The new training centre of the Sándor Károly Football Academy will be located where Józsefváros station was first built in 1867. Long empty, it will soon be a hive of activity as MTK’s coaches train Hungary’s best young footballing talent.
Named after former MTK star Sándor ‘Csikar’ Károly, whose statue stands outside the club’s main stadium, the academy will feature three grass pitches, three artificial ones, a grandstand, a press room, facilities for video analysis and a gym.
Moribund since 2005, Józsefváros was once one of the most important stations in Budapest before it was superseded by nearby Keleti in 1884. It later became a freight hub for Hungarian state railway MÁV.