Pancho Arena Finally Opens On Monday – Photos

The brand new stadium will be completely full for the opening ceremony and first official match, the final of the Puskás-Suzuki Cup, reports nso.hu.

About 4500 people are expected to show up at the grand opening, said György Szöllősi, director of communications for The Puskás Ferenc Labdarúgó Akadémia. As this number is more than the actual capacity of the facility, there will be several hundred standing places for the event. Acording to nso.hu’ informations, many famous people are among the invited guests, such as Mrs Puskás, Davor Suker, top scorer of the 1998 World Cup, Lothar Matthäus, the Germanian Ballon d’Or winner and world champion, the two times Champions League winner Paolo Sousa and finally, Gyula Grosics and Jenő Buzánszky, the two alive legendary members of the Hungarian ‘Aranycsapat’. Former members of the national team, the leaders of MLSZ as well as representatives of the Hungarian first and second league clubs are also invited.

It is expected that Pál Schmitt, member of Hungarian Olympic Committee (NOB)and former president of the republic and Ángel María Villar, president of the Spanish Football Association will hold the opening speeches.

The stadium itself is a marvellous facility, which is not surprising as it was designed by the award winning Hungarian architecture Imre Makovetz. Although he unfortunatelydied in 2011, one of his student, Tamás Dobrosi finished his work.The arena is built in the organic architecture style. Inside the stadium, visitors can take a look at belongings of Puskás and statues of the Aranycsapat’s members. According to nol.hu,the name Pancho Arena comes from the Spanish nickname of Ferenc Puskás’s first name, Fransisco.

Altogether about HUF 3.8 billion was spent to build the stadium. The total capacity is officially 3500 people, which is almost two times the number of Felcsút’s inhabitants, where the arena is located. It suited for hosting Champions and Euro League qualifications and other international matches. There are heating pipes under the pitch to keep the ground temperature between 13-19 degrees, which is the best for the grass, says origo.hu.

The youth tournament Puskás-Suzuki Cup is traditionally held around Easter, this year’s being the seventh championship. The final of this competition will serve as the opening match of the Pancho Arena, which will be the home ground for Puskás Akadémia and the national youth team. The participating teams beside the Puskás Akadémia are Puskás ‘öcsi’-s former teams: Budapest Honvéd, Real Madrid and Panathinaikos. Dinamo Zagreb for play in this tournament for first time, while the Melbourne Football Institute made its introduction in the cup last year.