BÜK – the Sports City of the Nation
The life of Bük, apostrophized as one of the centres of Hungarian bathing culture, has been particularly exciting since the early 1960s. The unique healing water of the spa, which opened in 1962, began to attract visitors from far and wide, and as a result of tourism, it underwent a rapid development. In addition to medical tourism, the local sports life also achieved outstanding results, and Bük recieved the title the Sports City of the Nation sooner than it would have received the title of city.
In 1994, the OTSH decided to award three Hungarian settlements each year for making the most developments of their region and of Hungarian sports. Golf, basketball, table tennis, chess – just a few “pull-ups” without claiming completeness, the success of which was crowned by the decorative letter that the spa town received in 1996, the year of the Atlanta Olympics.
Of course, the most popular sport in the world has been directly forgotten from the list, as the rise of local football deserves a separate chapter in our recollection.
It is difficult to determine the beginning of the heyday of football in the settlement, but we are not mistaken if we also date it to 1996, as the electric lighting of the stadium was inaugurated in October of this year, which was a real curiosity in Hungary at that time. The “star guest” of the opening ceremony was Ferencváros, who was the first Hungarian team in the group stage of the Champions League last season. The Hungarians proved to be polite hosts and bowed to the bigger knowledge, the gala match ended with a 2-0 Fradi success.
The next season was completed flawlessly by the Bük Guard, and by 1997 their NB3 membership had been changed to NB2. Thanks to the conscious construction, the football players from Bük soon knocked on the door of NB1 / B, and in 2001 they were able to celebrate the ascent as a champion. The seven-time Hungarian champion Leandro, who later made it to the 16 national teams, was also a member of the team.
Two “acclimatizing” seasons in the second division were enough to pick up the pace, and already in 2003, the goal was to reach the highest league at the spa-sponsored football club. Until the penultimate round of the point hunt, the students of István Mihalecz farmed in the second position, but the long-awaited team of the neighboring castle, Haladás, surpassed the spa towns at the last minute, winning the bronze medal in their last NB1 / B by 2 points.
The miracle is over, but to this day, everyone proudly anecdotes about the period when Bük was no longer only famous for its spa.
The town has since been popular with elite athletes, hosting many prestigious golf competitions and a training camp for reputable football teams. For many years, the sports hall was home to the Hungarian basketball team’s summer preparations, and the UEFA-certified live grass and artificial grass field even hosted an Italian champion in the person of Sampdoria.