On this day in 2006, the late Marton Fulop made his Sunderland debut in a 2-1 win at home to Luton.
As a player, Fulop was a towering goalkeeper who joined the Lads from Spurs. Upon his arrival, manager Roy Keane said: “I’m delighted the deal has been completed. Marton is someone we’ve been looking at for a while – he’s young, hungry and just the type of player we’re looking for at this football club.” The signing was an emergency loan initially after Ben Alnwick's injury. In January the deal was made permanent, with Alnwick going the other way.
During his time as a Sunderland player, Marton had spells on loan with Leicester, Stoke and Man City. Leicester City boss Ian Holloway even tried to sign the keeper permanently from Sunderland, and would accuse Keane of being greedy when their bid for the player was rejected.
Fulop played for Sunderland between 2007 and 2010, making 44 league appearances. He stayed in England after leaving Wearside, playing for Ipswich (signed again by Keane) and then West Bromwich Albion. He went on to play in Greece for Asteras Tripolis, until he took a break from football in 2013 after having a malignant tumour removed from his arm.
Marton passed away in November 2015, and on the day of his death the Hungarian National Team wore black armbands for their match against Norway. Their goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly said after their 1-0 win: "We simply could not afford to concede any goals on this match, out of respect to him." When Norway headed a ball onto the crossbar, commentator Istvan Hajdu B. remarked: "This was probably tipped to the bar by Marton Fulop...this was a helping hand from the sky".
In the following days, tributes poured in for Fulop. Sunderland flew their flags at half mast, and our chief executive at the time Margaret Byrne said: “We are devastated to hear of Marton’s passing. He was a genuinely lovely man, liked and respected by everyone at the club during his four years with us. It is desperately sad when we lose a member of our Sunderland family but to lose one so young and in such circumstances is simply heartbreaking.”
In 2016, before Hungary's first Euro 2016 match, the three goalkeepers were spotted holding a pair of goalkeeper gloves labelled with Fulop's name. It turned out to be a gift from Marton's dad, and they'd promised to keep the gloves with them throughout the tournament.
RIP MARTON FULOP
