From Budapest Honved's historically significant World Tour of 1957 the autographed match pennant presented by Ferenc Puskas to the captain of the Braz

From Budapest Honved's historically significant World Tour of 1957 the autographed match pennant presented by Ferenc Puskas to the captain of the Brazilian team Flamengo before their match on 27th January 1957, signed in pen by Puskas and the great Honved team of the 1950s that also numbered eight internationals who played in the famous win over England at Wembley in 1953, 18 signatures in all, 43cm., 17in. Against a backdrop of political turmoil in Hungary, Honved qualified for the 1956 European Cup, now in its second year of competition. In the first round they were drawn against Atletico Bilbao. Honved lost the away leg 2-3, but before the home leg could be played, the Hungarian Revolution had collapsed back the Soviet Union had invaded Budapest. The players decided against going back to Hungary and arranged for the return game with Atlético to be played at a neutral venue at the Heysel Stadium, Brussels. Despite drawing 3-3 they went out 6-5 on aggregate. Elimination from the European Cup left Honved in limbo. The players, led by captain Ferenc Puskas declining to return to home, summoned their families from Budapest and, despite fierce opposition from FIFA and the then Soviet-controlled Hungarian Football Federation, coach Bela Guttmann organised a fundraising tour of Italy, Portugal and Spain. Among the most notable matches were the 5-5 draw with a Madrid XI and a 4-3 win over Barcelona. Honved declined a Mexican offer of political asylum and an invitation to join their national league and instead accepted an offer to play in a triangular tournament in Brazil with Flamengo and Botafogo., the games to be played on 19th & 23rd January 1957 respectively. Honved then stayed on in Brazil and four more unscheduled fixtures were hastily organised. It is from one of these matches that the pennant being offered for auction here was hastily commissioned from a local supplier, Flamex, to present to Flamengo for the new fixture on 27th January. After returning to Europe the great Honved team split up and the players parted ways. Some, including Jozsef Bozsik, Laszlo Budao, Gyula Lorant and Gyula Grosics returned to Hungary, while others, found new clubs elsewhere in Europe. This included Zoltan Czibor & Sandor Kocsis joining Barcelona, whilst Ferenc Puskas became an integral part of the legendary Real Madrid team of the late 1950s and early 1960s.