Népstadion/Ferenc Puskás Stadium, Budapest
Népstadion/Ferenc Puskás Stadium, Budapest
In the ‘golden age’, when it was built and called Népstadion (“People’s Stadium”), Hungary really started here – nowadays, as it is renamed after the legendary forward, rather a tomb of Hungarian football.
Construction works began on Károly Dávid’s plans in 1948, the stadium was opened in 20th August, 1953. Originally it was to be a full circle standed, multi-purpose stadium, but the upper part of the stand was never completed. In its original form it had a 104.000 capacity, but during the sixties it was converted to an all-seat stadium, and capacity has been reduced to 78.000. This hasn’t been utilized since the early eighties, the upper part of the facing stand is permanently closed because of the decayed concrete elements. Some closer capture might show that the building is in very bad conditions. Additionally, distance of spectators and field is overhelmingly great, while the angle of the stand to the field is low; the construction would be absolutely appropriate for athletic sports but there is no interest of such a great capacity for these events in Budapest. Demolition of this one and re-building a modern, contemporary stadium instead of this has been a top-page subject for more than twenty years. The most important moment in recent history of the stadium (besides the 1998 Athletic European Championship, when a moderate refurbishment was done) was its renaming ceremony on 21st August, 2002, prior to the Hungary-Spain friendly (1-1), in the presence of the since passed Ferenc Puskás.
Original post by Prismatico
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