Hungary gears up for finals

'Perfect organisation'
"The organisation is perfect here in Hungary," she said. "This will be a great event in the life of women's football."

Four venues
Hungary welcomes teams from England, Germany, Finland, France, Russia, Scotland and Switzerland for the tournament which runs from 20-31 July in the western region of Dunántúl. The matches will take place at four venues in Andráshida, Bük, Zalaegerszeg and Pápa.

New stadiums
The stadiums in Andráshida and Bük were built especially for the competition and were completed in May. Andráshida is a suburb of Zalaegerszeg and boasts a small but modern and well-equipped arena. There will be 200 covered seats as well as modern changing rooms and the pitch is considered the best of the four venues. The grounds at Zalaegerszeg and Pápa are more established and are home to Hungarian First Division sides Zalaegerszegi TE and Pápa TFC.

Hévíz base
The draw for the tournament was held on 24 May in Hévíz, where UEFA and most of the teams will be based during the championship. Hungarian Football Federation president Imre Bozóky is optmistic the U19 event will raise the profile of the women's game in his country.

'Good opportunity'
"We want to give all our support and help to youth education and youth events and this is a good opportunity," he said. "But our biggest aim with the tournament is to increase the popularity of women's football in our country. I can't see a better opportunity to advertise women's football than this."

'Natural'
Hungary and Scotland will be taking part in the U19 finals for the first time, and Espelund is glad to welcome new sides to the fold. "We hope that more and more nations take women's football seriously, and that it will become natural all over the continent."