Summary

Pennant, 'Melbourne Soccer Club Silver Jubilee 1957-1982'. This pennant was used in Melbourne in 1982 to celebrate 25 years of the Melbourne Soccer Club, also known as the Melbourne Hungaria Soccer Club. It was formed in 1957 by Hungarian migrants, this included members of the Hungarian Olympic soccer team who had defected and remained in Australia following the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

During the 1960s and 1970s Melbourne Hungaria was one of the strongest football clubs in Australia, winning the Victorian State League championship and the Australian Cup in 1967. The club closed in 1987. Its most notable player was former Socceroo Attila Abonyi.

'My parents didn't have a word of English.but the fact there was a Hungarian soccer club, they could go along ...and mingle with Hungarians. It was a social event even more than a football club.' Attilla Abonyi quoted in Sportblog article, Joe Gorman, 2014

Attilla Abonyi was ten years old when his family fled Hungary in 1957, escaping the Soviet invasion. He migrated to Melbourne under the Hungarian Refugee Assistance Scheme. By 1960 Atti was playing for the newly formed Melbourne Hungaria and was part of the team that lifted the Australia Cup in 1967. He went on to play for the Socceroos in the 1974 World Cup, becoming one of Australia's greatest footballers.

Physical Description

Triangular cloth pennant which is edged with red cotton. On the front is embroidered the crest of the Melbourne Soccer Club (consisting of a large brown soccer ball, the Hungarian flag all surrounded by oak branches) and details of the club's Silver Jubilee. The pennant is backed with a cream interfacing. On the top of the pennant are two red cloth loops.

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