Falco KC Szombathely

Falco Kosárlabda Club, for sponsorship reasons named Falco-Vulcano Energia KC Szombathely, is a Hungarian professional basketball club based in Szombathely. The team play their home games at Arena Savaria, a multi-use complex, which was opened in 2006.

Falco Vulcano
Leagues	Nemzeti Bajnokság I/A
Founded	1980
History	Falco KC Szombathely 1980–Present
Arena	Arena Savaria
Capacity	3,500
Location	Szombathely, Hungary
President	György Gráczer
Head coach	Gasper Okorn
Championships	2 Nemzeti Bajnokság I/A
NB I/A titles	2 (2008, 2019)
Website	falcokc.com
Home Away

History

Beginning and uprising

The club was created in 1980, when basketball fanatics György Gráczer and István Németh with the support of the local wood industry Falco started to organize meetings and trainings. In that year the club entered the county level championship. In 1987, Falco decided to invest more money into the club and the success was immediate. By winning the championship in the 1987/88 season they won promotion to the second division. In the next year they did surprisingly well, finishing on the top in the regular season with only two losses, but failed in the play-offs final. A season later there was nothing what could prevent the yellow-blacks to lift the trophy in the final, and with that, after 27 years Szombathely got a top-flight basketball team again.

Successful years

The goal in the inaugural season couldn't be more than to stay in the NBI, which they clearly managed. In the following years Falco turned into a good mid-table team with a good reputation. In the 1995/96 and 1996/97 season Falco have been only a step away from the semifinals, fallen in decisive fifth match. In the next year the team finished only 7th in the league but won silver medal in the Hungarian National Basketball Cup. The team reached its top performance next year, finishing second in the National Championship and beating teams like Rimini and Beşiktaş in the Korać Cup.

Financial crisis and revival

The Arena Savaria, home venue of Falco since 2006

In the next few years Falco continued with high-level results, but a slow decreasing had been noticed. For 2002 the team went into a financial crisis, and produced the worst final place of the past years. A long-term, step by step financial consolidation plan have been accepted in that year, which saved the club from bankruptcy, but prevented the club to make quality signings. Still, the team had won a valuable bronze medal in the Hungarian Cup. After the financials have been cleared a quick improvement have started. In 2006 Falco moved to the newly built Arena Savaria and Srećko Sekulović arrived to coach the guys. In his first year in charge, after beating the reigning champion Atomerőmű, the team finished fourth in the playoff. In the 2007/2008 season Falco played unstoppable, the hard-work of Sekulović fructified and won the Championship title, first time in the club's history by beating arch-rival Körmend 3–1. In the Cup they marched till the final, where they lost to Atomerőmű in an epic battle. Nowadays Falco considered one of the top clubs in the country in a highly competitive league and have one of the best youth base in the country.

In 2015, Falco played in the 2015–16 FIBA Europe Cup, the third-tier continental level. Finishing with a 2–4 record in Group C, Falco was eliminated in the regular season.

In the following 2016–17 season, Falco had a successful year in the NB I/A. The club reached the playoff finals for the first time, where its lost 3–2 to Alba Fehérvár.

In the 2017–18 FIBA Europe Cup season, Falco played better as it had a 3–3 record but the club did not advance past the regular season.

In the 2018–19 season, Falco won its second national championship completing a total sweep in the playoffs. In the quarter-finals they eliminated KTE. Then they made it to the finals with sweeping Szolnoki Olaj KK. In the finals they upset their local rival BC Körmend 3–0, celebrating the Championship Title[1] away.

In the 2019–20 season, Falco managed to qualify for the Basketball Champions League (BCL) and became the first Hungarian team to play in this tournament. Since the league was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Falco gained the rights to join again for the 2020–21 season.[2]

Players

Current roster

Falco KC Szombathely roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. PG 5 Anderson, Kyan 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) 80 kg (176 lb) 28 – 25 March 1992 C 6 Keller, Ákos 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 105 kg (231 lb) 31 – 28 March 1989 G/F 9 Perl, Zoltán 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 83 kg (183 lb) 25 – 28 July 1995 G 10 Váradi, Benedek (C) 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 25 – 5 May 1995 G/F 11 Benke, Szilard 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 25 – 22 May 1995 SF 14 Sövegjártó, Ábel 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 87 kg (192 lb) 18 – 13 November 2002 PF 21 Kovács, Benedek 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 19 – 13 November 2001 SG 22 Doktor, Péter 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 85 kg (187 lb) 22 – 23 March 1998 C 23 Lake, De'Quon 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 102 kg (225 lb) 23 – 22 March 1997 PF 24 Barać, Boris 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 105 kg (231 lb) 28 – 21 February 1992 SG 27 Dancsecs, Andrács 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 72 kg (159 lb) 20 – 14 February 2000 PF 33 Bruinsma, Evan 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 97 kg (214 lb) 28 – 9 September 1992	Head coach Gašper Okorn Assistant coach(es) Milos Konakov Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: January 11, 2021

Retired numbers

Falco KC Szombathely retired numbers
No	Nat.	Player	Position	Tenure
8		László Kálmán	Guard	1992–2013
18		Zoltán Horváth	Forward	2008–2009

Other notable players

To appear in this section a player must have either:
- Set a club record or won an individual award as a professional player.
- Played at least one official international match for his senior national team.

• Benedek Váradi
• Mikalai Aliakseyeu
• Antonio Alexe
• Greg Grant

Honours

Domestic competitions

Nemzeti Bajnokság I/A (National Championship of Hungary)

• Champions (2): 2007–08, 2018–19
• Runners-up (4): 1998–99, 2011–12, 2016–17, 2017-18
• Third place (2): 1999–00, 2001–02

Magyar Kupa (National Cup of Hungary)

• Runners-up (6): 1998, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2018, 2019

Season by season

Season	Tier	League	Pos.	Magyar kupa	European competitions
1999–00	1	NB I/A	3rd
2000–01	1	NB I/A	5th
2001–02	1	NB I/A	3rd
2002–03	1	NB I/A	7th
2003–04	1	NB I/A	3rd
2004–05	1	NB I/A	6th
2005–06	1	NB I/A	11th
2006–07	1	NB I/A	4th
2007–08	1	NB I/A	1st	Runner-up
2008–09	1	NB I/A	4th	Runner-up
2009–10	1	NB I/A	6th	Runner-up
2010–11	1	NB I/A	7th
2011–12	1	NB I/A	2nd
2012–13	1	NB I/A	7th
2013–14	1	NB I/A	11th
2014–15	1	NB I/A	6th	Quarterfinalist
2015–16	1	NB I/A	9th	Quarterfinalist	3 FIBA Europe Cup	RS
2016–17	1	NB I/A	2nd	Quarterfinalist
2017–18	1	NB I/A	2nd	Runner-up	4 FIBA Europe Cup	RS
2018–19	1	NB I/A	1st	Runner-up	4 FIBA Europe Cup	RS
2019–20	1	NB I/A			3 Champions League

References

• The history of Falco (Hungarian)

1. Vereséget szenvedett a Kaposvári KK SONLINE, 18 January 2020. Accessed 6 May 2020. (in Hungarian)
2. Újra a Falco KC indulhat a BL-ben SZTV.hu, 6 March 2020. Accessed 12 May 2020. (in Hungarian)

External links

• Official Team Page (in Hungarian)