Karancslapujtő



One of numerous legends associated with the camp in Bánk involved the community of Karancslapujtő, a Nógrád County mining village with its own football team near Salgótarján. The campers at Bánk were both avid footballers, and football supporters, though most rooted for teams in Budapest. One evening in the early 1960s, during a meeting of the camp’s room monitors, Hábi (Ferenc Háber) was thumbing through a paper called the Nógrádi Népújság, when he spotted the village’s name at the bottom of the list of teams taking part in the county championships. It was like a name from a fairy tale, and as was usual in Bánk: he decided to make a game of it. Hábi’s idea was that Karancslapujtő, the team currently in last place in the county ranking, should be the camp’s official team, and within a few days, he had the other kids convinced, as well. Several days later, the team was playing in nearby Romhány, and the whole camp turned out to support them, Hábi having taught the group a number of cheers and the others having created banners. The unexpected spectacle made quite an impression at the game: neither the home team, nor the Karancslapujtő team, who were playing in away colours, had any idea where this devoted fan base had come from. The kids invented the story that they were a team of supporters from the Karancslapujtő Mining Friends’ Circle in Budapest, and with their enthusiasm, spurred the Karancslapujtő team to play like it never had before. Later, the fans attended several other games in Karancslapujtő, sleeping at the homes of local residents or in the community school. At the first game, the team decided to give the kids a gift: a Karacslapujtő miner’s badge that was later to become one of the venerated relics of camp’s totem board. Trips to Karancslapujtő became tradition, and were regarded as a privilege. The room monitors and older boys kept in touch with the Karancslapujtő team members throughout the year, and though no one can say whether Bánk had anything to do with it, from that point on, the team placed higher and higher in the county rankings, eventually winning the championship and moving up to the third national league in 1967, with Hábi as team representative in Budapest. A few years later they were eliminated from the national league and moved back to the county rankings, but in the memories of Bánk campers, their place in camp tradition and accompanying song live on: “We’re on to ‘Lapujtő whatever the weather. We cheer all the more since we’ve spent time together. We’ll keep on supporting whatever’s in store. On kids for ‘Lapujtő! Score more and more!”