GB United – Ferencváros Back Office Team Friendly Football Match

The signs were not good. On a dark and rainy Saturday the players of the Embassy’s amateur football team, GB United, were about to face the toughest opponents they’ve met so far, the back office team of Hungary’s record champion Ferencváros (FTC). Nevertheless, we were optimistic. You never know what will happen in sport. We were hoping that the grass – or turf – will be greener on the other side, on our side this time. It turned out to be so in the end. When I’ve entered the indoor arena, I’ve seen a lot of determined faces, but the same applied to our opponents. I have to admit I’m not good at losing and thankfully my teammates shared this principle. Although the start wasn’t so promising, we were down by one goal relatively quickly. Thankfully, we managed to score an equaliser just before the half-time.  One could think that Bill Shankly’s (the legendary Manager of Liverpool) sentences were crossing our mind:

“Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it’s much more serious than that.”

This day and this game in particular proved that right, and the team regained strength to go in the lead, eventually defending the 3-1 score, which meant the first ever win for GB United!

The supporters of both teams created a great atmosphere. Speak of which in the afternoon we’ve been privileged enough to sense this on a much larger scale, namely in the newly built Groupama Arena, the home of Ferencváros. Embassy members were pleased to see that one of the most important things in this state-of-the-art facility comes from the United Kingdom: the turf, showcasing the best of British technology and innovation. President of FTC, Mr Pál Orosz guided the tour and allowed us to take a look behind the scenes of a professional football club, which we enjoyed a lot.

Can you imagine a better way to end the whole programme than watching a live match in the Hungarian First League? Ferencváros managed to secure the win and a long day came to an end with both GB United and FTC winning, so let’s call it a draw.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the British government.