Szusza Ferenc Stadion (formerly known as Megyeri úti Stadion or simply Megyeri út) is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

Újpest Újpest (; , ) is the 4th District in Budapest, Hungary. It is located on the left bank of the Danube River. The name Újpest means "New Pest" because the city was formed on the border of the city of Pest, Hungary in 1838. Újpest was a village ...

and the home of

Újpest FC Újpest Football Club () is a Hungary, Hungarian professional association football, football club based in Újpest, Budapest, that competes in Nemzeti Bajnokság I. Formed in 1885, Újpest reached the first division of the Hungarian League in ...

. The stadium was designed by

Alfréd Hajós Alfréd Hajós (1 February 1878 – 12 November 1955) was a Hungarian swimmer, football (soccer) player, referee, manager, and career architect. He was the first modern Olympic swimming champion and the first Olympic champion of Hungary. Form ...

and opened on 17 September 1922. The stadium was renovated in 2000–01; its capacity is 12,670. Since 2003 the stadium has been named after

Ferenc Szusza Ferenc Szusza (1 December 1923 – 1 August 2006) was a Hungarian footballer who played as a forward. He was a top division player for Újpest from 1941 to 1960. He made 24 appearances for the Hungary national team and was a four-time ch ...

(1923–2006), one of the best strikers in Hungarian football history.

History

After one year of construction the stadium was opened on 17 September 1922, with the match

Ferencváros Ferencváros (, ) is the 9th district of Budapest (), Hungary. Name The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary. History The developmen ...

2-1. From June 1925 to June 1929 a bicycle track was running around the ground allowing it to be used as a

velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement ...

. Since the track was occupying some parts of the stands, the capacity was reduced to 15,000 people. A flood in 1945 destroyed the stands but after the renovations in 1946 the Megyeri úti Stadion became the largest stadium in Hungary with a capacity of 45,117 people. The stadium saw its first international game in 1948,

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

beating

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

9-0. The main events of the

World Festival of Youth and Students The World Festival of Youth and Students is an international event organized by the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) and the International Union of Students after 1947. History The festival has been held occasionally since 1947, mainl ...

were also held in this stadium in 1949. In the mid-50s an athletic track was installed at the stadium reducing the capacity to 32,000. Floodlights were installed in April 1968, and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final against Newcastle United was also held here in 1969. The 1972 and 2007

Hungarian Cup The Hungarian Cup (, ), officially known as MOL Magyar Kupa for sponsorship reasons, is the Hungarian cup competition for football clubs. It was started by the Hungarian Football Association'','' in 1909, eight years after the commencement of ...

final matches were played in the stadium as well. Until 2000 the only change made in the stadium was the renovation of the floodlight system in 1988. Between 2000 and 2001 the stadium was completely renovated. It was changed into an all-seater stadium, holding 13,501 people and completely roofed. In 2003 the Megyeri úti Stadion was named Szusza Ferenc Stadion. On 16 October 2016 István Őze, director of the club, announced that reconstruction of the stadium would be finished by the end of October 2016. The capacity of the stadium was decreased from 13,501 to 12,670. In 2023,

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

, due to its prolonged support of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

in its invasion of neighbouring

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, was required to play its home matches in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers outside of

until further notice. Their home match in March, against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, was played in

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, but from then, Belarus started playing its home matches on the stadium. Their first match, against

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

in June, ended in a 1–2 defeat, before a 2–1 victory over

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

three days later. In October, Belarus met

in a 0–0 draw, and their last match on the stadium, in November, saw another victory for Belarus with a late penalty winner against

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

. On 18 November 2023,

hosted

in the

UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2023 to March 2024 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams that would join the automatically qualified host team Germany in the UEFA Eur ...

match at the stadium. The match ended with a 1–0 victory for Belarus.

New stadium

On 25 July 2024, Péter Ratatics announced at the Bálványos Free Summer University and Student Camp in Tusványos that a new stadium would be built. On 5 October 2024, it was announced that the new stadium would be built in south east Újpest, close to the border with

Rákospalota Rákospalota (literally: ''Castle ponRákos rook', ) is a neighbourhood in Budapest, Hungary. With Pest-újhely and Új-palota it comprises District XV. History In the early Middle Ages there were about six villages in the northern part of ...

( 15th district of Budapest).

Attendance

Records

Record Attendance: * 50,000

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, October 3, 1948, (International Friendly) * 50,000

, May 8, 1949, (International Friendly) * 50,000

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, November 20, 1949, (International Friendly) Record league Attendance: * 40,000

Ferencvárosi TC Ferencvárosi Torna Club, commonly known as Ferencváros (), Fradi, FTC is a Hungary, Hungarian professional Association football, football club based in Ferencváros, Budapest, that competes in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I, the top flight of Hunga ...

, September 18, 1949 Record average Attendance (League): * 1952: 20,571

Average attendances (Hungarian League)

* 2000–01: 3,194 * 2001–02: 3,437 * 2002–03: 2,732 * 2003–04: 3,508 * 2004–05: 3,389 * 2005–06: 4,635 * 2006–07: 3,045 * 2007–08: 4,053 * 2008–09: 5,249 * 2009–10: 3,848

International matches

Until 2021, 29 international matches have been played at Szusza Ferenc Stadion. The ground was the 'home stadium' for the Hungarian national team between 1948 and 1953, and also numerous international games were played here since the reconstruction of 2001. Hungary was unbeaten in the Szusza Stadion from 1948 to 2006 (58 years), when they lost against Norway 4-1.

Match details

Attendances

Gallery

File:Megyeri ut.jpg, The main stand File:Újpestutestadioncivertanlegi.jpg, The corner File:Szusza Ferenc Stadion, panoráma.jpg, Interior

References

External links

Szusza Ferenc stadion (2001-) at magyarfutball.huMegyeri úti stadion (1922-2001) at magyarfutball.hu
{{coord, 47, 34, 30, N, 19, 5, 5, E, type:landmark, display=title Újpest FC Football venues in Hungary Sports venues in Budapest