The 10 stadiums for the UK and Ireland’s bid to host Euro 2028 have been named – with Manchester United’s Old Trafford not making the cut.
Plans for the football tournament to be held across the five nations were officially announced in March of last year with a shortlist of stadiums that could be used revealed later.
That list was eventually cut down to 14 grounds and on Wednesday the 10 stadia that will host the tournament – should the UK and Ireland’s bid win – were announced.
Old Trafford, the second-largest stadium in England, was included on the initial shortlist but, in a move that may surprise some, it has been dropped, but the Etihad, home of local rivals Manchester City, has made the cut.
Two unbuilt stadiums have been included however, namely Everton’s new ground at Bramley Moore Dock and Casement Park in Belfast, which has had to be built as Northern Ireland’s current home Windsor Park is too small for UEFA requirements.
Wembley, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Newcastle’s St James’ Park and Aston Villa’s Villa Park are the other English grounds that will host the 24-team tournament.
The other host nations will get a stadium apiece, courtesy of the Principality in Cardiff, Hampden Park in Glasgow and the Aviva in Dublin.
UK and Ireland Euro 2028 stadiums
Wembley Stadium, London (capacity 90,652)
Principality Stadium, Cardiff (73,952)
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London (62,322)
Etihad Stadium, Manchester (61,000)
Everton Stadium, Liverpool (52,679)*
St James’ Park, Newcastle (52,305)
Villa Park, Birmingham (52,190)
Hampden Park, Glasgow (52,032)
Aviva Stadium, Dublin (51,711)
Casement Park, Belfast (34,500)*
*Under construction
Wembley and Hampden Park hosted several matches during the transcontinental Euro 2020, including the semi-finals and final.
The Aviva was also set to host games but was replaced by the Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg, Russia in the months prior to the tournament due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
West Ham’s London Stadium, Sunderland’s Stadium of Light and Croke Park in Dublin were the other grounds dropped from the bid.
The UK and Ireland are expected to win the rights to host Euro 2028, with their only competition coming from Turkey who have failed with bids to host the last four tournaments as well as Euro 2024, and are also bidding against Italy for Euro 2032.
An FA statement read: ‘High-capacity, world-famous football grounds and state-of-the-art new venues will provide the platform for the biggest and most commercially successful Euros ever – making us a low risk, high reward host.’
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