter camp in Turkey. All of this is a consequence of the continuous work of the team and the professional staff. We are ready physically and we must maintain this level during the competition. From a tactical and technical point of view, there is still a lot of room for work and progress. The next season must be viewed not as a 100-meter race but more like a marathon. There will be ups and downs, victories but also defeats. The most important thing is that we stick together in all cases. It refers to the players, coaches, management and fans as well. All of us will need patience, trust, support and respect. Let’s remain what we were: modest, respectful, quiet, focused exclusively on work, without big announcements and unrealistic expectations.

What is your opinion about the new players?

In my opinion, we also made progress in this aspect. We tried to find the best solution and I hope that we managed to do that. It was not easy to find players who fit into this team and club, and who are within the limits of our possibilities. I believe that we made a good choice and we got more competition in the team. We give them daily attention in order to help them adapt to the team as soon as possible.

The Armenian Alashkert will be our opponent in the Conference League.

The result of the return match says a lot… Winning away from home so convincingly and being absolutely dominant in both matches, regardless of the draw in the first match, should be of great respect. It is clear that we have a big challenge and a demanding opponent in front of us. I especially liked their offensive potential. Regardless of all that, we have a huge desire to show that we deserve to play in the European competition. This is what we have been fighting for during the last season and we want to enjoy it. Let’s go step by step, respecting our opponents but believing in ourselves.

A new video analyst joined the coaching staff of Loki. The 41-year-old Serbian coach, Nikola Stankovic has a pro licence and he had worked as an assistant coach at the Serbian Radnik, Metalac, as well as the Montenegrin Buducnost and lately, the Saudi Arabian Al-Shahel.

The opponent of DVSC in the Conference League will be the Armenian Alashkert. After the 1-1 draw at home, they have defeated Arsenal Tivat in Montenegro with a score line of 1-6 on Thursday evening. We will play the first match on July 27 in Yerevan, and the return match will be on August 3 in Debrecen.

Loki played the last match of the Austrian training camp on Wednesday evening against Al-Shabab from Saudi Arabia. It is telling that among the opponent’s starting eleven there was the 65-time Argentin national player Ever Banega, who won the Europa League 3 times with Sevilla, as well as the 24-time Columbian national player and former Flamengo-player, Gustavo Cuellar.

The team of DVSC consisted of those players who were not on the pitch during the 10-1 victory against Anif. Both teams started the match in a great pace and the first chance was missed by the Saudis in the 3^rd minute. Afterwards, the play was balanced without any decent shots.

In the second part of the first half, Loki was becoming more and more confident. In the 29^th minute, the goalkeeper made a brilliant save when Balázs Dzsudzsák shot and after Vajda Botond’s attempt, the defenders cleared the ball off the goal line. In the 31^st minute, the Saudi goalkeeper saved the clear-cut chance of Dorian Babunski and just before halftime, there was some pushing and shoving but no goal was scored.

At the beginning of the second half, Loki was dominating more, and in the 58^th minute, the goalkeeper caught János Ferenczi’s shot. Meanwhile, it started raining and in the 59^th minute, Banega took advantage of the opportunity and cleverly scored with a short, precise shot into the goal of Debrecen (0-1).

Afterwards, the goalkeeper of Al-Shabab punched out Ádám Bódi’s curl. Twenty minutes before the end, Márk Szécsi, Joao Oliveira and Brandon Domingues came on as substitutes. Loki did everything to equalize but the goal, which was scored after a corner, was deemed as a foul. Towards the end, our team played with a significant advantage in terms of possession but the score remained 0-1. All in all, the performance of DVSC was not bad and the training camp can be considered as specifically useful. We will continue at home!

Preparation match.

DVSC-Al-Shabab 0-1 (0-0).

DVSC: Megyeri – Kusnyír, Dreskovic, Romanchuk (Loncar, 76.), Ferenczi – Lagator, Manrique – Vajda (Joao Oliveira, 70.), Dzsudzsák (Szécsi, 70.), Bódi – Dorian Babunski (Domingues, 70.). Head coach: Srdjan Blagojevic.

Goal: Banega (59.).

A beautiful anniversary is ahead of Loki, the fans and the whole DVSC family: the return match of the upcoming Conference League-qualifiers (against the Armernian Alashkert or the Montegrin Arsenal Tivat) will be the 100^th international cup match in the history of our club!

Until now, DVSC has played 98 matches on the international stage (Champions League, Europa League, UEFA-cup, KK, Intertoto), with a balance of 32 wins, 19 draws and 47 losses. All of this should be judged in the light of the teams that we were up against: Liverpool, Fiorentina and Lyon in the Champions League, PSV Eindhoven and Sampdoria in the Europa League, Manchester United or Wolfsburg during the qualifiers.

The story began with the Central European Cup in 1979, in which we played in the home of the Bosnian Celik Zenica aways and lost 2-0 away. In fact, Lajos Garamvölgyi, the latter legendary coach of Loki, also stepped onto the pitch on that match. Our first victory was in March 1980, when the team won 2-1 against the Czech Cheb in the Central European Cup. In this series, Loki also played against top Italian teams and and held their ground decently against Udinese and Pisa. On both occasions, they were defeated with a scoreline of 2-0.

Then came a long list of fantastic victories. In 1998, under the leadership of András Herczeg, Debrecen, after a 1-1 draw at home, knocked out German Bundesliga team Hansa Rostock from the prestigious UEFA Intertoto Cup with a 2-1 away victory. In 1999, the team defeated Wolfsburg 2-1 at home in the UEFA Cup. In 2001, also in Debrecen, they defeated the star-studded French Bordeaux 3-1. Then, in the 2003/2004 UEFA Cup, they marched all the way to the spring phase until they were eventually stopped by the Belgian team Bruges, albeit with great difficulty.

The 5-0 victory in Split in 2005 is a memorable event even for the younger generation, not to mention the 2009 Champions League march, where Debrecen reached the group stage. Afterwards, DVSC continued to claim valuable victories. In 2014, they defeated BATE Borisov 1-0, and in 2015, they scored nine goals against Skonto Riga at the Nagyerdei Stadium. Four years ago, we had a clash against the Italian Torino.

The story continues on 27 July and 3 August, 2023, with the second match being the 100^th international cup match in the history of DVSC. Loki has already burdened their opponents’ net with 125 goals, and more goals are yet to come. Hajrá, Loki!