The 2016-17 season was very successful for Budapest Honvéd. Twenty-four years after its last title, the club finished last year top of the OTP Bank Liga table. To find out a bit more about the rebirth of this historical Hungarian club, we have interviewed Andras Szabo, Communication Director of Budapest Honvéd FC. By Pierre Nicouleaud.
Could you introduce the club and its infrastructure?
Budapest Honvéd FC is a leading Hungarian football club with a very illustrious history. The Kispesti Atlétikai Club was founded on the 3rd of August in 1909 with 8 departments. From December 1949 the name of the club was changed to Budapesti Honvéd and provided many Olympic, World, and European Champions in different sports. Budapest Honvéd provided many excellent football players. It celebrated its Centenary Year in 2009. During its over one hundred years of existence it has won 14 Hungarian National League Championships (the last one in season 2016/17) and 7 Hungarian Cups. Among the list of the club’s former great players perhaps the best known is the legendary Ferenc Puskás who played for Honvéd until he escaped from Hungary after 1956 and spent the last years of his career helping Real Madrid win a succession of European trophies. Honvéd last won the Hungarian Cup (Magyar Kupa) in 2007 and 2009. Automatic entry to the Europa League (successor to the UEFA cup) is provided to the winners of the Hungarian Cup. This means Honvéd was the first Hungarian club to participate in the Europa League. In the 11 years since Honvéd was acquired by the present owner, Honvéd has qualified for European competitions in 6 years: for the UEFA Cup two times, the Inter-Toto Cup, the Europa League twice and Champions League once. In 2012/13, Honvéd finished 3rd in the OTP Bank League, and in 2016/17 Honvéd finished at the 1st place and became Hungarian national champion.
The Honvéd-operated Hungarian Football Academy is the leading football academy in Hungary and in the Eastern European region. Under present ownership the Academy has been increased in size to the current level of 100 live-in students. About 10% of the boarding students are from neighboring countries and approximately 25% play for the national team of their respective age group. All are housed and taught in modern Academy buildings which are sited next to the Bozsik stadium (home of Budapest Honvéd FC). The Academy has the reputation of providing the best young players in Hungary as evidenced by the regular success of the various youth teams of HFA in youth competitions.
At the moment the training takes place on the fields of the Bozsik Stadium, but a site next to the club ground has been acquired on which 8 full size pitches are being built with state-of-the-art training facilities. The new youth training center will be finished in the summer of 2018, when the construction of a new stadium will begin.
What are the main revenue streams of the club? What is the annual operational budget of the club?
The main revenue streams are: funds received for television broadcast, funds received for naming the championship, funds received from gambling operations, sale of players and match day income. Unfortunately, we have no sponsorship income, which is not unusual in Hungary, where businesses are not active in football. The annual operating budget of a club is approximately EUR 5 million, but this number includes close to EUR 2 million for the operation of our youth academy.
Last year, the club won the title. How do you explain this success?
In the 2016/17 season, the systematic work we started with basically the same team 3 years ago came to fruition. In addition, we were lucky to have a very good coach for an extended period of time. Marco Rossi did a great job in selecting and playing the style that was appropriate for our team. Our opponents also undervalued us and this was also a factor in becoming champions.
How do you define the international development strategy of the club? Which markets are you targeting?
Our academy every year produces two or three talented young men, who are ready to be sold to championships that play at a higher level. Over the last season we sold players to Ajax, Stoke City, Guimares and to other foreign leagues and to the Hungarian first and second leagues. Our first team also employs players from Italy, Brazil, Serbia and Nigeria.
How Hungarian clubs can reach better results in European competition?
Money is the mother milk of football. In the present situation it would be very difficult for Hungarian clubs to achieve better results in European competitions. The budgets of the leading Hungarian clubs run between EUR 5 million and EUR 15 million. In order to hope for significantly better results, there would be a need of a budget of EUR 20 million or more. The other alternative is patient youth development, like the one practiced at Budapest Honvéd, but this takes a long time, and the end result is far from certain.
Interviewed by Pierre Nicouleaud Follow @pnicouleaud
