Without Whom There Would be No Match – The Secrets of the Groupama Arena

Photo: Image: Hartl Nagy Tamás

FM newsroom – facility cleaning, stadium. Economx had the opportunity to get a glimpse of the tremendous work that B+N’s employees do week after week: they are the ones who, alongside the FTC and Sportfive Hungary experts, prepare one of the largest and most modern stadiums in Hungary for domestic and international matches and events, thus facilitating the enjoyment of hundreds of thousands of people every year.

Their invisibility is the greatest recognition

The Ferencváros football team faced a decisive match last week. However, not only the players and coaches were feverishly preparing for the clash, but also the “invisible” team, which created the conditions for the thousands of fans, journalists, VIP guests and UEFA delegates to have fun in professional and clean conditions.

Although this kind of invisibility is the highest praise for the staff of B+N Referencia Zrt., which provides complete technical facility management services, the Groupama Arena, needs several days of coordinated, well-planned, precise and spectacular work by the cleaning and technical teams, including evenings and weekends, to prepare for events ranging from business and cultural events to international football matches.

During the tour of the stadium with the staff of B+N Zrt., it became clear that not only the exciting game against the Dutch that awaited the players but also the 22,000-capacity Groupama Arena would be a truly huge task to clean after the match, including the rows of seats, the press box, the skyboxes, the community areas, and even the concourse.

Image: Hartl Nagy Tamás

 The best of everything

“Everything has to be done so that the audience doesn’t notice anything. And despite the protocol, surprises can always happen to the staff. There was a case when the hot water in the locker room went out during the match, and B+N’s technicians had to replace a pump in just 20 minutes,” explained István Kohári, project manager.

It is typical of the work of the professionals that by the time the team returned, the system was already working, and the players didn’t notice anything about the technical fault.

When the Groupama Arena was inaugurated in 2014, it was one of the largest and most modern stadiums in Hungary. A lot has had to be replaced in the 11 years since then, but during maintenance, the staff work on the principle of “the best of everything” according to the guidelines of Sporfive Hungary, which operates the Groupama Arena, Kohári pointed out.

“Our everyday work is completed with the weekend matches”, said István Kohári, while he also stressed that to keep their results, the B+N team can only close the stadium for the day two hours after the match.

Image: Hartl Nagy Tamás

Office complex, event venue, stadium

A team of eleven ensures the smooth running of the Groupama Arena on a typical weekday. The local knowledge of the 4 maintenance staff and 7 cleaners (2 of whom are yard staff) is indispensable when it comes to cleaning or match day, and the staff is expanded.

On weekdays, the Arena is both an office building and an event venue, but it becomes a full-fledged operation on match days. The B+N team starts preparations several days before a major match. For example, before international matches, certain logos have to be covered with white stickers so that the interior and exterior spaces comply with UEFA’s business regulations, which then have to be removed from the surfaces with painstaking work and without stains,” explained Gergely Nagy, head of cleaning services.

A falconer comes twice a week

In a typical week, preparations for Sunday’s match start on Thursday morning. How much work is that? Each floor of the four-storey Arena has an average of 3,500 sqm of usable space, but the cleaners keep everything outside and inside the Arena clean, Gergely Nagy highlighted.

A falconer comes to the Arena twice a week to protect against pigeonsIt is due to the pigeons that the concourse is the first to be cleaned of discarded litter and food scraps.

Image: Hartl Nagy Tamás

Cristiano Ronaldo left the most tidy

“After winning matches, everything from floor to ceiling is pure champagne and joy. But as soon as the players have left, the clean-up begins. Traces of spilled drinks and any grass or mud brought in must be cleared up” – said István Kohári.

The cleaning staff agreed that the Hungarian teams that came as opponents set an example and took care of the cleanliness of the guest changing room, while there were some foreign teams that did not. However, one of the biggest stars of our time, Cristiano Ronaldo, left behind the greatest tidiness in September 2017. The Hungarian national team hosted Portugal in the Groupama Arena in a World Cup qualifier, and B+N remembers that “after the match, the guest dressing room was almost cleaner than before”.

Image: Hartl Nagy Tamás

 Waste management is also an important issue

A full-house match generates 60-70 cubic meters of waste, 70 percent of which is selective; the rest is only considered communal.

As an example of how complex the task of collecting waste is, Gergely Nagy recalled that when the Fradi ultras prepare for a derby with a molino, after the choreography, it is lowered from the stands to the B+N employees, who have a few minutes on the sidelines to collect it and take it away; in compliance with fire safety regulations.

When the fans are still talking about the previous day’s match, the maintenance staff are already going around the stadium, checking for any damage to the stands and whether the seats need replacing. Following the cleaning schedule, the cleaners try to complete the handover as quickly as possible, using walk-behind, ride-on or outdoor sweepers and high-pressure washers, as well as B+N’s own cleaning robot, Robin. Then, the preparation for the next match begins again, and they have to provide the right conditions for thousands of people to enjoy themselves again.

Image: Hartl Nagy Tamás

“The biggest international compliment? That we never get any complaints.”

István Kohári said that B+N was a pioneer in Hungary when it started working in the Groupama Arena more than a decade ago, practically at the same time as the construction.

“Since then, each match has prepared us for possible challenges. We are more experienced, so we react even faster if a problem arises and follow technological changes more effectively”, – the operations coordinator added.

“The highest international compliment? That we never get any complaints,” Gergely Nagy said, adding that their eleven years in business have proved that they do their best work when they are invisible to the public.

 

Images: Economx / Hartl Nagy Tamás

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