Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Hungariansarepassionateaboutsportandthecountrypossessesafargreatersporting
pedigree than most people appreciate. The Olympics, above all, have been a source of
outstanding triumph, which is all the more surprising given the country's size and re-
sources; the men's waterpolo team, in particular, has achieved extraordinary success.
Budapest's major annual sporting event, bar none, is the Formula 1 Grand Prix, with
the other main spectator sports being football and, to a lesser degree, horse racing -
thoughyears ofunderfunding andmismanagement have broughtthe last twonearly to
their knees. Other activities that are popular with visitors are the “
escape rooms
”
, in
which Hungarians lead the field, and cooking courses .
TOP 5 HUNGARIAN SPORTS STARS
Aladár Gerevich
(fencing)
Ferenc Puskás
(football)
Katalin Kovács
(kayaking)
László Papp
(boxing)
Tamás Kásás
(water polo)
FOOTBALL
Hungary's great footballing days are long past - the golden team of the 1950s that beat Eng-
land 6-3 in 1953 and reached the World Cup Final in 1954 with stars such as Ferenc Puskás
and József Bozsik is a world away from today's national squad, which hasn't qualified for a
major tournament since 1986. However, the football-obsessed Prime Minister Viktor Orbán
dreams of turning the nation's fortunes round, and is pumping money into the sport. New sta-
diums are springing up across the country - including in the village of Orbán's birth, Felcsut,
where a population of 1,800 now has a 3,500-seater stadium, a folly that was opened with
great splendour in 2014. In spite of his efforts, the national team shows no signs of improve-
ment, while the domestic league is terribly weak, with clubs struggling along with little or
no money, and their best players continuously sold off to clubs in other countries. While
in-
ternational matches
are held at the 56,000-capacity Puskás Ferenc Stadium - which is cur-
rently undergoing redevelopment - club football in Budapest revolves around the turf of four
main teams (listed here), though in recent years, the domestic league has been dominated by
Debrecen in eastern Hungary. The
season
runs from late July to late Nov and late Feb to mid-
June. Most matches are played on Saturday afternoons, with tickets costing 800-2500Ft; you
can find fixtures online.
Fradi is the biggest club in the country and almost a national institution, though success
has been harder to come by in recent times. Its supporters, dressed in the club's colours of
green and white, are the loudest presence at international matches too. The club has long had
