League farewell to the Puskás Stadium

This Sunday, two Budapest football clubs of great past, Vasas and Ferencváros play their Hungarian first division match in the Puskás Stadium, the last league match as the establishment, opened in 1953 as People’s Stadium, is planned to be demolished to give way for a new construction.

In the 1960s and ‘70s, 70-80,000 people attended the so-called ‘double derbies’ in the People’s Stadium when the two football matches – one right after the other – took place with the participation of the top four Budapest clubs, Újpest Dózsa, Ferencváros, Vasas and Honvéd.

The atmosphere of those matches is intended to be brought back once again this Sunday when the last league game is to take place in the stadium, which is intended to be demolished after Hungary’s European Championship qualifying game against Finland on October 11. Vasas take on Ferencváros on Day 7 of the Hungarian First Division and the league match is preceded by a game between the legendary players of the two clubs to make the event a ‘double derby’.

Former Hungarian international, 70-year-old Vasas legend Kálmán Mészöly says “it is a great idea because the People’s Stadium deserves such a farewell. Millions of people cherish memories that can be tied to this establishment of historical importance, and not only from sports aspects.”