Jonathan Knott

Former British ambassador to Hungary, Budapest

Part of UK in Hungary

11th February 2014 Budapest, Hungary

GB United – Videoton Friendly Football Match

Guest Blog by Ben Luckock, Head of Policy Team at British Embassy Budapest

Just over sixty years ago Hungary beat England 6-3 at Wembley. For England, the defeat led to a fundamental review of antiquated training and tactics and the adoption of more continental methods. Sir Bobby Robson said of the game: “We saw a style of play, a system of play that we had never seen before. None of these players meant anything to us. We didn’t know about Puskás. All these fantastic players, they were men from Mars as far as we were concerned.”

GB United before the match
GB United before the match

Now, as any England fan will tell you, it is ridiculous to look back further than, say, 1966 when reflecting on past glory. But, in Hungary, that day on 25 November 1953 is still well remembered. Hungarians now have another victory to celebrate – the defeat, by top Hungarian team Videoton, of the British Embassy’s 6-a-side team. OK, you could have predicted that right? In fact you might ask yourself what on earth we were thinking when we suggested this match to them. But, rather than being completely humiliated by professional footballers at least ten years our juniors, we were only moderately humiliated by the technical and training team from Videoton.

Teams GB United and Videoton lining up for a photo before the start of the match
Teams GB United and Videoton lining up for a
photo before the start of the match

The match started well, with GB United in the lead after two minutes of play. It went downhill after that at varying degrees of steepness and speed.  But a strong performance from a team made up of Embassy staff and friends saw us put a further three in the back of Videoton’s net over the course of the match. Sadly that wasn’t quite enough to beat a team who, frankly, live and breathe the game every day of their lives. It was only at halftime that I got a chance to chat with opponents, learning that not only did they all get paid to help professional footballers get better at the game but that a number had played top level football themselves. That put it all into context a bit more.

Ambassador Knott in action during the GB United - Videoton friendly football match
Not a coincidence: Ambassador Knott (nr. 007) in action during the GB United – Videoton friendly football match

And the final score? Well, as I said, we got four (two were mine but I am far too modest to make anything of that) and Videoton… 15. Very well deserved by them.

Members of Videoton discussing strategy during the break
Members of Videoton discussing strategy during the break

We ended the match as I started this blog – remembering the giants of ’53. We did that with a post-match drink at a fantastic Puskás themed pub with our new mates from Videoton.

GB United led by Ambassador Jonathan Knott (007) in middle
GB United led by Ambassador Jonathan Knott (007) in middle

Read further reports on the friendly match:

Magyar Nemzet Online: http://mno.hu/sport/jose-gomesek-megvertek-az-angolokat-1209516

Vác Online: http://www.vaconline.hu/sport/egy-meccs-amelyen-az-angol-nagykovet-is-labdaba-rugott-2.html

About Jonathan Knott

Jonathan Knott was appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Hungary in March 2011 and arrived in Budapest in February 2012 to take up his post. He left this post on April…

Jonathan Knott was appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to
Hungary in March 2011 and arrived in Budapest in February 2012 to take
up his post. He left this post on April 2015.
He has previously held a variety of diplomatic posts at home and
abroad, several with a particular focus on commercial and corporate
finance issues. Jonathan has served in a number of positions in the
British Diplomatic Service since joining in 1988:
Before his appointment was Deputy Head of Mission and Director for Trade and Investment in South Korea from 2008 to 2011.Between 2005 and 2008 he held the post of Deputy Finance Director in the FCO.From 2000 to 2005 he served as First Secretary (Trade, Corporate Affairs and Finance Negotiator) in UKDel OECD Paris.From 1996 to 2000 he was First Secretary (Head of Political/Economic/Aid Section) in Mexico.From 1995 to 1996 he worked in the FCO as Deputy European Correspondent at the EU Directorate.Between 1991 and 1995 he served as Third later Second Secretary (Political / Press and Public Affairs) in Havana.From 1990 to 1991 he was Desk Officer in the FCO’s First Gulf War Emergency Unit.Between 1988 and 1990 he worked as Desk Officer in the FCO in the Anti Drugs Cooperation Department.
Jonathan holds an MA in law from Oxford University, and he is a
member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. He speaks
English, French, Spanish and Hungarian. He is married to Angela Susan
Knott and has one daughter and two sons.

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