Hidegkuti Nándor Stadion, Sports stadium in District VIII, Budapest, Hungary
Hidegkuti Nándor Stadion was a multi-purpose football and athletics stadium on Hungária körút in Budapest's Józsefváros district, opened in 1912 and demolished in 2015. Its stands held about 40,000 spectators, and from 1912–1913 a distinctive club building stood on the eastern side. A main stand was added in the 1930s, and the pitch was surrounded by a running track.
MTK's ground opened on 31 March 1912 as the Hungária körúti stadion, built on land leased from the city for one Austro-Hungarian krone a year; MTK beat Ferencváros 1:0 in the inaugural match. Seized from the Jewish-tradition club during World War II and damaged, it was rebuilt in 1946–1947. Renamed for Nándor Hidegkuti in 2002, it closed in 2014 and was demolished by 31 July 2015.
The stadium was named after Nándor Hidegkuti on the day he died, 14 February 2002; he was a forward of MTK and of Hungary's Golden Team. MTK's women's team, several times Hungarian champions, also played here, and the ground hosted finals of some editions of the Hungarian Cup.
The stadium sits on Salgótarjáni Street and is easily reached by tram line 1. Tickets can be purchased online or at the on-site sales points.
The stadium doubled as a rock and metal venue: Scorpions played their first-ever Eastern Bloc show there on 27 August 1986, and Metallica opened their Damaged Justice tour on 11 September 1988. It also appears in John Huston's 1981 film Escape to Victory.
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