Hungarian National Championship I

Countries	Hungary
Confederation	UEFA
Founded	1901
Number of teams	16
Relegation to	Hungarian National Championship II
Level on pyramid	Level 1
Domestic cup(s)	Hungarian Cup, Hungarian League Cup
International cup(s)	Champions League, Europa League
Current champions	Debreceni VSC (2008–09)
Most championships	Ferencváros (28 titles)
Website	http://www.nb1.hu/
Hungarian National Championship I 2009–10

The Nemzeti Bajnokság I., the National Championship, or short the NBI, currently known as the Soproni Liga for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of professional football in Hungary since its inception in 1901. UEFA currently ranks the league 35th in Europe.^[1]

Sixteen teams compete in the league, playing each other twice, once at home and once away. At the end of the season, the top team enters the qualification for the UEFA Champions League , while the runner-up, together with the winner of the Hungarian Cup enters the UEFA Cup qualification round. The bottom two clubs are relegated to NB2, the second-level league, to be replaced by the winners of NB2-Nyugati csoport (West) and NB2-Keleti csoport (East).

[edit] Names

The league went through various name changes depending on the sponsor for the given season(s):

• NB1 (the "classic" name - NB stands for "Nemzeti Bajnokság" - National Championship)
• Raab-Karcher NB1
• PNB (1998/1999, 1999/2000, which stands for "Professzionális Nemzeti Bajnokság" - Professional National Championship)
• Borsodi Liga (2001, 2001/2002, 2002/2003, sponsored by Borsodi Sörgyár (Interbrew))
• Arany Ászok Liga (2003/2004, 2004/2005, sponsored by Dreher Sörgyár (SABMiller))
• Borsodi Liga (2005-2007, sponsored by Borsodi Sörgyár)
• Soproni Liga (2007-present)

[edit] Hungarian National Championship I members 2008–09

[edit] Previous winners

[edit] Performance by club

[edit] Number of Championships

• Ferencváros: 28
  • 1903, 1905, 1907, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1932, 1934, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1949, 1963, 1964, 1967, 1968, 1976, 1981, 1992, 1995, 1996, 2001, 2004
• MTK Budapest: 23
  • 1904, 1908, 1914, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1929, 1936, 1937, 1951, 1953, 1958, 1987, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2008
• Újpest FC: 20
  • 1929-30, 1930-31, 1932-33, 1934-35, 1938-39, 1945 Spring, 1945-46, 1946-47, 1959-60, 1969, 1970 Spring, 1970-71, 1971-72, 1972-73, 1973-74, 1974-75, 1977-78, 1978-79, 1989-90, 1997-98
• Budapest Honvéd: 13
  • 1949/50, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993
• Vasas SC: 6
  • 1957, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1977
• Csepel SC: 4
  • 1942, 1943, 1948, 1959
• Debreceni VSC: 4
  • 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
• Győri ETO FC: 3
  • 1963, 1982, 1983
• Budapest TC: 2
  • 1901, 1902
• Vác F.C.: 1
  • 1993/94
• Dunaferr FC: 1
  • 1999/2000
• Nagyváradi AC: 1
  • 1943/44
• Zalaegerszegi TE: 1
  • 2001/2002

[edit] Notable foreign players

[edit] References