West Ham United begin this summer’s pre-season match action with an enticing clash against Hungarian champions Ferencváros on Monday afternoon.
The Hammers are set to kick Julen Lopetegui’s reign as Head Coach firmly into gear by getting some valuable minutes under their belts following a week of hard work with and without the ball in Austria.
Lopetegui and his players will make the short trip east from their remote Alpine complex in the Austrian town of Kitzbühel, starting an exciting Pre-season schedule that will also see the Hammers cross the Atlantic Ocean to the United States to take on Premier League rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers and Crystal Palace in two exciting fixtures as part of the inaugural Stateside Cup, as well as taking on Celta Vigo at home in the Betway Cup.
Lopetegui’s appointment in June heralds a new era at West Ham, with the Spaniard set to manage his first game for the Club, having put the players through an intense week of training, which has included plenty of running, tactical analysis, ball work, small-sided games and strength and conditioning work.
Now, as the team begin preparations for another Premier League season, they will face Hungarian champions Ferencváros, who have already played four pre-season fixtures against NK Nafta Lendava, Sepsi OSK Sfântu Gheorghe, FC CSKA 1948 Sofia and NK Istra 1961, ahead of another season of UEFA Champions League football under the guidance of London-born boss Pascal Jansen.
They will now make the 60-mile journey to Kitzbühel to take on the Irons, in what promises to be an entertaining encounter
Ferencváros, West Ham United are facing the 35-time top-flight Hungarian champions, having claimed the OTP Bank Liga title in each of the last six seasons, and featured in Europe for ten years running, making them the most successful team from Hungary, both domestically and internationally.
Formed in 1899, by a group of local residents of Budapest’s ninth district, Ferencváros put themselves on the football map when they defeated Juventus in Turin to lift the 1964/65 Inter Cities Fair Cup.
They then qualified for the recently-launched UEFA Champions League in 1995/96, becoming the first Hungarian Club to do so.
STREAM LINKS >>> Stream 1 Stream 2 Stream 3
The club ran into financial difficulties in 2006, which resulted in the Hungarian Football Federation (MLSZ) withdrawing their license, a withdrawal that was eventually deemed unauthorised. Soon after, ‘Fradi’ were promoted back to the first division in 2009, and since then, as a club, they’ve only gone on an upwards trajectory.
Recent seasons has seen a level of success that has made Ferencváros a dominant force in Hungarian football, having taken part 2019/20 Europa League, 2020/21 Champions League and 2021/22 Europa League group stages, where they beat Bayer Leverkusen – the same season that West Ham progressed all the way to the semi-finals of the competition – while three members of their squad were involved with Hungary at UEFA Euro 2024.
After an unbeaten Group F campaign in the UEFA Europa Conference League last season, they were beaten in the last 16 by eventual winners Olympiacos.
Under the guidance of new head coach Pascal Jansen, fans will be hoping for continued success for Ferencváros.
