Vilmos Zombori

William Zombory ( born January 11, 1906 in Temesvár, Austria - Hungary (now Timişoara); † January 17, 1993 ) was a Romanian football goalkeeper. He played 45 games in the highest Romanian football league, the Divizia A, and is the most successful goalkeeper with five goals. He also took part in the World Cup 1934.

Career

Zombory began playing football in his hometown at Chinezul Timişoara, the most successful Romanian club of the 1920s. In 1925 he first moved to local rivals Sparta CFR Timişoara, before he returned a year later to Chinezul. In 1927 he won his first championship. In the aftermath Chinezul, which had previously won six times in a row, the championship could not build on his earlier successes, for financial reasons.

In 1930 Zombory finally left Chinezul and joined the professional rivals Ripensia Timişoara. Since the Romanian professional league Divizia A was established only two years later, he could not participate with his new club in official competitions.

Ripensia became one of the most successful clubs of the 1930s and Zombory was until 1938 the Romanian Championship four times and twice the Romanian Cup win. With five goals - all from the penalty spot - he is still the highest-scoring goalkeeper. After a year at ILSA Timisoara he ended his career in 1939.

National

Between 1926 and 1935 Zombory played eight times for the Romanian national football team. He had his debut on October 3, 1926 against Yugoslavia. In the following years he was able to beat its competitors like Lapusneanu Ion and Alexandru Szatmari rarely. National coach Josef Uridil Zombory nominated for the FIFA World Cup 1934 in Italy and placed him in the only game of Romania against the eventual runners-up Czechoslovakia.

Achievements

• World Cup participants: 1934
• Romanian champion: 1927, 1933, 1935, 1936, 1938
• Romanian Cup Winners: 1934, 1936