Fehérvár FC

The original name of the football club, Videoton, comes from the Hungarian company (owned by the state between 1955 and 1991).

On 1 July 2018, the club's name was changed from Videoton FC to MOL Vidi FC despite strong disagreement of the supporters of the club. A further change was made on 1 July 2019, becoming Mol Fehérvár FC. This change did not affect anything else, as the Vidi brand will also be used by the club.[3] On 1 July 2023, MOL stopped financing the club. Therefore, the club omiited MOL from their name.

Fehérvár was founded in 1941 as Székesfehérvári Vadásztölténygyár SK. After several name changes, adopting the term Videoton, the team played in the first division for the first time during the 1968 season but they were immediately relegated. Their first domestic success occurred in the 1975–76 season when they finished 2nd. Fehérvár's biggest domestic success happened in the 2010–11 season when they finished first. Later they repeated the success by winning the championship in 2015 and 2018.[4]

At international level, Fehérvár's biggest success has been reaching the 1985 UEFA Cup Final where they lost to Real Madrid CF 1–3. That season, the team was able to knock out PSG in the second round and Manchester United in the quarterfinals. Despite being Hungarian champions three times since 2000, Fehérvár have never qualified for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League. They did, however, reach the group stage of the Europa League in 2012–13 and 2018–19. With qualification for the later stages being a possibility until the last match day each time, Fehérvár ultimately failed to reach the top two spots of their groups both occasions.[5]

The colours of the club are blue and red, representing the colours of the coat of arms of Székesfehérvár. The club used different crests and badges since their foundation in 1941. The crests also indicate the changes of the name of the club, however, the colours were always the same i.e. blue and red. The most famous nickname of the club is Vidi.[6]

The badge (which is being used since 2009 with minor changes following the renamings) is blue and red, and in the centre the castle refers to the symbol of the town: "vár" from "Székesfehérvár" means castle. The name and the year of the foundation can also be seen on the badge.

Sóstói Stadion

The multi-purpose stadium of the club is located in Székesfehérvár, Hungary.[10] The name of the stadium is Sóstói Stadion which originates from neighbouring Sóstó (in English Salt Lake). Its capacity is 14,300 (all seated) and it was opened in 1967.[11] The record attendance was in 1985 when Videoton FC played Spanish giants Real Madrid in the first leg of the final of the 1984–85 UEFA Cup.[12]

The first ground of the club could be found in the Berényi Street. On 26 September 1946, the first match was played at the Berényi Street Ground. Videoton played its matches here from 1950 to 1959. From 1959, the team played on a grass turf until 1967. The club moved to the Sóstói Stadion three times. The first era spent at the stadium was between 1948–50 and 1959–62. In 1967, the club moved there permanently.

In 2007, the academy of the team was founded in Felcsút, the village where Viktor Orbán, the Prime Minister spent his childhood. Videoton FC bought the team of Felcsút, which was played in the Nemzeti Bajnokság II and the team of the academy (named after Ferenc Puskás) competes in the Second League since that. The team is called Videoton-Puskás Ferenc Labdarúgó Akadémia (or Videoton II). Videoton-PFLA plays in Felcsút.

Due to the reconstruction of the Sóstói Stadion, Videoton played their home matches at the Pancho Aréna in the 2016–17 Nemzeti Bajnokság I and 2016–17 UEFA Europa League season. The Pancho Arena is located in Felcsút and its main tenant is Nemzeti Bajnokság II club Puskás Akadémia FC. The director of Videoton chose Pancho Aréna as their home due to the club's strong ties with Puskás Akadémia. However, the capacity of the Pancho Aréna is much smaller than Videoton's original stadium.

MOL Aréna Sóstó was opened in 2018

On 23 November 2016 the construction officially started.[13]

On 7 February 2017, László Horváth, project manager of Sóstó Konzorcium, said that the first phase of the construction ended. The demolition of the interior of the remaining main stand ended. The concrete of the demolished parts of the main stand will be reused in the building of the new stands. The Sóstó Konzorcium will have 14 months to finish the construction of the stadium.[14]

On 13 March 2017, László Horváth, project manager of Sóstó Konzorcium, said that thanks to the mild winter the construction of the new stadium is in good progress. The construction of the base of the stands were finished in March.[15]

On 27 March 2017, it was confirmed that the construction of the stadium would be finished by 16 January 2018. Péter Gönczöl, managing director of Strabag-MML Kft., said that the construction is in the most spectacular phase when the biggest panels are positioned into their places. András Cser-Palkovics, mayor of Székesfehérvár, said that due to the severe weather conditions during winter the construction could be finished by the deadline. Róbert Varga, director of Strabag-Hungary, added that the new stadium will be able to host 14,201 spectators and the stadium will be lying on a base of 10,199 square metres and the highest point of the stadium will be 21.28 metres.[16]

On 18 August 2017, it was announced that the main stand should also be demolished due to statical problems. Originally, the new stadium would have been built around the main stand. Due to the reconstruction of the main stand, the opening of the new stadium will be delayed to June 2018.[17]

On 14 August 2018, an article was published on the Hungarian news website, Index.hu, stating that there will be further delays in the opening of the new stadium.[18] One day later, it was announced that the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League play-off matches will be played at Ferencvárosi TC's home stadium, Groupama Aréna in Budapest.[19]

The first match was played between Fehérvár FC and Újpest FC in the 2018–19 Nemzeti Bajnokság I season and it ended with a 1–0 victory for the home side. The first goal was scored by Roland Juhász. The new stadium was also renamed as MOL Aréna Sóstó for sponsorship reason. Since there was a MOL Aréna in Dunaszerdahely, Sóstó was added to the new name.[20]

On 1 July 2023, the name of the stadium was changed from MOL Aréna Sóstó to Sóstói Stadion due to changes in sponsorship.[21]

Being the favourite football club of the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, from 2010, some of the most wealthy Hungarians started to appear in the VIP of the team (e.g. Sándor Csányi, president of the Hungarian OTP Bank and the Hungarian Football Association) by the side of the Prime Minister. The owner since December 2007 is István Garancsi, a friend of Viktor Orbán's.[22]

On 2 June 2023, it was annlunced that the club's main sponsor, MOL, would not finance the club anymore.[23]

Videoton supporters at the ETO Park, in Győr, 2010.

The supporters of the club are based in Székesfehérvár, in Fejér County, Hungary. One of the group of supporters is the Red Blue Devils which is considered the main ultras of the team (there are smaller groups like Red-Blue City, Sóstói Hableányok, G-pont). Fehérvár FC is in rivalry with the most famous Hungarian clubs such as Ferencváros, Újpest, Győri ETO, Haladás, and Debrecen. The club has a local rival, Puskás Akadémia FC, based in Felcsút, Fejér County, but the rivalry is relatively tame. These two clubs had a stadium share in Felcsut while Fehérvár's stadium was under renovation, 2016–18. Fejer county's second most populated city is Dunaújváros, but Dunaferr FC, formerly based there, no longer exists. Between 1997 and 1999, Videoton's local rival was Gázszer FC which was based in Agárd, Fejér County.

Fehérvár FC has a selection of celebrity supporters such as the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán.[24]

• Fehérvár FC in European football
• List of Fehérvár FC managers
• List of Fehérvár FC seasons

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Videoton FC.

• Official website (in Hungarian and English)