Hidegkuti Nándor Stadion

Hidegkuti Nándor Stadion is a multi-purpose stadium in Budapest, Hungary.[1] The stadium was opened on 13 October 2016. It was renamed after the MTK Budapest and Hungary footballer Nándor Hidegkuti. It is currently used for football matches and is the home stadium of MTK and Honvéd.

This article is about the stadium opened in 2016. For the original stadium it replaced, see Hidegkuti Nándor Stadion (1947).
Hidegkuti Nándor Stadion
MTK stadion
Full nameHidegkuti Nándor Stadion
LocationBudapest, Hungary
Coordinates47°29′27.31″N 19°6′24.21″E
OwnerGovernment of Hungary
OperatorMTK Budapest
Capacity5,322
Field size105 m × 68 m (344 ft × 223 ft)
SurfaceGrass
Field
Construction
Broke ground2015
Built2015–16
Opened2016
Construction cost7,26 billion HUF
ArchitectPéter Bordás
Tenants
MTK Budapest
Vasas (2017)
Hungary U17 (2017)
Budapest Honvéd (2018–present)

History

Planning

Tamás Deutsch, Member of European Parliament and president of MTK Budapest, announced that in 2016 a new stadium will be built, budgeted between 6 and 6.5 billion HUF. The new facility would host approximately 5000 spectators and be the home of the Sándor Károly Football Academy. The first phase of the construction would start at the end of the 2013–14 Hungarian League season with the demolition of the current stadium. During the construction the club would play their matches another stadium Budapest and decided by the fans of the club.[2]

On 4 November 2014, the construction budget of the new stadium was made public. The Hungarian state would provide 1.39 billion HUF for the construction of a sports hall at the Lantos Mihiály Sportelep, 3.91 billion HUF for the reconstruction of the Nándor Hidegkuti stadium, and 350 million HUF for the training pitch next to the stadium. Altogether 5.65 billion HUF.[3]

On 5 December 2014, the first drafts of the new stadium were published on the official website of the club. The tender was won by Bord Építész Stúdió Kft, led by Péter Bordás. The new stadium would be able to host just over 5000 spectators and planned to open the summer of 2016. The planned UEFA stadium category of the new stadium would be Category 3 which requires a minimum seating capacity of 4500 and at least 250 VIP seats.[4]

On 12 December 2014, new photos of the new stadium were published on the website of the club.[5][6]

On 18 June 2015, the new plans were revealed by the Hungarian epiteszforum.hu. The plans were delivered by designers of two companies, Sportarchitects and Azmpl.[7]

Demolition

On 6 November 2014, the demolition of the stadium started. First the floodlights system was uninstalled and then the seats were removed.[8][9]

In May 2015 the demolition of the main stand started.[10]

Construction

On 6 November 2014, the demolition of the old stadium started by removing the old seats and the lights system.[11]

On 16 November 2015, the foundation stone of the new stadium was laid. Tamás Deutsch, president of the club, said that it is an important step in the life of the club and its supporters. At the ceremony, Kálmán Szekrényessy's great-great-grandchild, founding member of the club, József Kanta, the captain of the MTK Budapest FC in the 2015–16 Nemzeti Bajnokság I season, Olivér Horváth and Maja Pásztor, representative of the Sándor Károly Academy, were present.[12]

On 9 December 2015, the first post was placed officially with the aid of two male MTK Budapest footballers Sándor Torghelle, Ákos Baki and one female Lilla Nagy. Until March 2016, another 165 posts will be placed.[13][14]

On 7 July 2016, the grass became visible on the pitch of the stadium.[15]

On 24 September 2016, the seats were mounted on both the east and west stands in three different colours: white, light blue and dark blue. The colors of the seats were distributed randomly to hide the effects of low attendances.[16]

On 6 October 2016, the displays were tested by broadcasting a scene from a pornographic film starring Hungarian pornographic actress Michelle Wilde.[17][18]

The final cost for the building of the stadium was publicly announced to be 7.26 billion forints ($26 million), which was above its budgeted 6 to 6.5 billion forints despite much of the stadium being built with prefabricated materials and the construction period lasting just nine months.[19]

Opening

On 13 October 2016, the stadium was officially opened with the MTK Budapest–Sporting friendly match. Sporting Clube de Portugal brought only three players from their first squad (Azbe Jug, Ricardo Esgaio, and Matheus Pereira due to the fact that the club have to play in the third round of the 2016–17 Taça de Portugal against F.C. Famalicão).[20][21] At the opening ceremony, Viktor Orbán, prime minister of Hungary delivered a speech, followed by Member of European Parliament and president of MTK Budapest, Tamás Deutsch.[22]

On 22 October 2016 the first Nemzeti Bajnokság I match was played in the stadium when MTK Budapest hosted Gyirmót FC Győr on the 13 week of the 2016–17 Nemzeti Bajnokság I season.[23] The first goal was scored by the MTK icon Sándor Torghelle in the 75th minute of the match which finished a 1–0 victory.

Despite the optimism that the new home stadium brought, MTK Budapest was automatically relegated to the second division of Hungarian football, Nemzeti Bajnokság II, after finishing next to last in the Hungarian top division during the 2016–2017 season.[24] Furthermore, the new stadium did not do much to boost their home attendance as their average in their stadium for NB I matches was a modest 2,327, below the league's average of 2,704.[25]

On 23 March 2017 the first international match was played. Russia hosted Hungary in the 2017 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualification Elite round. The match ended with a 2–1 victory for Hungary. The first goal was scored by the Russian Prutsev in the 16th minute. While Szoboszlai of Hungary equalized in the 74th minute and scored again in the 84th minute to win the match.[26]

On 5 April 2017, the first Magyar Kupa was match was played. The hosts were not the MTK Budapest because they were eliminated earlier from the 2016–17 Magyar Kupa season by Dorog but Vasas SC. Since the Illovszky Rudolf Stadion was demolished, Vasas SC's home, Vasas hosted Újpest FC at the Hidegkuti Nándor Stadion. The final result was 0–1 but Vasas qualified for the next round on 2–2 aggregate. The only goal was scored by Nemanja Andrić in the injury stoppage time of the first half.[27]

On 27 October 2017, one part of the membrane roof was damaged by the Storm Herwart. Two strips of membrane over the east stand were damaged enough to force their removal. Cost of the repairs will be covered by insurance.[28]

Tenants

The main tenant of the stadium is MTK Budapest FC. However, apart from association football matches, American football matches are also played in the stadium.

In the 2018–19 Nemzeti Bajnokság I and the 2018–19 Magyar Kupa season Budapest Honvéd FC played their home matches in the stadium during the reconstruction of the Bozsik József Stadion.

Milestone matches
13 October 2016 MTK Budapest 2–2 SportingFriendly match
Opening match
Kanta  44' (p.)
Poór  76'		 (Report) Ronaldo Tavares  23'
Matheus Pereira  51' (p.)		 Attendance: 4,800
Referee: Andó-Szabó
22 October 2016 MTK Budapest 1–0 Gyirmót2016–17 Nemzeti Bajnokság I
First Nemzeti Bajnokság I match
Torghelle  75' (Report) Attendance: 1,183
Referee: Péter Solymosi (Hungary)
23 March 2017 (2017-03-23) Russia 1–2 Hungary2017 UEFA U17 qualification
First international match
15:30 Prutsev  16' Report Szoboszlai  74', 80+4' Referee: Keith Kennedy (Northern Ireland)
5 April 2017 (2017-04-05) Vasas 0–1 Újpest2016–17 Magyar Kupa
First Magyar Kupa match
20:30 CET Report  45+2' Andrić Attendance: 1,300
Referee: Gergely Szots (Hungary)

Design Controversy

The original playing field was moved 90 degrees within the stadium's plot and thus narrowed its length with large grey concrete walls placed beyond each goal. This allowed planners more room along the east and west sides for 40 private skyboxes. Its comparatively large amount of private skyboxes to its overall modest seating capacity is a ratio that is almost unprecedented globally.[29] After seeing photos of the newly built stadium many voiced displeasure at the prominence of walls behind the goals as it created a "very raw and imposing impression" (the popular pejorative nickname for them are the "wailing walls")[30] and cast doubt on the safety of the stadium for players.[31] Journalists from the Hungarian sport daily Nemzeti Sport measured and the distance between the walls and the goals and found that it conformed to UEFA regulations for stadium construction.[32]

Márton Fülöp goal

The southern goal was named after the former MTK Budapest FC and Hungary national football team goalkeeper Márton Fülöp who died at the age of 32 from cancer.[33]

Transport

Hidegkuti Nándor Stadion is located on the outskirts of the Józsefváros district of Budapest, Hungary. The stadium can be easily reached by public transport via tram 1 which travels along the Hungária Boulevard.

Service Station/Stop Line/Route Walking distance from stadium
Budapest tramHidegkuti Nándor Stadion1100 m 2 mins

Attendance
As of 19 May 2019

This table includes only domestic league matches. For the 2016–17 season, only matches from day 13 are included as they were played in this stadium.

Season Total High Low Average Change Ref.
2016–17 NB/I25,5944,3681,1832,327—[34]
2017–18 NB/II25,9591,5719511,233–53.0%
2018–19 NB/I39,5654,5871,3812,393+194.1%
  • The main stand
  • Aerial view of the stadium
  • Exterior of Hidegkuti Nándor Stadion
  • Inside
  • Exterior of the main stand
  • The parking lot
gollark: Well, three, but two compatible ones.
gollark: There are, however, two (2) cameras.
gollark: There is more to camera quality than resolution. But Aidan is doing computer vision.
gollark: They're already in columns for that.
gollark: Er, why the colors? I was colorizing them based on category.

See also

References
  1. "Nándor Hidegkuti Stadion". Stadium Database. 10 February 2015.
  2. "MTK: 2020-ig 6.5 milliárd a létesítmények fejlesztésére". Nemzeti Sport. 24 April 2014.
  3. "MTK: kiemelt beruházás lett az új stadion építése". Nemzeti Sport. 4 November 2014.
  4. "MTK: kész a terv, így néz majd ki az új Hidegkuti-stadion - kép". Nemzeti Sport. 5 December 2014.
  5. "Újabb képek a tervezett, új Hidegkuti Nándor Stadionról". MTK Budapest's Official Website. 12 December 2014.
  6. "MTK: új látványképek a készülő Hidegkuti-stadionról". Nemzeti Sport. 12 December 2014.
  7. "Az MTK stadion - a sporaarchitects és az azpml terve". epiteszforum.hu. 18 June 2015.
  8. "Megkezdődött a Hidegkuti Nándor Stadion Bontása". MTK Budapest's Official Website. 6 December 2014. Archived from the original on 13 October 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  9. "NB I: megkezdődött az MTK-stadion bontása - képek". Nemzeti Sport. 6 November 2014.
  10. "New construction: The art of demolition in Budapest". StadiumDB.com. 11 May 2015.
  11. "Megkezdőtött az MTK stadion bontása". Nemzeti Sport. 6 November 2014.
  12. "Letették az új stadion alapkövét". Nemzeti Sport. 16 November 2015.
  13. "HELYÉRE KERÜLT AZ ELSŐ PILLÉR (VIDEÓ + GALÉRIA)". MTKBudapest.hu. 9 December 2015.
  14. "Helyére került az új Hidegkuti stadion első tartópillére". Nemzeti Sport. 9 December 2015.
  15. "MTK: már van fű a kék-fehérek új stadionjában – képek". Nemzeti Sport. 7 July 2016.
  16. "MTK: a Hidegkuti-stadionban felszerelték a székeket – fotók". Nemzeti Sport. 24 September 2016.
  17. "Pornófilmmel próbálták ki az MTK-stadion kijelzőit". Index.hu. 6 October 2016.
  18. "Elnézést kértek, amiért pornó ment az MTK új kivetítőin". Hvg.hu. 6 October 2016.
  19. "New Stadium: Wailing Walls and Porn in Budapest". Stadiumdb.com. 14 October 2016.
  20. "MTK–Sporting: csak hárman jönnek a portugál A-keretből". Nemzeti Sport. 13 October 2016.
  21. "HONRAR A HISTÓRIA DE ANTUÉRPIA DO SPORTING CP... EM BUDAPESTE". Sporting.pt. 13 October 2016.
  22. "MTK: portugál góllal indult, döntetlen a stadionavatón". Nemzeti Sport. 13 October 2016.
  23. "MTK Budapest 1–0 Gyimrót FC Győr". Soccerway.com. 22 October 2016.
  24. "Nemzeti Bajnokság I (OTP Bank Liga) 2016/2017". Magyarfutball.hu.
  25. "NB I 2016/2017: nézőszámok". Magyarfutball.hu.
  26. "UEFA European Under–17 Championship: Russia 1–2 Hungary". Uefa.com. 23 March 2017.
  27. "Vasas 1–0 Újpest". Soccerway.com. 5 April 2017.
  28. "Budapest: Storm Herwart didn't spare MTK stadium". Stadiumdb.com. 31 October 2017.
  29. "New Stadium: Wailing_Walls and Porn in Budapest". StadiumDB.com. 14 October 2016.
  30. "New Stadium: Wailing_Walls and Porn in Budapest". StadiumDB.com. 14 October 2016.
  31. "Hungarian Football Team MTK Budapest's New Stadium Sparks Controversy". Hungarytoday.hu. 29 September 2016.
  32. "MTK: ezért épült betonfal a Hidegkuti Nándor Stadionban". Nemzeti Sport. 29 September 2016.
  33. "Így emlékeznek: Az új MTK Stadion egyik részét nevezik el Fülöp Mártonról (†32)". Blikk.hu. 10 October 2016.
  34. "2016–17 Nézőszámok". magyarfutball.hu. 28 March 2017.
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