The stadium infrastructure in Hungary is growing year by year. The modern arenas will soon be joined by Városi Stadion. The ongoing finishing work should be completed within a few weeks.

Hungary renovates old stadiums

The last 10 years in the country with its capital in Budapest have been a spark of hope that football is not dead for good there. The heart of this revival was to be the creation of the Puskas Arena, the national stadium, where the Hungarian national football team has the gigantic support of its most loyal fans at every match. It was them who carried the favourites to the Euro 2020 games with their fanatical cheering. Although they did not manage to advance further from a difficult group with France, Germany and Portugal at the time, just getting to the tournament for the second time in a row after three decades of dormancy was quite a success for Hungarians.

The Puskas Arena can host 67,215 fans, but often the national team's matches are fully sold out. Fans can, however, follow all of the team's matches during live streaming at Hungarian Unibet TV. The construction of the national stadium, which has already hosted Euro 2020 matches, the final of the 2020 UEFA Super Cup and the 2023 Europa League, has also been the rocket fuel to kick-start the modernisation of smaller venues in Hungary.

One of the arenas being upgraded is the Városi Stadium in Nyíregyházi. The facility in the country's seventh largest city was built in 1958. By the end of the 20th century it had undergone a number of upgrades, but changing standards meant that in the new century one of the stands piled on an earth embankment had to be demolished and replaced with a reinforced concrete structure. The type of seating also changed, with plastic seats replacing the worn-out benches. The structure completed in 2002 was the most modern of its kind in Hungary. Although its capacity of 3,400 seats was modest, the most impressive thing about it was its facilities, which at the time were unprecedented in the country.

New Városi Stadion render, © Nyíregyházi Spartacus

Városi Stadium will be one of the most modern facilities in Hungary

A construction that primarily served a football function was not really practical. Apart from one modern main stand, it had an athletics track that made it difficult to follow the matches of Spartacus FC – the host club of the arena, currently playing at the back of the OTP Bank Liga. This prompted the concept of a full stadium redevelopment, which would help Nyíregyházi have a facility brought up to current standards just like the other major Hungarian cities.

Construction of the new arena started in 2021 and has proceeded without major problems so far. The realisation of the investment was handled by two companies: Épkar Zrt. which has cooperation in the creation of the previously mentioned Puskas Arena in its portfolio, and Nyír-Wetland Generál Zrt. Both entities valued their work at €38 million (HUF 13.7 billion). The structure was to be erected and commissioned within 900 days. The original target date for the handover of the facility is the end of 2023 and there is still a great chance that the contractor will be able to meet it.

The stadium with a seating capacity of 8150 is already in its proper shape. As nyiregyhaza.hu reports, work on the construction of the 12,200-square-metre building is already in its final stage. The installation of the irrigation system combined with the laying of the turf is slowly coming to an end, same as the installation of the roof sheathing. The installation of the running track, which will be located... outside the stadium, is about to begin. It will surround the structure and have a purely recreational function. In addition, it will have lighting, which will allow runners to use it at any time of day. Work is also coming to an end on the construction of a sports centre next to the facility. This will include changing rooms, arena service rooms and fitness rooms.