by
Belfast’s Casement Park and Everton’s Bramley-Moore Dock, two unbuilt stadiums, are in the UK and Republic of Ireland’s joint bid to host Euro 2028.
The 10 grounds also include Glasgow’s Hampden Park, Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, plus English venues Wembley, St James’ Park, Villa Park, the Etihad Stadium and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Dublin’s Aviva Stadium has also made the final shortlist.
Turkey is the other candidate to host the men’s tournament in June and July.
Fourteen stadiums were originally on the shortlist submitted to Uefa by the five football associations from the UK and the Republic last year.
Old Trafford – which has the highest capacity in England after Wembley, the Stadium of Light, the London Stadium and Dublin’s Croke Park are the four to be dropped from the list.
“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,” said an FA statement.
The bid has been backed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf and Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford, who said it would be the “biggest sporting event our islands have ever jointly staged”.
Two unbuilt grounds make list
Work has not yet started on a 34,500-capacity stadium planned for the Casement Park site, which has not been in use since 2013.
The stadium has primarily been a Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) venue and redevelopment has been subject to a legal challenge.
Windsor Park, where Northern Ireland play their home matches, does not meet minimum capacity requirements.
Everton’s Bramley-Moore Dock, expected to host around 53,000 spectators, is under construction and expected to be built by 2024.
Earlier this year, Everton owner Farhad Moshiri revealed that costs for the club’s new Bramley Moore Dock stadium could amount to £760m – a £260m increase on figures quoted by the club last year.
A decision on who will host the 2028 Euro finals is expected to be made by Uefa’s executive committee in September, with work on all potential host stadiums to begin by at least the summer of 2024, four years before the tournament.
The UK and the Republic say in their bid a record three million tickets will be made available while “sustainability and good governance practice” are “top priorities”.
They say more than 80% of ticket holders able to travel to matches by public transport and claim it will generate £2.6bn combined for the nations’ economies
A review into disorder at the Euro 2020 final, held in London at Wembley, found “ticketless, drunken and drugged-up thugs” could have caused death as they stormed the stadium.
