Falco KC Szombathely

Falco Kosárlabda Club, for sponsorship reasons named Falco Volvo Alpok Autó Szombathely, is a Hungarian professional basketball club based in Szombathely. The team play their home games at Arena Savaria, a multi-use complex, which was opened in 2006.

Falco Szombathely
Leagues	Nemzeti Bajnokság I/A Champions League
Founded	1980; 43 years ago (1980)
History	Falco KC Szombathely 1980–Present
Arena	Arena Savaria
Capacity	3,500
Location	Szombathely, Hungary
Team colors	Yellow, black
President	György Gráczer
Head coach	Miloš Konakov
Championships	5 Hungarian Championships 2 Hungarian Cup
Retired numbers	2 (8, 18)
Website	falcokc.com
Home Away

History

Beginning and uprising

The club was created in 1980, when basketball fanatics György Gráczer and István Németh with the support of the local wood industry Falco started to organize meetings and trainings. In that year the club entered the county level championship. In 1987, Falco decided to invest more money into the club and the success was immediate. By winning the championship in the 1987/88 season they won promotion to the second division. In the next year they did surprisingly well, finishing on the top in the regular season with only two losses, but failed in the play-offs final. A season later there was nothing what could prevent the yellow-blacks to lift the trophy in the final, and with that, after 27 years Szombathely got a top-flight basketball team again.

Successful years

The goal in the inaugural season couldn't be more than to stay in the NBI, which they clearly managed. In the following years Falco turned into a good mid-table team with a good reputation. In the 1995/96 and 1996/97 season Falco have been only a step away from the semifinals, fallen in decisive fifth match. In the next year the team finished only 7th in the league but won silver medal in the Hungarian National Basketball Cup. The team reached its top performance next year, finishing second in the National Championship and beating teams like Rimini and Beşiktaş in the Korać Cup.

Financial crisis and revival

 

The Arena Savaria, home venue of Falco since 2006

In the next few years Falco continued with high-level results, but a slow decreasing had been noticed. For 2002 the team went into a financial crisis, and produced the worst final place of the past years. A long-term, step by step financial consolidation plan have been accepted in that year, which saved the club from bankruptcy, but prevented the club to make quality signings. Still, the team had won a valuable bronze medal in the Hungarian Cup. After the financials have been cleared a quick improvement have started. In 2006 Falco moved to the newly built Arena Savaria and Srećko Sekulović arrived to coach the guys. In his first year in charge, after beating the reigning champion Atomerőmű, the team finished fourth in the playoff. In the 2007/2008 season Falco played unstoppable, the hard-work of Sekulović fructified and won the Championship title, first time in the club's history by beating arch-rival Körmend 3–1. In the Cup they marched till the final, where they lost to Atomerőmű in an epic battle. Nowadays Falco considered one of the top clubs in the country in a highly competitive league and have one of the best youth base in the country.

In 2015, Falco played in the 2015–16 FIBA Europe Cup, the third-tier continental level. Finishing with a 2–4 record in Group C, Falco was eliminated in the regular season.

In the following 2016–17 season, Falco had a successful year in the NB I/A. The club reached the playoff finals for the first time, where its lost 3–2 to Alba Fehérvár.

In the 2017–18 FIBA Europe Cup season, Falco played better as it had a 3–3 record but the club did not advance past the regular season.

In the 2018–19 season, Falco won its second national championship completing a total sweep in the playoffs. In the quarter-finals they eliminated KTE. Then they made it to the finals with sweeping Szolnoki Olaj KK. In the finals they upset their local rival BC Körmend 3–0, celebrating the Championship Title^[1] away.

In the 2019–20 season, Falco managed to qualify for the Basketball Champions League (BCL). Since the league was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Falco gained the rights to join again for the 2020–21 season.^[2]

Players

Current roster

Falco KC Szombathely roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age G 2   Hansen, Dániel 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 80 kg (176 lb) 18 – (2004-10-18)18 October 2004 PG 3   Pongó, Marcell 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 26 – (1997-03-01)1 March 1997 PF 5   Tiby, Matthew 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 109 kg (240 lb) 30 – (1992-12-19)19 December 1992 C 6   Keller, Ákos 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) 110 kg (243 lb) 34 – (1989-03-28)28 March 1989 PG 7   Pot, Stefan 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 89 kg (196 lb) 29 – (1994-07-15)15 July 1994 G/F 9   Perl, Zoltán 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 88 kg (194 lb) 28 – (1995-07-28)28 July 1995 G/F 11   Benke, Szilárd 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 88 kg (194 lb) 28 – (1995-05-22)22 May 1995 F 15   Takács, Zsolt 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 96 kg (212 lb) 19 – (2003-10-19)19 October 2003 F 21   Kovács, Benedek 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 21 – (2001-11-13)13 November 2001 PF 22   Krivacevic, Marko 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 97 kg (214 lb) 26 – (1996-11-07)7 November 1996 C 24   Barać, Boris 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 105 kg (231 lb) 31 – (1992-02-21)21 February 1992 G 25   Verasztó, Péter 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 88 kg (194 lb) 22 – (2001-03-29)29 March 2001 G -   Tanoh Dez, András 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 82 kg (181 lb) 21 – (2002-03-29)29 March 2002 F -   Németh, Bálint 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 81 kg (179 lb) 19 – (2004-05-11)11 May 2004 G -   Jordano, Antonio 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 24 – (1999-02-25)25 February 1999	Head coach   Milos Konakov Assistant coach(es)   Djordje Ilic Legend (C) Team captain   Injured Roster Updated: 12 August, 2023

Retired numbers

Falco KC Szombathely retired numbers
No	Nat.	Player	Position	Tenure
8		László Kálmán	G	1992–2013
18		Zoltán Horváth	F	2008–2009

Other notable players

To appear in this section a player must have either:
- Set a club record or won an individual award as a professional player.
- Played at least one official international match for his senior national team.

•   Benedek Váradi
•   Antonio Alexe

Honours

Domestic competitions

Nemzeti Bajnokság I/A (National Championship of Hungary)

•   Champions (5): 2007–08, 2018–19, 2020–21, 2021-22, 2022-23
•   Runners-up (4): 1998–99, 2011–12, 2016–17, 2017–18
•   Third place (2): 1999–00, 2001–02

Magyar Kupa (National Cup of Hungary)

•   Champions (2): 2021, 2023
•   Runners-up (6): 1998, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2018, 2019

Season by season

Season	Tier	League	Pos.	Domestic cup	European competitions
1989–90	3	NB II/A	1st
1990–91	2	NB I/B	8th
1991–92	2	NB I/B	3rd
1992–93	1	NB I/A	12th
1993–94	1	NB I/A	8th
1994–95	1	NB I/A	7th
1995–96	1	NB I/A	8th
1996–97	1	NB I/A	5th	Third place
1997–98	1	NB I/A	7th	Runner-up	3 Korać Cup	RS
1998–99	1	NB I/A	2nd		3 Korać Cup	RS
1999–00	1	NB I/A	3rd
2000–01	1	NB I/A	5th
2001–02	1	NB I/A	3rd
2002–03	1	NB I/A	7th
2003–04	1	NB I/A	6th
2004–05	1	NB I/A	6th
2005–06	1	NB I/A	11th
2006–07	1	NB I/A	4th
2007–08	1	NB I/A	1st	Runner-up
2008–09	1	NB I/A	4th	Runner-up
2009–10	1	NB I/A	6th	Runner-up
2010–11	1	NB I/A	7th
2011–12	1	NB I/A	2nd
2012–13	1	NB I/A	7th
2013–14	1	NB I/A	11th	did not qualify
2014–15	1	NB I/A	6th	Quarterfinalist
2015–16	1	NB I/A	9th	Quarterfinalist	3 FIBA Europe Cup	RS
2016–17	1	NB I/A	2nd	Quarterfinalist
2017–18	1	NB I/A	2nd	Runner-up	4 FIBA Europe Cup	RS
2018–19	1	NB I/A	1st	Runner-up	4 FIBA Europe Cup	RS
2019–20	1	NB I/A	1st^1	Cancelled^1	3 Champions League	RS
2020–21	1	NB I/A	1st	Champion	3 Champions League	RS
2021–22	1	NB I/A	1st	Quarterfinalist	3 Champions League	T16
2022–23	1	NB I/A	1st	Champion	3 Champions League

^1 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Hungary.

In European competition

Source: basketball.eurobasket.com

• Participations in Champions League: 2x
• Participations in FIBA Europe Cup: 3x
• Participations in Korać Cup: 2x

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1997–98	Korać Cup	Qual. Round 1	Brotnjo	(wo.)
		Regular season (Group I)	Aris Moda Bagno	81–97	62–101	3rd
			TBB Trier	81-95	108-102
			Maribor Ovni	87-73	72-67
1998–99	Korać Cup	Qual. Round 1	Svjetlost Brod	72-61	85-94	157–155
		Regular season (Group E)	Beşiktaş	94–83	71–74	4th
			Ericsson Bobry Bytom	71–90	74–84
			Pepsi Rimini	85–66	63–83
2015–16	FIBA Europe Cup	Regular season (Group C)	Telenet Oostende	64–86	62–91	4th
			Openjobmetis Varese	75–73	71–94
			Södertälje Kings	81–85	62–54
2017–18	FIBA Europe Cup	Qual. Round 2	Balkan	96-95	84-74	180–169
		Regular season (Group H)	Nizhny Novgorod	79–84	92–94	3rd
			Szolnoki Olaj	84–74	79–89
			Karpoš Sokoli	108–87	104–43
2018–19	FIBA Europe Cup
		Regular season (Group H)	Szolnoki Olaj	66–83	76–79	3rd
			Dinamo Sassari	60–92	69–104
			Leicester Riders	80–65	95–84
2019–20	Champions League	Qual. Round 1	Oradea	71-62	90-96	161–158
		Qual. Round 2	Ventspils	75-69	73-55	148–124
		Regular season (Group D)	Casademont Zaragoza	70–77	69–70	5th
			JDA Dijon	82–81	68–87
			Telekom Baskets Bonn	91–59	77–91
			Beşiktaş Sompo Sigorta	79–83	49–74
			Neptūnas	97–73	83–87
			PAOK	76–66	89–80
			Happy Casa Brindisi	93–83	92–98
2020–21	Champions League	Regular season (Group D)	Casademont Zaragoza	94–86	76–85	3rd
			Nizhny Novgorod	88–93	68–73
			Start Lublin	84–75	83–59

References

• The history of Falco (Hungarian)

1. Vereséget szenvedett a Kaposvári KK SONLINE, 18 January 2020. Accessed 6 May 2020. (in Hungarian)
2. Újra a Falco KC indulhat a BL-ben SZTV.hu, 6 March 2020. Accessed 12 May 2020. (in Hungarian)

External links

• Official Team Page (in Hungarian)