NOTHING IS BY CHANCE, SAYS MESTROVIC

In his 50 minute presentation, Ivan Mestrovic (administration president and co-owner) gave an exhaustive elaboration on all things Pampas. In the introduction, he reminded us on the state of Osijek 2 years ago.

 

At the time of our acquiring NK Osijek, Lorinc Meszaros and I said that all of our efforts are for you, the people, which I proved with my work. I believe that we delivered everything we promised in the past 2 years, thereby fulfilling our promise made to you and to mayor Vrkic, who provided for us the authority over NK Osijek.

 

Thanking Meszaros, Orban and Vrkic

Mestrovic mentioned many things, including technicalities and other things not only of the stadium, but also of the multi-purpose area that will encircle it. He touched on the fact that his co-workers and friends played a significant role here, in this gargantuan undertaking:

 

We’ve got the youngest administration in Europe’s UEFA competitors, where all of our efforts are done for the good of all. It isn’t a coincidence that our Hungarian partners give us full autonomy to make choices. On this occasion, I would like to thank my business partner and friend, Meszaros, on his trust and his belief that our team will deliver, in our city and our region. I would also like to thank Viktor Orban, the Hungarian Prime minister, who prides himself as the biggest Osijek fan and actively participates in bringing the new Camp and stadium to life. Thanks to both of them for their trust and I would like to say that the means and assets for the undertaking are provided. NK Osijek is one big family and I wish that it remains one, to be the biggest in Croatia.

 

Many are surprised by the realization that a stadium of such big proportions will be built here, in the heartland of Slavonia, and, to be honest, even outside of Croatia. The club head comments:
This is philanthropy at its purest, because all the money here is spent, not accumulated. No one has any selfish motivations here, for this is an undertaking for the good of the citizens. I would like to thank the mayor of Osijek yet again, specifically for his trusting us, and then for the vision, experience and the feeling that this kind of project may be truly realized. Thanks to the city board members who supported our entering the ranks of the club administration and who gave us the green light. It is additionally not a coincidence that all of this is happening in Osijek. It’s a kind of justice that this is happening in a place where things are most hopeless and hardest.

 

A place of convergence, of family

 

One of the most frequent questions would be the decision to build the stadium and the camp on Pampas:

 

I want the stadium to feel alive all year round, that being the base idea. Besides that, Gradski Vrt is primarily out of the picture because of the fact that we would have to build a stadium outside of Osijek, which is to no one’s advantage. It would run counter to the “Pokrenimo Grad” idea and we didn’t want to take that risk. Additionally, we can’t live off of 18 HNL home matches annually, with the odd European and Cup match. The remaining days would be spent kicking up dust and no sense would be had. We want to benefit all in building the new stadium. We want to have gatherings and family time spent at the new center, to host guests who arrive to us from other cultures, with us taking pride in what we have created (will create) by 2020. The goal is to bring a type of culture characteristic of the West; one where people come to the game 2 hours before it starts, only to leave 2 hours after it ends. I’m sure that every tourist that visits Osijek will wish to see our stadium.

 

A Kind of Monument to Osijek and Slavonia

 

The stadium will sport 12,000 seats, being optimal for a city that is losing its population, sadly, so that it’s illogical to built anything bigger than projected.

There’s a rule in Europe which states that one ought not build a stadium that hosts more than 10% of its city population. Nevertheless, we made an exception, for Osijek is different in that matter. Furthermore, the stadium will be open every day. One may visit the restaurant, sit for a cup of joe or a drink in the sport-bar, etc. We weren’t exclusively driven by the idea of building a stadium, but we wanted to give Osijek a kind of monument, to create a place of convergence, even for those who don’t even like football.

Mestrovic expect that Pampas will be a place where many will rush to and that the games will be a special experience in Osijek:

The notion of watching a football game, especially in the front rows, is until now quite unknown, considering the proximity of the field and the comfort level. The goal is that people should fall in love with the new stadium and find their own personal way of enjoying football. Let it be a physical manifestation of pride, the pride of having a beautiful stadium for a strong football team, maybe the first real node of football life in this area in the past 20-30 years. This project must be a symbol of the city.

 

 

A Poll: Name the Stadium

It’ll be interesting to see which name will be donned by the new Osijek arena, which was a topic during the presentation in Urania cinema.

There are 2 ways to name our future stadium. The first one would be to package and sell the name, “the XY Arena”. That’s fashionable and much larger clubs are already doing it. I believe that we will pique the interest of some big shot corporation. The second one would be a poll in which the citizens will pick the name via the internet, after which the Club members would choose the name, them being in the 20,000s. It would be the right thing to do in my opinion.

Finally, Mestrovic touched on Gradski Vrt, which will not be abandoned, but will be incorporated in the club’s activities:
Gradski Vrt stays and will not be left behind, for I believe that Osijek II’s matches will be attended as well in the 2^nd league competition. I don’t know of a city that will sport 2 stadiums of this size. Personally, the feeling of pride doesn’t leave my soul, nor does the feeling that I need to create something special. Money isn’t everything, it’s the ideas that matter, ideas that are recognized and are realized by people who believe. In Osijek, that happened, with you being an integral part of it, and because of that, thank you all, Mestrovic concluded.