Ferencváros v West Ham United
Pre-Season Match, Sportstadion Langau, Monday 15 July 2024, 4pm CEST (3pm BST)
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.
How to Follow…
West Ham United supporters can watch Lopetegui’s first match as Head Coach against Hungarian champions Ferencváros live online!
All the action from our first pre-season match can be followed in our live blog on whufc.com on Monday, which will commence 60 minutes before kick-off.
The action will be streamed live and for free to supporters in the UK on the Club’s official Website, App, YouTube, TikTok and Facebook channels, with coverage starting 15 minutes before kick-off, with highlights and exclusive reaction after the final whistle.
Team News…
The first-team squad who have not been involved in international fixtures over June and early July returned to pre-season training last week, and could all be involved in Monday’s match at Sportstadion Langau.
The likes of Mohammed Kudus, Danny Ings, Kurt Zouma, James Ward-Prowse and Łukasz Fabiański could be involved, as could new summer signings Wes Foderingham, Maximilian Kilman and Luis Guilherme – who have all appeared to settle into life in their new home.
Pre-season also provides manager Lopetegui and his coaching staff to take a closer look at the developing talent in the Academy of Football, with ten of their number part of the group currently on the week-long training camp in Kitzbühel, Austria.
George Earthy and Callum Marshall were among the names to earn senior debuts last season, while Kaelan Casey made his Premier League debut, and each will be looking to impress the first-team coaching staff in the coming weeks.
Ferencváros have confirmed five new signings so far this summer in midfielders Kady Borges, Phillippe Rommens, Péter Baráth and Isaac Pappoe, as well as centre-back Raul Gustavo.
Opposition:
In 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.
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.
Previous Meetings…
Ferencváros represent new opposition for West Ham. The Hungarians have played the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United and Leeds United during their 125-year history, with their last competitive outing against an English team resulting in a 3-1 win - and 4-2 aggregate success - over Millwall in the UEFA Cup, in September 2004.
Monday’s game marks the second time West Ham have appeared at the Sportstadion Langau. The first, in July 2010, saw Thomas Hitzlsperger score a free-kick in a 1-0 win over then-Greek champions Panathinaikos.
The Irons returned to Kitzbühel for a training camp in the summer of 2018 during the early part of Manuel Pellegrini’s spell as manager.
