Debreceni Vasutas Sport Club is a professional Hungarian football club based in Debrecen, Hungary.
Early years (1902–1942)
The club was founded on 12 March 1902, initially being known as "Egyetértés Futball Club" but on becoming independent it was renamed "Debreceni Vasutas Sport Club" (Debrecen Railway Sports Club). In 1926 professionalism came to the Hungarian football scene, with the unfortunate result that Bocskai FC was formed using players from DVSC and city rivals DKASE and DTE, with the result that Bocskai FC ruled the football roost in Debrecen for 15 years while DVSC continued to struggle in the lower divisions. In 1940 the professional/amateur division of players was abolished and Bocskai FC suffered financial collapse, returning DVSC to top-dog position in the city. Debrecen reached the Hungarian First Division for the first time in 1942–43, but then suffered something of a yo-yo existence for the next fifty years, suffering eight relegations in all, and even starting the 1967 season in the Third Division. During this period the club underwent a number of name changes. It became "Debreceni Vasutas Sport Egyesület" in 1948–49, "Debreceni Lokomotiv" (hence the nickname) in 1949, "Debreceni Törekvés" in the 1955–56 season, and it was known as "Debreceni Vasutas SC" from 1957 to 1979. In 1979 the two city teams, DVSC and DMTE were united into one team, called DMVSC, but after ten years the clubs split again and the team adopted its current name.
Back to the First Division
Debrecen's most successful period has been since its most recent promotion to the First Division in 1993, since when the club has won its only national honours – the Hungarian Cup was won in 1999 and 2001, and the Hungarian League title for the first time in 2005. Although the team was relegated from top flight football in 2001 as a result of questionable refereeing on home matches (Ref. Béla Kiss was helped to escape from the stadium by officials in order to avoid the crowd's anger after the match against Budapest Honvéd FC), the then promoted BKV Előre SC could not afford to play in the first league in lack of the necessary financial conditions, thus DVSC remained in the top flight as the better relegated team according to the rules and regulations of the championship which led to some controversy whether it was just.
The first international matches were played in 1998 in the Intertoto Cup. Debreceni VSC beat Dnepr Mogilev, FC Hradec Králové, Hansa Rostock, and lost to Ruch Chorzów in the semi-finals.
In 1999 Debrecen played in the first round of the UEFA Cup 1999-00 and they were beaten by the German VfL Wolfsburg 3–2 on aggregate. Although Debrecen beat the German club 2–1 at home, they lost 2–0 in the away-game, and their first UEFA Cup season ended.
2000s: Golden years
Debrecen won the 2000–01 Magyar Kupa. Therefore, in 2001 Debrecen they could enter the UEFA Cup 2001-02 where they beat the Moldovan club Nistru Otaci 3–1 on aggregate in the first round. In the second round of the UEFA Cup Debrecen played with the French club Bordeaux. They lost 5–1 away, but beat the French club 3–1 at home.
Debrecen finished third in the 2002-03 Nemzeti Bajnokság I season. Therefore, they entered the UEFA Cup 2003-04 season. Debrecen drew with the Lithuanian club FK Ekranas in the first leg of the qualifiers, while in the second leg the result was the same. After extra time Debrecen scored a goal and won 3–2 on aggregate. In the first round they had to face NK Varteks. Debrecen won both matches, 3–1 in the first leg and 3–2 in the second leg. The team won 6–3 on aggregate causing the resignation of the coach of the Croatian club. In the second round Debrecen faced with the Greek PAOK. In the first leg they drew 1–1 in the Toumba Stadium in Thessaloniki, Greece. At home the result was a goalless draw, therefore Debrecen went through on away goals (1–1). Debrecen's first successful UEFA Cup career was ended in the third round when they faced with the Belgian Club Brugge. In the first leg Debrecen was beaten by 1–0 in Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges, Belgium. The goalless second leg resulted the end of the march of the Hungarian club.
In the 2003–04 Nemzeti Bajnokság I season Debrecen finished third, therefore they could play in the UEFA Intertoto Cup 2004–05 season. In the first round Debrecen faced with the Slovak club Spartak Trnava. In the first leg Debrecen lost 3–0 in Trnava, Slovakia, while at home they won 4–1. Debrecen were eliminated from the Intertoto Cup on away goals (4–4).
In 2005 Debrecen won their first Hungarian National Championship title preceding Ferencváros by six points. As a consequence the team could play in the UEFA Champions League for the first time. The first match in the UEFA Champions League 2005-06 qualifiers was played in 2005 against the Croatian club, Hajduk Split. Debreceni VSC beat the Croatian rivals 8–0 on aggregate beating Hajduk Split 3–0 at home and 5–0 away. In the next round Debreceni VSC had to face one of the best teams in Europe, Manchester United and lost 0–6 on aggregate. Debrecen could have consoled themselves in the 2005–06 UEFA Cup, but they had to face the Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk. In the first leg (15 September 2005) the Ukrainian club beat Debrecen 4–1 in the RSC Olimpiyskiy stadium in Donetsk, Ukraine. The only Hungarian goal was scored by Sidibe. In the second leg (29 September 2005) Debrecen lost 2–0 in the Stadion Oláh Gábor Út. Debrecen were eliminated 6–1 on aggregate.
Debrecen managed to duplicate the feat and win the Hungarian National Championship I 2005-06, after in the last round on 3 June, they defeated Pápa 4–1, and the then the leader of the league Újpest (who had the same number of points as Debrecen but had more away wins) lost to Fehérvár in a climactic battle ending in 3–1, which also caused Fehérvár to place 3rd.
In the qualifiers of the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League Debrecen faced with Macedonian champion Rabotnički Skopje. In the first leg (26 July 2006) Debrecen drew at home in the Stadion Oláh Gábor Út. the Hungarian goal was scored by Róbert Zsolnai. In the second leg (2 August 2006) Debrecen took the lead by a goal by Sidibe in the 20th minute, but Rabotnicki scored four more goals. Debrecen were eliminated from the UEFA Champions League on 5–2 aggregate. After being eliminated from the Champions League Supka resigned.
In the Hungarian National Championship I 2006-07 season Debrecen became again champion on the 28th match-day beating Rákospalotai EAC on home turf. Debrecen became the first non-Budapest team winning the Hungarian title for the third time in a row.
András Herczeg's first trophy was won against Budapest Honvéd by 4–1 on aggregate. The first leg finished 1–1 in the Bozsik Stadion. In the second leg Dzsudzsák scored twice, while the third goals was scored by Kiss.
In the UEFA Champions League 2007-08 season Debrecen entered in the second qualifying round. Debrecen faced with the Swedish champion Elfsborg. The Swedish club won the first leg by 1–0, while a goalless draw in Sweden was enough for Elfsborg to go through the third qualifying round. Debreceni VSC were eliminated from the UEFA Champions League 1–0 on aggregate.
In the 2007–08 Nemzeti Bajnokság I season Debrecen finished second while MTK became first. Debrecen won the 2007–08 Magyar Kupa season by beating Budapest Honvéd in the final 9–1 on aggregate. Given the fact that Debrecen finished second in the Hungarian League and won the Hungarian Cup, the club qualified for the UEFA Cup 2008-09 season. Debrecen had to enter the first qualifying round.
Since Debrecen could not win the Hungarian Championship, they had to play in the UEFA Cup 2008-09. In the first round of the Central-East region they drew in Kazakhstan against Shakhter Karagandy 1–1, while in the second leg they beat the Kazakh team by 1–0. Debrecen qualified for the second round by 2–1 on aggregate. In the second round Debrecen faced with the Swiss Young Boys. In the first leg they lost 4–1 in Bern. In the second leg they lost 3–2 at home. Debrecen were eliminated from the UEFA Cup by 3–7 on aggregate.
Debrecen won the Hungarian National Championship I 2008–09 after beating their provincial rivals Diósgyőr 3–2 away. Debrecen became the most successful non-Budapest team in Hungary with four Hungarian Championship titles.
On 15 July 2009 Debreceni VSC beat Kalmar FF 2–0 at home by the goals of Kiss and Varga. In the away match Debrecen lost to the Swedish champion by 3–1, but they qualified for the next round because they won on away goals. In the third round of the Champions League Debrecen played their first match in Estonia against Levadia Tallinn on 29 July 2009. Debrecen won the match thanks to the 70th-minute goal of Leandro. At home in Debrecen on 5 August 2009, the team beat the Estonian champion by 1–0. In the play-offs of the Champions League 2009–10 Debrecen faced with the Bulgarian champion Levski Sofia. The first match was played in Sofia on 19 August 2009, where Debrecen beat the Bulgarian club by 2–1. Although Levski Sofia scored an equalizer, Debrecen were able to respond with a goal which came in the 76th minute by Czvitkovics. Debrecen won the first leg of the play-off in Bulgaria. Debrecen beat Levski Sofia by 2–0 in front of 32,000 spectators and won 4–1 on aggregate. They were drawn in group E of the competition alongside Liverpool, Lyon and Fiorentina. Debrecen played their first ever Champions League group match against Liverpool at Anfield. The only goal of the match was scored by Kuyt. Although Debrecen were unable to get points from the group matches, their supporters could experience the atmosphere of the Champions League.
2010s In 2010 Debrecen was competing for the title with Videoton In the last round the difference between the two teams were only one point. Videoton had to beat Győri ETO away, while Debreceni VSC had to beat Kecskeméti TE away. Neither Videoton nor Debrecen were able to win in the last round, therefore the difference remained one point. As a consequence, Debreceni VSC won the Hungarian National Championship I 2009–10 despite losing to Kecskeméti TE in the last round. In 2010 Debrecen beat Zalaegerszegi TE in the Hungarian Cup final in the Puskás Ferenc Stadium by 3–2.
In 2010 Debrecen beat Levadia Tallinn 4–3 on aggregate in the second round of the UEFA Champions League 2010–11. In the third round they lost to FC Basel 5–1 on aggregate. Debrecen were eliminated yet again. Debrecen consoled themselves in the UEFA Europa League 2010–11. Debrecen beat Litex Lovech 4–1 on aggregate reaching the group stages of the Europa League. Debrecen were drawn in group I of the competition alongside PSV Eindhoven, Sampdoria, and Metalist Kharkiv. Debrecen finally obtained their first points in the Europa League. Péter Kabát's two goals were enough to beat Sampdoria by 2–0. However, these three point were not enough to qualify for the knockout phase of the Europa League 2010-11.
Elemér Kondás was appointed as the new manager of the club on 20 April 2011. In the 2011–12 the team started with a seven consecutive wins. The record run was stopped by a draw against Siófok. On 1 May 2012 Debrecen beat MTK Budapest on penalty shoot-out in the 2011–12 season of the Hungarian Cup final winning the trophy for the fifth time. On 12 May 2012 Debrecen beat Pécs in the 28th round of the Hungarian League by 4–0 at the Oláh Gábor út Stadium which resulted the sixth Hungarian League title for the Hajdús. Debrecen finished the 2011–12 season of the Hungarian League unbeaten with 22 victories and only 8 draws.