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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Alex Young

Euro 2028: UK and Ireland joint bid officially submitted to UEFA

Wembley and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium are among 10 grounds part of the UK and Ireland's joint-bid for Euro 2028, which was officially submitted on Wednesday.

The bid faces competition from Turkey, who are also vying with Italy to host Euro 2032, with UEFA's Executive Committee set to announce the winners in September after evaluating the proposals.

As part of the UK and Ireland's bid, matches would take place in England at Wembley, Villa Park, Everton Stadium, Spurs' stadium, the Etihad Stadium and St James' Park; in Dublin at the Aviva Stadium; in Belfast at Casement Park; in Glasgow at Hampden Park and at Cardiff's Principality Stadium.

Old Trafford, which has the second-highest capacity in England, and Croke Park, the biggest stadium on the island of Ireland, were dropped from the preliminary bid dossier, along with the London Stadium and the Stadium of Light.

Manchester United said they could not "provide the necessary certainty around the availability of Old Trafford due to potential redevelopment of the stadium" following talks with the English Football Association.

Euro 2028 host cities and stadia

  • London - Wembley Stadium
  • London - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
  • Cardiff - National Stadium of Wales
  • Manchester - City of Manchester Stadium
  • Liverpool - Everton Stadium
  • Newcastle - St James' Park
  • Birmingham - Villa Park
  • Glasgow - Hampden Park
  • Dublin - Dublin Arena
  • Belfast - Casement Park

Casement Park in Belfast, which is included in the proposal, is still awaiting redevelopment, having been out of use since 2013.

With a proposed capacity of just over 34,000, it would be the only venue in Northern Ireland big enough to host group matches at the Euros, which require grounds to hold at least 30,000 fans.

The average capacity of the 10 proposed grounds is 53,000 and three million tickets are set to be available to fans, the most ever for a European Championship.

In a joint-statement, the FAs of England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland said £500million had already been invested in improving grassroots facilities ahead of 2028 and predicted that winning the bid would boost the nations' economies to the tune of £2.6billion. A further £45m is set to invested in a legacy fund for the tournament.

Sustainability is also at the heart of the bid, with the FAs promising that the schedule would be designed to reduce emissions and allow 80 percent of ticket holders to travel to games by public transport.

"Together we want Euro 2028 to be the catalyst for a new and sustainable era for football from the grassroots to the very top of the European game," said Debbie Hewitt, chairwoman of the English FA.

The slogan for the joint bid was also revealed as: "Football for all. Football for good. Football for the future."

The UK and Ireland initially undertook a feasibility study looking at the possibility of bidding for the 2030 World Cup but later switched focus to the Euros.

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