Zoltán Lipták (centre): In action at Wembley against England last August!
Well, Tilly saw something in the tall centre-back, coughing up 52k in the summer of 2007 before shipping him out on loan to Stevenage then in the Blue Square Premier in front of the Sky cameras.
Next time we saw Lipták on TV he was playing at Wembley against England in front of a sell-out crowd for just under an hour, and the now 26-year-old has won 10 caps for Hungary in all!
Now who saw that when he turned out as a Shrimper?
In fact, he didn't even turn out in a league game but did score the winner in the Essex Senior Cup final against Chelmsford City of 2008! (You can catch it here, just about: www.youtube.com, 1.27 in.)
Anyway, the tale of Zoltan has not finished yet as he might be joining our ex-winger Marky Gower at Premiership Swansea City who are suffering a defensive crisis and are looking to sign a back four man, and as he's a free agent after leaving Hungarian champions Videoton last month, www.skysports.com have reported that player could well be Lipták.
The defender himself told Nemzeti Sport: "I'm on trial at a Premier League club but I don't want to say anymore. I wouldn't even call it a trial, I would say we try to get to know each other. I got the chance last Saturday, I travelled there on Sunday and attend my first training on Tuesday. There'll be a friendly game between the squad members on Wednesday and after this my future will be decided. On the weekend I may be ready to sit on the bench."
And that sub spot could be against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge!
Go Zoltán!
The Liptak Files
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Zoltán Lipták | ||
| Date of birth | 10 December 1984 | ||
| Place of birth | Salgótarján, Hungary | ||
| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||
| Playing position | Centre back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Somoskőújfalu | |||
| Salgótarjáni BTC | |||
| Szolnoki MÁV | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2004–2005 | Szolnoki MÁV FC | 22 | (1) |
| 2005–2007 | Lombard-Pápa TFC | 39 | (7) |
| 2007–2008 | Southend United | 0 | (0) |
| 2007 | → Stevenage Borough (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 2008–2009 | Újpest FC | 19 | (1) |
| 2009 | → Southampton (loan) | 7 | (0) |
| 2009–2011 | Videoton | 60 | (4) |
| National team‡ | |||
| Hungary U-21 | 15 | (0) | |
| 2010– | Hungary | 10 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 September 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 2 September 2011 |
|||
(Player info supplied by Wikipedia, for the full article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zolt%C3%A1n_Lipt%C3%A1k)
Mark Gower sports a new style as a Swan
Meanwhile, our former winger in Wales (from 2009): www.southendunited-mad.co.uk