ZTE traces its roots back to 1912, at the time of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire. Its first match was a 4–2 defeat to a team from
Vasvár. The team was first composed of members of a literary and debating society. ZTE flourished under coach
József Vadász, but World War I halted its progress. In 1920, Zalaegerszegi TE, or "Gymanistics Club of Zalaegerszeg," was born. They were defeated in their debut match, losing 2–1 to
AK Szombathely on August 21, 1920, but were motivated by a crowd of over 2,000 fans. ZTE's league history began in 1924, when they joined the Hungarian second division. The club won the title a decade later and entered the top flight in 1934. However, the start of
World War II under the regime of
Admiral Miklós Horthy saw ZTE's field and equipment confiscated. After the war, in 1957, ZTE merged with two other local teams, signalling the rebirth of the
club.
1990s From then on to the 1990s, however, ZTE did not really challenge the Hungarian title much. The league was dominated by
Budapest club
Ferencvárosi TC. In 1994, ZTE managed to gain a solid foothold on the Hungarian first division.
2000s In the 2000s, the club reached their zenith by winning the Hungarian League for the first time in the club history. In the
2001–02 season, Zalaegrszeg finished second in the first stage of the championship gaining 61 points while Budapest rivals
MTK Budapest FC 64 points. In the championship play-off Zalaegerszeg secured their first ever league title and finished on 71 points and
Péter Bozsik's team overtook Budapest rivals Ferencváros and MTK Budapest along the way.
Krisztián Kenesei and
Gábor Egressy were the key figures of the title-winning team by scoring 37 goals. In the
2002–03 season, Zalaegerszeg finished in the bottom half of the table and competed in the relegation play-offs. In the following seasons, ZTE would consolidate in the lower half of the table, finishing in 9th, 6th and 11th place respectively. In the
2002–03 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase Zalaegerszeg faced
Croatian champions
NK Zagreb. The first match was played in Zalaegerszeg and the club won it 1–0. The only goal was scored by
Darko Ljubojević. In the second leg Zagreb was winning by 2–0 when in the 87th minute Zalaegerszeg was awarded a penalty which was converted by
Flórián Urbán. ZTE beat Zagreb on away goals. In the third qualifying round Zalaegerszeg faced English giants
Manchester United. In the first leg, ZTE provided a stunning shock by winning 1–0 with a last minute goal from
Béla Koplárovics. However, in the return leg at
Old Trafford, Man United secured a convincing 5–0 victory.
Ruud van Nistelrooy scored in the 5th and 75th minute then
David Beckham,
Paul Scholes,
Ole Gunnar Solskjær scored. The English side progressed to the first group stage with a 5–1 aggregate victory. They dropped down to the
UEFA Cup where they were crushed 9-1 on aggregate in the first round by
Dinamo Zagreb, with a 3-1 loss at home and 6-0 loss away. In the
2006–07 season after nine rounds Zalaegerszeg was on the top of the league table. At the end of the season the club finished third securing a place in the European competitions of the
Intertoto Cup 2007. In the spring of 2009
János Csank was appointed as the coach of the club. The success coach has already won two Hungarian League titles. In 1994 with Vác and in 2001 with Ferencváros.
2010s In the
2010–11 season Zalaegerszeg was competing for the Europa League position with Budapest rivals Ferencváros but ZTE finished fourth and could not secure a place for the qualifiers. In the
2011–12 season Zalaegerszeg started the season with five consecutive defeats which resulted the dismissal of
János Csank. He was replaced by former Ferencváros coach
László Prukner. The first half of the 2011–12 Hungarian League season was a nightmare for the club since they finished last gaining only 6 points without any victories. On April 21, 2012, Zalaegerszeg were relegated to the second division of the
Hungarian League after the defeat against titleholders
Videoton. On 15 May 2014, former Zalaegerszeg player
Gergely Kocsárdi was elected as director of the club. It was also announced that the company called Pharos '95 gained more than 50% of the shares of the club for about 16 million HUF. By winning the
2018–19 Nemzeti Bajnokság II season, Zalaegerszeg were promoted to the
2019–20 Nemzeti Bajnokság I season. Zalaegerszeg could win 25 matches, drew seven times and lost only 6 matches in the season. The most prolific goal scorer of the season was
Gergely Bobál by scoring 17 goals.
2020s Before the
2020-21 Nemzeti Bajnokság I season it was rumoured that former
PSV Eindhoven and
Hungary national football team star
Balázs Dzsudzsák would be signed by the club. However, Gábor Végh, the owner of the club, claimed that the club had not started any negotiations with Dzsudzsák. In the
2021–22 Nemzeti Bajnokság I season, Zalaegerszeg finished 8th. One of the most spectacular victories of the season was when Zalaegerszeg beat
Ferencváros 2–1 at the Groupama Aréna on 16 October 2021. However, on the negative side, Zalaegerszeg lost to
Gyirmót 2–1 at home on 8 May 2022. On 24 April 2023,
Ricardo Moniz was sacked after losing to
Debrecen. Moniz was replaced by
Gábor Boér. The club also appointed
István Sallói as the new sports director. Zalaegerzseg entered the
2022–23 Magyar Kupa season on 17 September 2022 in a 2–0 away victory against
Kaposvári Rákóczi FC at the
Rákóczi Stadion. On 19 October 2022, Zalaegerszeg beat
Kazincbarcikai SC 2–0 at the
Kolorcity Aréna in the round of 32 of the Magyar Kupa. On 8 February 2023, Zalaegerszeg beat
Békéscsaba 1912 Előre 2–0 at the
Kórház utcai Stadion in the round of 16 of the Magyar Kupa. Zalaegerszeg beat
Mezőkövesdi SE 4–1 in the quarter finals of the Magyar Kupa at the
Mezőkövesdi Városi Stadion on 28 February 2023. On 4 April Zalaegerszeg beat
Puskás Akadémia 1–0 after extra time in the
2022–23 Magyar Kupa season and qualified for the
Magyar Kupa final for the second time in the club's history. On 3 May 2023, Zalaegerszeg beat
Budafok in the
2023 Magyar Kupa final at the
Puskás Aréna. On 15 July 2023, Zalaegerszeg beat
1. FC Union Berlin 3–2 in a friendly match at home. Since Zalaegerszeg won the Magyar Kupa they were eligible to enter the second qualifying round of the
2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League season. On 27 July 2023, Zalaegerszeg lost 1–0 to
NK Osijek at the
Opus Arena. The only goal was scored by
Ramón Miérez in the 91st minute. In the second tie, Osijek also beat Zalaegerszeg 2–1 at the ZTE Aréna on 3 August 2023. The only Hungarian goal was scored by
Eduvie Ikoba in the 82nd minute. On 13 November 2023,
Gábor Márton was appointed as the new coach of the club. Former
Honvéd legend,
István Pisont, was appointed as the assistant coach. In an interview with
Nemzeti Sport, he said that he is optimistic, but he is not expecting an easy ride to keep the club in the first league. The debut ended with a 2–1 defeat against Debrecen on 25 November 2023. On 23 April 2025, Gábor Márton was sacked after losing to
Paksi FC in the
2024–25 Magyar Kupa semi-final at the
Fehérvári úti Stadion in Paks. Márton was replaced by
István Mihalecz. On 20 June 2025, the Andrés Jornet and Damián Pedrosa were appointed as the directors of the club. A couple of days later,
Nuno Campos was appointed as the manager of the club. On 19 July 2025, Zalaegerszeg played their last pre-season friendly match against the Premier League club
Leicester City F.C.. The match ended with a 1-0 victory for the English side, thanks to
Jordan Ayew's goal in the 70th minute. == Crest and colours ==