A fan’s guide – the club from early doors to today
2014 champions Debrecen timed their title run to perfection, the 3-1 win over Újpest, official curtain-raising game for the new Nagyerdei Stadion, giving the Railwaymen the lift they needed to carry them over the line and wrest the crown back from Győr on goal difference.
For the 2014-15 Champions League campaign, DVSC (‘Debreceni Vasutas Sport Club’) no longer needed to stage ‘home’ games in Nyíregyháza or the national stadium in Budapest.
After their six previous title wins since 2005, DVSC (nicknamed ‘Loki’) only played the earliest rounds at their previous home on Oláh Gábor utca, in the same wooded leisure complex as the new arena.
Pre-2005, though, ‘Loki’ had hardly figured in the record books. Founded in 1902, becoming the Railway Sports Club ten years later, ‘Vasutas’ were Debrecen’s flagship team until the formation of professional club Bocskay FC. Losing their key players to their higher paying counterparts, Vasutas lost their way until their city rivals folded in the 1940s.
Taking seventh place in the top flight in 1946, Vasutas swung between divisions until a regular place upstairs from 1993.
Promotion coincided with key forwards Tamás Sándor and Tibor Dombi breaking into the first team from the club’s youth set-up. With midfielders Csaba Szatmári and Csaba Madar, DVSC gained third-, fourth- and fifth-placed finishes before winning the Hungarian Cup in 1999.
DVSC narrowly missed out on the title amid a season-end near riot at Ferencváros in 2004, before Tamás, Dombi, Szatmári and Madar starred with Péter Halmosi and a young, left-sided forward Balázs Dzsudzsák when Loki easily outpointed the title-holders the following year. The arrival of ex-DVSC half-back Attila Supka as coach at the winter break proved decisive.
The same side under Supka made a dramatic debut in the Champions League with a shock 8-0 aggregate win over Hajduk Split, followed by a plum tie against Manchester United, and a successful defence of the league title.
By the title win of 2006-07, Dzsudzsák had come into his own but Supka had been fired after a disastrous defeat to Rabotnicki of Skopje in the Champions League. Halfway through 2007-08, Dzsudzsák left to carve out a successful career at PSV Eindhoven, and DVSC let the title slip to MTK.
Loki came back to win titles in 2009, 2010 and 2012, the latter two thanks to goals from French striker Adamo Coulibaly. Only once, though, did they make it through it past the qualifiers to become only the second Hungarian club to play in the Champions League. Memorably beaten Levski Sofia to get through, DVSC made the group stage of the 2009-10 campaign.
Narrow defeats to Liverpool and a high-scoring game with Fiorentina later became subject to investigation when Vukasin Poleksic was found to be liaising with match fixers. The Montenegrin goalkeeper, and defender Norbert Mészáros, later received substantial bans.
Despite an inexplicably poor campaign in 2012-13, Loki kept faith with coach Elemér Kondás in the neck-and-neck race with Györ in 2013-14. Kondás had been a defender in the 1993-94 side that also featured stalwart Tibor Dombi. Remarkably, the 40-year-old flank player made ten appearances in the successful title run, his seventh. Defender Csaba Bernáth matched his record. Former team-mate Sándor Tamás, now assistant coach, also joined in the celebrations at the newly opened Nagyerdei Stadion after the 2014 title win. These Loki legends took part in the all-star game that opened the new arena.
Debrecen’s domination of the Hungarian league now rivals that of Honvéd in the 1980s, Újpest in the 1970s and MTK in the 1920s. A successful – and clean – European campaign would be the icing on the cake.
Stadium Guide
The field of dreams – and the stands around it
Unveiled on May 1, 2014, the 20,340-capacity Nagyerdei Stadion is now Hungary’s most impressive football arena outside Budapest. Partly doubling up as the national stadium while the Puskás Ferenc is being rebuilt, the Nagyerdei cost around €40 million to create.
Its history, though, dates back 80 years, when the original venue was opened before local Bocskai FC’s Mitropa Cup game with Bologna. Also home ground for DVSC, the Nagyerdei fell into disuse long after Bocskai folded and top-flight DVSC needed the more suitable premises of the Oláh Gábor utcai stadion nearby.
The idea for a new stadium here, one suitable for the stricter requirements of European football, was first mooted when Hungary applied to co-host Euro 2012 with Croatia. Although the bid failed, a new design, by Dezső Zsigmond, was presented in 2010.
State funding was agreed, and old ground knocked down in 2013 and the new arena built during the 2013-14 season. A gala match followed the opening ceremony on May 1, 2014, in the presence of football-mad prime minister Viktor Orbán, before the first league game with Újpest ten days later.
On May 22, Hungary played the first international match here, against Denmark. A full house was registered on each occasion. Estimates for the average crowd over 2014-15 are around 10,000. The title-winning campaign of 2013-14 attracted fewer than 5,000.
Keeping the original statues from 1934, the new arena comprises four stands of one tier, west for press and VIPs, south the home end, sections of the north for the away end depending on demand. Sections D3 and D4 are usually earmarked for visiting fans.
getting there
Going to the stadium – tips and timings
The main tram 1 runs from the station, up through the town centre to the Nagyerdei leisure complex at Aquaticum and 15min away ten stops away. Trams run every 6-10mins. From Aquaticum, the stadium is on the other side of the lake to the right as you descend.
getting in
Buying tickets – when, where, how and how much
The ticket office at the stadium opens Mon-Fri 10am-5pm. Online, tickets can be bought on the stadium website. Registration is required beforehand.
Prices for the home end (B-közép, sectors B4-8) are Ft1,000, Ft1,300 for the most attractive matches such as the visit of Ferencváros. Away fans pay around Ft1,000-1,400. Seats in the corners and behind the north goal (B2-3, D1, 5-7) cost Ft1,500-2,000, Ft2,000-2,600 in C1-7 on the sidelines. Top seats (A1-2, A4-5) are Ft3,000-3,900.
what to buy
Shirts, kits, merchandise and gifts
A new club shop at the Nagyerdei runs on match days. Online, you can buy club histories by Mihály Sándor, a Loki-branded seating pillow and a nifty spirits flask. There are also souvenir-dispensing machines around town, such as in the Petöfi Presszóopposite the train station.
Where to Drink
Pre-match beers for fans and casual visitors
The new Nagyerdei is surrounded by woodland and no buildings. At the old Oláh Gábor utca stadion, on the street of the same name by the Sport Hotel, the Viktória Étterem is a traditional terrace restaurant with standard, affordable Hungarian cuisine and old photos of Debrecen on the walls.
Several bars and restaurants cluster around the Aquaticum tram stop. First port of call should be the corner Palma Söröző, more restaurant than pub, which divided its decorative focus between Loki and famous explorers. Note the shirt dedicated to the place signed by Balázs Dzsudzsák. It also has a handy terrace looking out onto the main road.
Of the other venues, the Régi Vigadó restaurant is set in a grand building by the Aquaticum hotel and, slightly back towards town, the Leveles Csárda is another typical Hungarian eatery set, as its name suggests, in greenery.
Overlooking the lake, Beat Beach is a summer-friendly club that currently runs Saturday nights only.