LAST UPDATE | 12 Apr 2023
Updated at 13.19
IRELAND AND the United Kingdom submitted their final bid to host Euro 2028 today, with Croke Park absent from the list of stadiums that will be utilised.
The venue has historically been used for GAA matches but served as the home to the Irish soccer and rugby teams while Lansdowne Road was under redevelopment during the late ’00s.
Last month, it was confirmed that permission had been granted for both Croke Park and Casement Park to be included in a formal bid for the 2028 Euros.
Casement Park in Belfast, which is currently being redeveloped and is due to have a 34,500 capacity once completed, has made it onto the final list of 10 stadiums, whittled down from an original shortlist of 14, despite reports in December that Uefa had raised concerns over its inclusion.
Sports minister Thomas Byrne told The Hard Shoulder on Newstalk that Uefa felt Dublin was too small a city to host games at two different stadia.
“We wanted Croke Park and the Aviva, but from a Uefa point of view, it was felt that two in a city the size of Dublin would not be ideal for the bid”, said the minister. “We did push hard for the two in Dublin, but it was ultimately decided we would not proceed with Croke Park. That is simply to do with the way the Uefa process works, and London is the only city where two stadiums will be proposed for the bid.”
Minister Byrne also confirmed that the British government have committed to significant investment to develop the currently derelict Casement Park.
“Obviously there is substantial work to be done there, and the British government have given a guarantee in relation to that”, he said.
The other stadiums included are the Aviva Stadium, Dublin (51,711), Hampden Park, Glasgow (52,032), Villa Park, Birmingham (52,190), St James’ Park, Newcastle (52,305), Everton Stadium, Liverpool (52,679), the Etihad Stadium, Manchester (61,000), the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London (62,322), Principality Stadium, Cardiff (73,952) and Wembley Stadium, London.
To be eligible for inclusion, stadia were required to have a net seating capacity of more than 30,000, which meant Northern Ireland’s Windsor Park among others did not make the cut.
In addition to Croke Park, the Stadium of Light (Sunderland), London Stadium (West Ham), and Old Trafford (Man United) were the other stadia excluded despite featuring on last November’s provisional list.
The42 understands that GAA officials are pleased to see Casement Park included given the redevelopment of the Belfast venue is a key infrastructural aim of the association.
In part of a lengthy statement released this afternoon, FAI CEO Jonathan Hill did not address Croke Park directly while hinting at reasons for its exclusion.
“In all major bid processes, you start with a short list of stadia, and this is whittled down to a final agreed list in order to give the bid the best chance of success and reflects the streamlined nature of the tournament,” he said. “This bid started with 14 Stadia, and we now have our agreed final 10 which have been submitted. The Bid, with the exemption of London, is based on a ‘one city, one stadia’ principle and together we believe the list offers an array of superb stadia from across the UK and Ireland.”
The joint bid involving five associations is set to go up against Turkey, with Uefa due to vote on hosting rights in September.
An FAI release this afternoon outlined the perceived benefits of the bid, which they listed as follows:
- We predict UEFA EURO 2028 will generate cumulative socio-economic benefits of up to €3 billion (£2.6 billion) for our nations, €241 million of which will be generated in Ireland.
- Bid Partners have already invested or committed more than £500 million (€567 million) between 2019 and 2025 to improve and upgrade grassroots facilities – with the aim of expanding investment programmes as UEFA EURO 2028 approaches.
- A €51 million (£45 million) legacy fund will be invested to develop football and create additional legacies for grassroots football
- The tournament will help create positive long-term community impact through volunteering, tourism and other training opportunities that provide people with skills for life.
You can find out more about the bid in the official brochure here.
Updated at 18.04 with comments from Minister Thomas Byrne TD
Thats ok. Just don’t come asking again. Eaten bread is soon forgotten.
@John Hally: Goodman John that’s the attitude your probably still in favour of the ban.Is to take place in 2028 not 1928
@John Hally: Are you the GAA John, do you speak for all of us? Do you even know why it wasnt used, or are you delighted to have the opportunity to have a dig.. The whole country lost out here..
Tbh this bid is so underwhelming, I’d sooner Ireland have no part in it and aim for a genuine hosting of the competition along with Scotland further down the line, between the two, maybe throw in Wales we could get it. England have only included the rest as they know they are super unpopular and wouldn’t be guaranteed to win it alone.
@Patrick Breen: Without england we lose 6 52,000+ seater stadiums. Even if you bring in Celtic park, Ibrox, Murrayfield and Croke Park its still short 2 large stadiums and also condenses half the tournament stadiums into 2 cities, Dublin and Glasgow, and that will never win so stop with the thinly veiled anti English rhetoric because like it or not if we ever want to host a major tournament we need them.
@Phil Redmond: well tbh, the fact that there’s only gonna be a handful of games, and exactly the same as what we had planned for Euro 2020 makes me feel like we’re not really hosting anything at all. Obviously we have a better chance of getting this, but also England have definitely only taken in the other nations because of a pan-Europan anti-English sentiment. There’s zero reason for them to need us other than good will.
@Phil Redmond: We could of had 3 on the island of ireland, 2 in wales, 2 in scotland and 3 in england.. That would of covered it and everyone would of felt part of it. This wont give the country an economic or feel good lift, so its a damp squib. Nothing to do with anti-english sentiment. The government should of gotten behind this financially and politically.. We could of invested in a stadium to bring it up to scratch or heaven forbid build a municpal stadium somewhere down the country so there would of been a legacy and long term benefit. No forward thinking, just getting dragged along with the tide as usual.
@Mark O’Neill: No you couldn’t. The only viable options here are Lansdowne Road and Croke Park, both in Dublin. In Scotland unless the Scottish rugby union allow access to Murrayfield the the only options are all in Glasgow. In Wales the millennium stadium is the only option. The next biggest is the Cardiff city stadium and that’s not big enough and even if it was, it’s the same problem again being in the same city. Bar the odd game in Belfast it would mean playing the entire tournament in just 3 cities and that’s just not gonna happen. It’s a logistical and policing nightmare.
@Mark O’Neill: As for your gibberish about building a stadium, you might not be aware but there is currently a major housing crisis in this country. No government is going to give any sort of financial or political backing to building a new stadium when those resources could be put to building homes instead
Very surprised at that given the capacity Croke Park could hold for soccer (74,000 or so) and the resulting extra revenue. I can only imagine that they decided to only use one stadium in Dublin which would have to be the Aviva.
@cian nolan: yes, aside from London the limit was 1 stadium per city.
@Ciaran Kennedy: Dissappointing but makes sense.
@cian nolan: I’d imagine there may be a bit of sour grapes due to GAA’s position over the past number of years. It was reported that Uefa had thought Croke Park would be an excellent venue for a European final and were rebuffed on each occasion
One stadium in the Republic of Ireland hardly makes this much of a joint bid. Seems an odd exercise to get a couple of games played in the Aviva.
Croke Park isn’t up to UFEA standard, it would require investment. Secondly normally it’s only one stadium per city. In that case it was always going to be the aviva. Casement Park in Belfast has two question marks over it. One will be built in time, two where it’s situated. If NI qualify can imagine the security nightmare it would cause playing games at Casement Park. Windsor Park is too small according to UFEA.
Croke Park is an incredibly atmospheric stadium, a Euro semi or final would be epic at capacity.
Exciting news! FYI, Goodison Park will be long demolished by 2028. It’s Bramley Moore Dock in Liverpool that I would imagine was included, which is Everton’s future stadium.
It won’t be Goodison Park, it’ll be in the new Everton stadium at Bramley Moore Dock.
I presume it is to do with the large terrace at one end. You don’t see that in other major stadiums.
@Les Wynan: Yes, it’s an embarrassment our two lopsided stadiums.
With the history involved with Croker and its huge capacity it should have been put forward for the final..
@Brian McMahon: yeah, cos you never go with the best offer, the main host and their self owned, way better stadium that fits 14,000 more.
Goodison Park in 2028, won’t it be long demolished by then??
@Robbie Owen: Must mean the new stadium as the capacity listed seems to match with that.
We all know the reason..stick soccer up your
Hampden is an absolute kip of the stadium. Should be in Celtic park if anywhere in Scotland.
So croke Park isn’t safe anymore.
The Dublin hotels will be licking their lips. If they are charging 400 euro per night already, I can only imagine how much they’ll charge if that goes ahead
I think we should have had a 2nd venue in ROI but not necessarily in Europe’s most expensive City for accommodation. Perhaps Thomand Park (if they added the extra temporary seating)?
If successful I hope there is a trickle down effect for teams to base themselves here (or NI) for a portion of the event. Plenty of secure FAI pitches AND reasonable hotel prices outside the Pale
What’s the story with Casement Park? , I’ve been hearing that its supposed to be getting done up for the last 10 years. Anyone know are they close to starting the renovation work?
@Eoin Fitzgerald: Unlikely to happen any year soon as long as Stormont remains deadlocked.
@Eoin Fitzgerald: planning has been approved for casement that’s what took it so long… to be re developed ..the GAA have won again and maybe in secret talks with the FAI, get a brand new stadium built in west Belfast for GAA, paid for with peace money and eufa money and sure soccer will not have a chance developing, and sure with Ulster Rugby could use it to play big games like Leinster and Ulster GAA use it for all big games, sure Norn Iron football team will go backwards ..GAA happy ..IRFU happy and FAI happy ..now how do we get a stadium redeveloped in Connaught for free will be the next question on the GAAs lips
@Martin Lonergan: whats stopping ifa from building a stadium in belfast?
Why did GAA give permission to use Croke Park if UEFA werent going to use it.doesnt make sense..Croke Park has bigger capacity..