Pancho Aréna

Pancho Aréna is a stadium in Felcsút, Hungary. It is primarily used for football matches and serves as the home stadium for Puskás Akadémia FC. Between 2015 and 2018, the stadium also hosted the three-time champions Fehérvár FC due to the reconstruction of Sóstói Stadion.

Pancho Aréna

UEFA Elite Stadium
Location	Felcsút, Hungary
Owner	Felcsúti Utánpótlás Neveléséért Alapítvány
Operator	Puskás Akadémia FC
Capacity	3,865
Field size	105x68m
Surface	Grass Field
Construction
Broke ground	2012
Opened	21 April 2014
Construction cost	HUF 3.8 billion
Architect	Imre Makovecz Tamás Dobrosi
Structural engineer	László Pongor
Tenants
Puskás Akadémia FC Fehérvár FC (2016–2018)

History

The stadium officially opened on 21 April 2014, featuring the final of the 2014 Puskás Cup.^[1][2]

On 26 April 2014, the first Hungarian League match was played at the stadium between Puskás Akadémia and Videoton. The match ended with 3–1 away win.^[3]

On 30 June 2016, the first UEFA Europa League match took place at the stadium when Videoton FC, now MOL Fehérvár FC, and FC Zaria Bălți met in the qualifying rounds of the Europa League. It occurred in Pancho Aréna due to the demolition of Videoton's home stadium, Sóstói Stadion.^[4]

Pancho Aréna was listed among the top three most beautiful stadiums of the world according to stadiumdb.com: "The wood-lined curved interior to the stand gives spectators the feeling that they are attending a Sunday church service, not a football match. The 3,500 seater stadium opened in 2014 and was the brainchild of local architect Imre Makovecz".^[5]

On 26 March 2018, the first international match was played at the stadium when Bulgaria hosted Kazakhstan in a friendly match. The match ended with a 2–1 win for Bulgaria.^[6]

On 31 October 2023, it was announced that the Israel national football team would play their remaining UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches against Switzerland and Romania at the stadium, a decision influenced by the ongoing Gaza war.^[7][8] On 15 November 2023, Israel hosted Switzerland and drew at the stadium.^[9] On 18 November 2023, Israel hosted Romania in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying match.^[10] Romania beat Israel 2-1 and qualified for the UEFA Euro 2024.^[11]

Controversy

Many allegations of corruption have surfaced regarding the stadium,^{[citation needed]} as Hungary's current prime minister, Viktor Orbán (known for his passion for football), spent much of his childhood in the village. Pancho Arena was built just meters away from his Felcsút estate.^[12] Although the stadium was not constructed directly using government funds, companies that provided the majority of the funding won several high-value public procurement procedures during Orbán's prime ministership. Additionally, Orbán's government passed laws granting benefits to companies supporting sports investments. Allegations were fueled by the fact that the stadium seats 3,500 people, while the total population of the village is under 1,700.^{[citation needed]}

Milestone matches

Puskás Akadémia v Videoton

26 April 2014	Puskás Akadémia	1–3	Videoton	2013–14 Nemzeti Bajnokság I First Nemzeti Bajnokság I match
	Tischler 63'	(Report)	Nikolić 20' Zé Luís 74' Filipe Oliveira 78'	Attendance: 3,633 Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)

Puskás Akadémia v Debrecen

24 September 2015	Puskás Akadémia	0–2	Debrecen	2014–15 Magyar Kupa (First Magyar Kupa match)
		(Report)	Szakály 53' Kulcsár 94'	Referee: Csaba Pintér (Hungary)

Videoton v Zaria Bălți

30 June 2016	Videoton	3–0	Zaria Bălți	2016–17 UEFA Europa League (First UEFA Europa League match)
		[(Report)]		Referee: Enea Jorgji (Albanian)

MOL Vidi v F91 Dudelange

17 July 2018 (2018-07-17)	MOL Vidi	2–1	F91 Dudelange	2018–19 UEFA Champions League (first UEFA Champions League match)
20:15	Lazović 18' Šćepović 58'	Report	Clément 54'	Attendance: 2,514[citation needed] Referee: Donald Robertson (Scotland)

Milestone matches (youth squad)

Puskás Akadémia v La Fábrica

21 April 2014	Puskás Akadémia	0–1	La Fábrica	2014 Puskás Cup Final (First match)
		(Report)	Miguel Garcia 49'	Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)

Puskás Akadémia v Celtic

4 November 2015	Puskás Akadémia	1–0	Celtic	2015–16 UEFA Youth League (First international match)
	Damásdi 20'	(Report)		Attendance: 1,230 Referee: Vadims Direktorenko (Latvia)

International

Bulgaria v Kazakhstan

24 March 2018	Bulgaria	2–1	Kazakhstan	Friendly
	Popov 23' Bodurov 90+4'	(Report)	55' Tungyshbayev	Attendance: 100 Referee: Bognár

Israel v Switzerland

15 November 2023	Israel	1–1	Switzerland	UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Group I
	Weissman 88'	Report	36' Vargas	Referee: Taylor

Israel v Romania

18 November 2023	Israel	1–2	Romania	UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Group I
				Referee: Letexier

Attendances

As of 21 December 2018

Puskás Akadémia only played three matches at the Pancho Aréna during the 2013–14 season.^[13] This table includes only domestic league matches.

Season	Puskás Akadémia FC								Ref
	Division	GP	Average	Change	Highest Gate		Lowest Gate
2014–15	NB I	15	1,649	–	3,812	vs Ferencváros	704	vs Szombathelyi Haladás	[14]
2015–16	NB I	16	1,699	+3.0%	3,798	vs Ferencváros	708	vs Paks	[15]
2016–17	NB II	15	818	–49.5%	1,537	vs Balmazújváros	460	vs Budaörs	[16]
2017–18	NB I	16	1,199	+46.6%	3,127	vs Ferencváros	200	vs Debrecen	[17]
2018–19	NB I	17	1,340	+11.8%	3,865	vs Ferencváros	120	vs Kisvárda	[18]

Gallery

• 
  Aerial view
• 
  The main entrance
• 
  The Pancho Aréna from the Főutca of Felcsút
• 
  The interior
• 
  The view of Pancho Aréna from the Vál-völgyi train
• 
  The roof of the Pancho Aréna