| Ferenc Puskás Stadion | |
|---|---|
| Népstadion | |
| Full name | Ferenc Puskás Stadion |
| Former names | Népstadion (People's Stadium) |
| Location | Budapest, Hungary |
| Built | 1948 |
| Opened | 1953 |
| Capacity | 39,111[1] |
| Field dimensions |
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| Tenants | |
| Hungary | |
Ferenc Puskás Stadium (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 metro stations. It is currently used mainly for football matches. The stadium is going to be demolished sometime in 2012 and replaced by the New Puskás Ferenc Stadium. The stadium, which is all-seater, has a capacity of 69,120, 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 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. 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 2002 the stadium was renamed in his honour, from Népstadion ("People's Stadium").[2]
Queen performed at the stadium during their Magic Tour on July 27, 1986. The concert was filmed. This was one of the last performances by Queen with Freddie Mercury.
In 1988, the stadium hosted the only stop in a communist country of the Human Rights Now! tour, with the artists KISS, Tracy Chapman, Youssou N'Dour, Peter Gabriel, Sting and Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band.
Monsters of Rock (including AC/DC, Metallica, Mötley Crüe & Queensrÿche) took place at the stadium in 1991.
In July 1993, the stadium hosted the first ever concert by U2 in a former Eastern Bloc country, a stop on their Zooropa tour.
Here was Michael Jackson's tour of the HIStory second performance in 1996.
The stadium hosted the 1998 European Athletics Championships.
The stadium doubled for Munich's famous Olympic Stadium in Steven Spielberg's 2005 movie Munich (see List of films shot in Budapest).
Lord of the Dance creator, Michael Flatley performed his latest dance show, Celtic Tiger Live in the stadium on July 9, 2005. The concert was performed first time for the public. The rehearsals were also done here. The show was filmed for DVD and some scenes of the show, most notably the opening sequence, were placed on the DVD which also has scenes of the performance in the NIA of Birmingham, England. The scenes of the rehearsals were placed on the DVD as part of the Bonus features