Dez Marton

NSL Career: St. George, Wollongong City 95 (40) / 1982 - 1985

Dezider "Dez" Marton came to Australia as a semi-retired 32 year old, where his experience of playing professional football in Yugoslavia for over a decade proved invaluable as he became one of the stars of the NSL. Despite his age, Marton was a consummate professional and his goal scoring ability, coupled with his tactical intelligence and skill, led to an abundance of goals during his time in Australia.

Born in Yugoslavia, Marton grew up in Subotica (Serbian border-town with Hungary) where he played his junior football. During the 1960s and 1970s, Marton spent most of his career scoring goals for fun in the Vojvodina League (a third tier Yugoslavian league) with stints in the Yugoslav Second League with Spartak Subotica and Novi Sad.

In 1981 Marton, who was considering retirement, was brought to Australia by Frank Arok (coached Marton at Novi Sad), who returned to Australia to coach St. George Budapest in the NSW Division One following their relegation from the Phillips Soccer League. The striker was an instant sensation, scoring 40 goals in the season (including finals) on his way to helping St. George win promotion back to the PSL and won the league's top scorer award and the Rothmans Medal for Player of the Season in the process.

Now 33 going on 34, Marton didn't take long to prove his ability at the highest level of Australian football - scoring 18 goals in 28 league games and helped St. George finish runners-up in the league before scoring a hat-trick in the Play-Off Series Grand Final against Sydney City to claim St. George's first NSL title.

St. George's experienced campaigners Marton, Peter Stone and David Ratcliffe helped to foster younger team mates such as Robbie Slater, Mark Barton, Andy Koczka and the O'Shea brothers - developing a style of play for St George that would make them more constructive with the ball. Under Arok, the talented team won the 1983 NSL Championship, with Marton personally scoring 10 league goals and creating a number of their goals throughout the season.

The 1984 season saw St. George struggle as Arok juggled his club and intenational commitments despite Marton continuing to perform at the age of 36, scoring 11 goals in 20 league games. Marton's time at St George came to an end in 1985 after being restricted to mostly appearances off the bench as Arok opted for the young Peter Petkovski and English forward Roy Cotton early in the season. The 37 year old Marton left St. George for Wollongong City halfway through the season and helped the side avoid relegation before hanging up his boots.