| Népstadion | |
|---|---|
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| Full name | Puskás Ferenc Stadion |
| Former names | Népstadion (People's Stadium) |
| Location | Budapest, Hungary |
| Built | 1948 |
| Opened | 1953 |
| Capacity | 56,000 (41,553 UEFA capacity)[1] |
| Field dimensions |
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| Tenants | |
| Hungary | |
Stadium Puskás Ferenc (Hungarian: Puskás Ferenc Stadion) is a multi-purpose stadium in Budapest, Hungary. It is situated on the Pest side of the capital between the Stadionok and the Keleti Palyaudvar train stations. It is currently used mainly for football matches. The stadium, which is all-seater, has a capacity of 56,000, though its original capacity exceeded 100,000. On 24 November 2009, the venue hosted the Champions League Group E match between Liverpool and the 2009 Hungarian Football League champions Debreceni VSC. The match ended in a 1:0 victory to Liverpool who held on to an early lead provided by a fourth-minute David N'Gog strike.
The stadium was built between 1948 and 1953 using a large number of volunteers, including soldiers. Less than one year later, on 23 May 1954, the English football team suffered its worst ever defeat here (7-1).
On 14 August 2002 Zalaegerszegi TE moved their UEFA Champions League qualifying match first leg from their home ground to this stadium in order to host the great Manchester United in order to accommodate a 40,000 crowd. They were rewarded with Zalaegerszegi scoring their most famous European victory, winning 1-0 with Béla Koplárovics becoming the hero with a 92nd minute winner. Unfortunately, Zalaegerszegi lost the return leg at Old Trafford 0-5 and went out of the competition 1-5 on aggregate.
The stadium is named after Ferenc Puskás, widely regarded as the best striker in the world in his time and Hungary's greatest footballer ever, who was the star of the national team during its glory years of the late 1940s and early 1950s. In 2001 the stadium was renamed in his honour, from Népstadion ("People's Stadium").
Famous performances
The rock band Queen performed here on their last tour in 1986. The concert was filmed.
In 1988, the stadium hosted the only stop in a communist country of the Human Rights Now! tour, with the artists Tracy Chapman, Youssou N'Dour, Peter Gabriel, Sting and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
Monsters of Rock (including AC/DC, Metallica, Mötley Crüe and Queensrÿche) took place at the stadium in 1991.
In 1992, Guns N' Roses played a legendary concert here. Since then, a number of international acts, including U2, Depeche Mode and Robbie Williams, have performed at the stadium.
The stadium doubled for Munich's famous Olympic Stadium in Steven Spielberg's 2005 movie Munich (see List of films shot in Budapest).
References
External links
Coordinates: 47°30′11.14″N 19°5′53.52″E / 47.5030944°N 19.0982°E
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