József Ging, legend of football but also a pioneer of Tirrenia
PISA. January 5, 1921, exactly 101 years ago, is an important date for Pisan football. That day, for the first time in the history of Pisa Sporting Club, the figure of the coach makes his debut.
In fact, József Ging arrives at the station, destined in a few months to catapult a handful of boys with the Nerazzurri colored shirts to the final for the Scudetto.
Born in Budapest on November 27, 1891 (but of Irish origins), he immediately suffered the irresistible fascination of football, already practiced at excellent levels in England and in his own Hungary.
The young József started playing football with excellent results: being able to cover many roles in midfield and attack, with tactical flexibility, attention and always providing good performances.
These talents opened the doors of one of the strongest teams in Budapest, Törekvés, who, together with Ferencvàros and Mtk, represented the best a young Hungarian footballer could ask for at the time. In his short career as a footballer, he also wore the national team jersey 28 times.
With the Great War and a bad injury, in 1919 he decided to give up playing football.
In Italy, until that moment, the coach was very often the captain of the team and the most used method of play was to… run desperately after the ball, trying to score a goal more than the others!
The clubs soon understood that to win a “tactical” leap in quality was needed, calling from abroad, in particular from England and Hungary, the “luminaries” of football to direct and train their teams.
The first year Ging was at Count Dal Toso’s Udinese and was noted nationally.
Emissaries left Pisa who convinced him to coach the Nerazzurri, putting on the plate an amazing and indispensable salary for the time: 1,800 lire!
But let’s relive, through the words of Ferruccio Giovannini, the moment of his arrival in the city: «Ging had written to Pisa that, as he got off the train, he brought a small flower in his mouth to be recognized. When the crowd of travelers appeared at the exit, I sharpened my gaze in search of the man with the flower in his mouth, but I did not see this mark at all, but I was immediately struck by a tall, stiff man with a green cloth hat and its curled pen , an olive green jacket with green Tyrolean displays and a pair of rather worn gray trousers. The hat sat on top of his head as if resting, just horizontally. Was there really a need for the little flower? I accompanied him to the hotel, always talking with my hands because he did not say “yes” in Italian, but the next day on the field he made himself understood with his feet! ».
In fact, a real tactical and technical revolution took place on the pitch, which led Pisa to play the final Scudetto, in July of the same year, bitterly lost 2-1 as we have already mentioned many times.
This transformation (which for many years earned him the nickname of “Magician” by the journalist Renzo Castelli) materialized with radical changes in the method of play and preparation: after two to four a week, very targeted physical and tactical sessions and a careful study of the positions to be respected in the field.
Ging allowed Pisa for the first time in 1924, and then returned to Pisa in 1931, 1935, 1940 and 1950 respectively.
With 413 games in 15 non-consecutive seasons, he boasts the unattainable record of appearances on the Nerazzurri bench.
During the Fascist period, the Italianized name became “Giuseppe”, while on the change of surname (from King to Ging) there are no official documents. In newspapers and photos from the period, compare both the name Ging and King. The heirs interpret the dualism as a probable assonance or a nickname.
For a Hungarian native of Anglo-Saxon origins it must not have been easy to train in Italy during the regime.
Yet József fell in love with our coast and in the years of the foundation of Tirrenia (starting from 1932), with the engagements earned up to that moment, he wanted to build a villa by the sea, one of the very first buildings of the place together with the station, the Caffè Torelli , the Lido pension and the Imperial complex.
It was Gioacchino Forzano, protagonist of the Tirrenia film studios and personal friend of the Duce, who would have served to host the actors of the films shot in the studios.
Thus was born, in 1935, the Vittoria hotel (Vittoria Tolnai was the wife of the Nerazzurri coach).
The hotel owned by the Ging family (now a residence) is still located in Viale del Tirreno 171 and has changed hands from Giuseppe senior to Giuseppe junior (born in 1932) and is now managed by his nephew Antonio (born in 1974), who also guards it memories.
József Ging passed away in March 1983, 92 with football still in his blood.
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