Backa Topola to become home to talented football players – Construction of Football Academy worth EUR 9.5 million to begin in late April 2017

Numerous successful football players started their careers in TSC Backa Topola – Laslo Lerinc, Zvezdan Terzic, Zlatko Krmpotic, Nikola Zigic, Andrija Kaludjerovic, Dusan Tadic... In order for this tradition to continue, the club’s management has decided to raise the Football Academy. Its construction should start in late April, and it will be financed with EUR 9.5 million by the Hungarian Football Federation.

– We assume that we will fit within the donation by the Hungarian Football Federation. Still, if we fail, we can expect help by our general sponsor, the company SAT-TRAKT – TSC Backa Topola says for eKapija.

As our interviewees add, the collection of contractor bids is in progress.

– We believe that the entire procedure will be completed within the deadline and that we will be able to say that we have started the construction as soon as late April.

The Football Academy will be located on the Subotica Road, at the exit from Backa Topola, and the purchase of the planned parcels is currently in progress.

The idea to raise the Football Academy was presented to the public last year, but, as the initiators say, it had been considered for a long time.

The academy’s central facility will have 2,500 m2 and will contain rooms for young football players attending the academy, as well as a dining room, a kitchen and all the accompanying features, such as offices and a meeting hall and a learning, recreation and leisure room. The building will also feature a locker room, a medical section, a room for monitoring training load, a psychologist’s room, a gym, a sauna, and a cold-water regeneration pool.

A new central court will be built in place of the old TSC stadium, containing 4,500 seats, as per the UEFA standards. In addition, there will be four auxiliary courts, of which three in line with the UEFA standards (two featuring Astroturf and one featuring natural grass). The fourth, smaller court (also featuring Astroturf) will be covered during the winter.

– We want to provide young football players with the best conditions and to give them a chance to progress as much as they can within their own environment. We want to become a home of talented players who will leave a mark on European football – TCS Back Topola adds.

The author of the conceptual design of the Football Academy is the Backa Topola-based architect Beck Zoltan, who has previously visited several football academies in Hungary and Slovakia in order to implement the practice shown to be the most successful.

The project of the construction of the Football Academy in Back Topola will be implemented in two stages, and the plan is for it to be completed in two to two and a half years. The first stage should be completed in a year and a half.

– We are convinced that the construction of the Football Academy is very important to Backa Topola, and not just in the context of sports either. We expect the Academy to contribute to the development of the local area, both socially and economically. Sports tourism is certainly what we have in mind, as we believe that, this way, we can work on both developing the Academy and enhancing our living environment – TSC Backa Topola says.

Let us remind that TSC Backa Topola traditionally cooperates with several Hungarian clubs. For example, Szegedi AK celebrated its 100th anniversary by playing a game with TSC. Furthermore, the Backa Topola football club has been cooperating with Ferencvarosi TC for over 90 years. They’ve also been maintaining friendly relations with Puskas Akademia FC and Debreceni VSC.

Thanks to the successful cooperation with Hungarian football clubs, the Hungarian national under-19 team traditionally guests at the Youth Memorial International Tournament Stevan Cele Vilotic, held in Subotica, for at least one match.

S.S.