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Imre Varadi

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Imre Varadi
Personal information
Full name Imre Varadi[1]
Date of birth (1959-07-08) 8 July 1959 (age 65)[1]
Place of birth Paddington,[1] London, England
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[2]
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1977–1978 Letchworth
1978–1979 Sheffield United 10 (4)
1979–1981 Everton 26 (6)
1981–1983 Newcastle United 81 (39)
1983–1985 Sheffield Wednesday 76 (33)
1985–1986 West Bromwich Albion 32 (9)
1986–1988 Manchester City 65 (26)
1988–1990 Sheffield Wednesday 22 (3)
1990–1993 Leeds United 26 (5)
1992 → Luton Town (loan) 6 (1)
1993 → Oxford United (loan) 5 (0)
1993–1995 Rotherham United 67 (25)
1995 Mansfield Town 1 (0)
1995 Boston United
1995 Scunthorpe United 2 (0)
1995–1996 Matlock Town (0)
1996–1997 Guiseley 3 (3)
1997 South Jersey Barons 2 (1)
1998 Stalybridge Celtic 1 (0)
Managerial career
1995–1996 Matlock Town
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Imre Varadi (born 8 July 1959) is an English former professional footballer, known as a journeyman forward who appeared for 16 clubs at all levels of professional football in England.

Playing career

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Varadi was born in Paddington, London, to a Hungarian father and Italian mother.[3] He started out in non-League football with Letchworth before joining Sheffield United in 1978, shortly before his nineteenth birthday.[4]

Varadi went on to become a nomadic journeyman, who rarely spent more than two years with any club and never made 100 league appearances in the colours of any team he played for.

From Sheffield United, he moved on to Everton, Newcastle United, Sheffield Wednesday, West Bromwich Albion, Manchester City, Swansea Town, Sheffield Wednesday again, Leeds United, Luton Town, Oxford United, Rotherham United, Mansfield Town, Boston United, Scunthorpe United and finally had a spell as player-manager at Matlock Town.[4][5]

He was part of the Leeds United side that won the old First Division in 1992 but only played in three matches which was not enough games to earn a winner's medal. He was also part of the Sheffield Wednesday side that won promotion to the First Division in 1984, after 14 years away. He was sold to West Bromwich Albion a year later and was their top scorer with nine league goals in 1985–86, but was unable to prevent them from being relegated in bottom place with just four wins in the league. He was then sold to Manchester City, and was unable to prevent their relegation the following season, although he did help them reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup in his second campaign there. He was nicknamed "Imre Banana" by the City fans, following the inflatable banana craze which the club's fans helped start that season. He scored 26 league goals in two seasons at Maine Road.

He left Maine Road to sign for Sheffield Wednesday for a second time in the summer of 1988, and spent two seasons there, but after 18 months he was sold to their Yorkshire rivals Leeds United in February 1990. He spent three years at Elland Road, helping them win promotion to the First Division on his arrival, but rarely played for Leeds in the First Division due to the arrival of new players in the midfield and forward positions. He did not make enough appearances in 1991–92 to earn a league title medal. He had loan spells at Luton Town and Oxford United before finally exiting Elland Road and dropping down two divisions to sign for Rotherham United in the summer of 1993.

He spent two seasons at Millmoor, scoring 25 Division Two goals, before brief spells at Mansfield Town and Scunthorpe United. He called time on his professional career in 1995 when he became player-manager of non-league Matlock Town, before joining Guiseley.[6]

In the spring of 1997, Varadi signed with the South Jersey Barons of the USISL D-3 Pro League in the United States. He only played in two league games before returning home to England with his manager Matt Driver citing "personal reasons." He scored his lone goal of his brief stint with the Barons against the New Hampshire Phantoms on 3 May 1997 in the club's first-ever home game at Carey Stadium in Ocean City, New Jersey.

He broke his retirement for one game for Stalybridge Celtic in 1998.[7]

Post-retirement

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He became a fully licensed FIFA Agent in March 2004 and provides commentary on games for both PA Sport (for the Football Live project) and BBC Radio Sheffield.[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Imre Varadi". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  2. ^ Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 230. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
  3. ^ Morton, David (8 July 2016). "Newcastle United old boy Imre Varadi was born on this day". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  4. ^ a b c Wash, Roger (2008). Hatters Heroes. Roger Wash. ISBN 978-0-9560832-0-3.
  5. ^ "Boston United Football Club News". Boston United F.C. Retrieved 21 May 2009.
  6. ^ "1996-97 Appearances & Goals". HOME. Archived from the original on 7 June 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  7. ^ "Stalybridge Celtic - Official Site - Player Profile Imre Varadi". stalybridgeceltic.co.uk. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
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