Kecskeméti TE

Kecskeméti TE sit second in Hungary's top flight coming off the best domestic finish in the club's history, a runner-up spot in NB I in 2022/23 that put the Bács-Kiskun county side in continental company. That European run has already produced two second qualifying-round exits, first against Aktobe in the 2011/12 Europa League and then in extra time against Riga in last season's Conference League.

The name on the shirt hides a tangled past. Kecskeméti TE merged with Kecskeméti AC in 1949 to form KszTE, went through a spell as Kecskeméti Kinizsi from 1954, and reverted to KTE two years later. In 1999 the club effectively disappeared into a merger that produced KFC, and the KTE identity only came back in 2003, when the naming rights were bought back from Büki TK.

The purple and white kit, worn since 1913, gives the team its nickname, Lila-fehérek, shortened by supporters to Lilák. They play at the Széktói Stadion, which holds 6,300 with around 4,300 to 4,700 seated.

Tomislav Sivić is the name attached to the club's two defining moments: he took Kecskeméti TE into the top division for the first time in 2007, and in 2011 he led them to the Magyar Kupa, beating Videoton 3-2 in the final. The same season ended with defeat in the Hungarian League Cup final, also against Videoton, 0-3. Up front, Daniel Lukács and Francis Litsingi share the club's scoring record in the top flight with 32 goals apiece.

Local rivalry runs through the Kecskeméti derbi against KSC/KFC, the club born of that 1999 merger, while Debreceni VSC provides the sterner test further afield.