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The English Football Association has today opened the host city and stadia selection process in England as part of the UK & Ireland UEFA EURO 2028 bid.
Invitations have now been issued to cities and stadia in England to bid to become a tournament venue in 2028 – with the minimum seating capacity to join the selection process needing to be more than 30,000.
The Football Associations of Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales are managing a separate process in their respective countries. Relevant officials in Northern Ireland will continue to be involved in the process as they explore stadia development options.
The next step in England’s selection process is a ‘Host Cities and Stadia Workshop’ in April for venues interested in bidding. Representatives from the other partner nations will also be invited to attend.
At this workshop, cities and stadia will be informed about the general bid process and timelines, overall tournament requirements, the benefits of being a host city and stadium, and the criteria for the selection process. Further workshops and meetings with potential host cities and stadia will be held in the months ahead.
Once the overall city and stadia selection is complete, the UK & Ireland EURO 2028 bid will submit its recommended venues to UEFA later this year. If the bid is successful, UEFA will make the final decision and ratify the selection of host cities and stadia in 2023.
Planet Football and the Bleacher Report offer some suggestions in relation to possible EURO or even World Cup stadiums.
Wembley would host the final, whilst the Welsh National Stadium (Principality Stadium) would play a part, as would either Hampden Park or one of the other big Scottish venues, whilst NI could see an increased capacity in relation to Windsor Park which might even include temporary stands, and the Aviva Stadium in Dublin would also definitely be included.
Which other stadiums do you think should be included and why.
It's worth bearing in mind that some clubs have plans to increase capacity through redevelopments or by potentially move to a new stadiums, these include Everton, Manchester United Newcastle United ,Chelsea, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, Leicester City, Wolves etc.
Whilst the minimum capacity would need to be 40,000.
St James Park (Newcastle United) and the Stadium of Light Sunderland would be the main contenders.
Whilst the Stadium of Light is a decent modern stadium (50,000), the club doesn't have the resources of it's now wealthy competitor who are likely to either increase capacity or build a new ground.
Verdict: Newcastle United St James Park or even a new Newcastle ground, although both would be large enough to host games.
North West
Manchester
Old Trafford (Man Utd) and the Ethihad (Man City) would be the Manchester Contenders.
The Ethihad is the more modern stadium and is a fantastic venue, with a capacity of 53,400, however the latest news is the Man Utd are to expand and refurbish Old Trafford taking to to a capacity of over 88,000.
Verdict: The sheer size of an increased Old Trafford would give the advantage, however both could be used.
A tough choice, as Liverpool's redeveloped Anfield with a capacity of 61,000 is a superb venue, however Everton's new Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium is an under construction and is an amazing new stadium with a capacity of nearly 53,000.
Verdict - To close to really call, as both stadiums are worthy, however the larger capacity at Anfield could tip it, although in actual fact both stadiums could be used.
Yorkshire
Sadly neither Elland Road (Leeds) or Hillsborough (Sheffield Wednesday) are currently of international quality.
However Leeds would be likely to push ahead with expansion plans taking the ground to 50,000.
Verdict: Elland Road, as Leeds are back in the Premier League and have credible expansion plans.
East Midlands
The three main contenders would be City Ground (Nottingham Forest), Pride Park (Derby County) and King Power Stadium (Leicester City).
All three are good stadiums, and Nottingham Forest have an ambitious ground redevelopment, as do Leicester.
Verdict: King Power Stadium, as Leicester have the more ambitious redevelopment and plan to add 8,000 to the East Stand to take the capacity of their home ground to more than 40,000.
West Midlands
The two main contenders would be Villa Park (Aston Villa), which has plans to expand to over 50,000 and Molineux (Wolves) which also has expansion plans to increase capacity to over 50,000.
Verdict: Villa Park has the advantage as it's far more central in terms of Birmingham and it' transport network, however both would be large enough to host games,
London
Obviously Wembley, the other contenders being the Emirates (Arsenal), Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London Stadium (West Ham) and Stamford Bridge (Chelsea).
All are are 60,000 plus with the exception of Stanford Bridge, so unless Chelsea either increase capacity or build a new stadium they are unlikely to be main contenders.
Verdict: Emirates (Arsenal) and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium definitely, however in terms of the London Stadium is has a weird configuration, mainly due to temporary seats covering the athletic track and the fans are further from the pitch, so perhaps a maybe. As for Chelsea, I wouldn't discount them but at the moments they are seeking new owners and increased capacity or a new stadium are not on the current agenda.
London could also use Twickenham, which at 80,000 plus is a vast stadium, however the FA will be keen to use football stadiums and to keep the revenue in relation to football rather than giving revenue to Rugby Union.
Others
Any other bids would depend on stadium upgrades, with possible upgrades in relation to Southampton's St Mary's, however its unlikely smaller clubs in East Anglia or the South West would have the resources to upgrade, however it's likely that 30,000 plus stadiums such as Carrow Road or those that could be easily expanded to ober 30,000 such as Ashton Gate, would be considered.
Verdict - St Mary's would be the most likely stadium to be upgraded to meet international standards.
Scotland
The main contenders would be Hampden Park, Celtic Park and Ibrox in Glasgow with Murrayfield (Rugby) in Edinburgh also a possibility, all are large stadiums, and easily meet international standards.
Verdict: Hampden Park is to be the nominated stadium to host matches as part of the UK and Ireland Euro 2028 bid, the Scottish FA has confirmed. The 52,000 capacity stadium in Glasgow hosted three group games and a round of 16 tie at Euro 2020 last summer. Whilst Murrayfield was considered ahead of Ibrox and Celtic Park.
Wales
Easy one, the National Stadium or Millennium Stadium, will host the games in Wales.
A state of the art stadium with a capacity of nearly 74,000.
Northern Ireland (Ulster)
Windsor Park is determined to host games, however the 18,500 capacity currently falls well short of the 30,000 required to host Euro finals matches.
Casement Park (Gaelic games stadium) in Belfast, is another possibility and has a capacity of 31,000.
Verdict: It is likely that resources are made available, and NI will see matches at either Windsor Park or Casement Park.
Republic of Ireland
Two main contenders, the obvious Lansdowne Road (Aviva Stadium - Capacity 52,000) in Dublin, whilst the GAA have offered Croke Park (82,300) in Dublin.
Verdict: Both superb venues, worthy of top level international sports.
Last edited by Brave New World; 04-20-2022 at 06:34 AM..
If it is intended to be co hosted there are not many options from Ireland
They have options in relation to Dublin and Belfast, just as areas in more populated areas of the British Isles have options.
The population of Yorkshire is 5.4 million, yet there choice is between Eland Road and possible Hillsborough or Bramall Lane at a push.
It's likely only one stadium will be chosen in the region and the same applies to other very populated regions such as the North West and Midlands.
The main population area in Scotland is Glasgow/Edinburgh, whilst in Wales it's Cardiff/Swansea, whilst in Northern Ireland it's Belfast and in the RoI it's Dublin, with the only other possible city with a population that could host being possibly Cork.
North West: Old Trafford, Etihad, Anfield, New Everton
North East: St James, Stadium of Light
Midlands: Villa Park
Scotland: Hampden, Celtic Park, Ibrox
Wales: Millennium
Ireland: Lansdowne Road
Hampden Park hosts the opening match which is Scotland against someone
Old Trafford and Millenium Stadium host the Semi Finals
Wembley hosts the Final
Landsdowne road in Dublin no longer exists , rebuilt and now called " Aviva stadium "
we also have Croke Park which is a GAA ( native sports ) stadium which would match any venue with the exception of Wembley , on a par with the Millenium in cardiff though Millenium has a roof
Windsor park in Northern Ireland is not near good enough for any matches as it currently stands
They have options in relation to Dublin and Belfast, just as areas in more populated areas of the British Isles have options.
The population of Yorkshire is 5.4 million, yet there choice is between Eland Road and possible Hillsborough or Bramall Lane at a push.
It's likely only one stadium will be chosen in the region and the same applies to other very populated regions such as the North West and Midlands.
The main population area in Scotland is Glasgow/Edinburgh, whilst in Wales it's Cardiff/Swansea, whilst in Northern Ireland it's Belfast and in the RoI it's Dublin, with the only other possible city with a population that could host being possibly Cork.
forget about Cork , no stadium befitting of an international tournament , holds a decent crowd but far too old and out of date
forget about Cork , no stadium befitting of an international tournament , holds a decent crowd but far too old and out of date
Agreed - the most realistic options are always going to be Belfast and Dublin.
Would really like to see this happen, so fingers crossed.
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