Newcastle and Sunderland are reportedly in the running to be a host city for Euro 2028.
After the UK and Ireland launched a joint bid to UEFA to stage the major football tournament earlier this year, it has now been confirmed that council chiefs on Tyneside are working with Newcastle United to get St James’ Park included among the host stadiums.
Newcastle City Council said that success would put the city “on an international stage”, but warned that the battle to be named among the limited number of venues was “extremely competitive”.
Sunderland's Stadium of Light is also thought be in the running to host matches in the 2028 competition.
The UK and Ireland have been the favourites to host the 24-team tournament for some time and looked set to be unopposed until Turkey also lodged an initial application ahead of UEFA’s deadline in March, while a Russian bid was deemed ineligible after the invasion of Ukraine.
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European football’s governing body is due to announce the host nation for Euro 2028 in September next year. Bidding nations must submit a final dossier to UEFA next April, meaning a decision on potential host cities will have to be made in the coming months.
Stadiums wishing to host matches must have a capacity of more than 30,000 – a criteria which the 52,000-seater St James’ comfortably meets, as would Sunderland’s Stadium of Light.
St James’ is the eighth biggest stadium in England and the fourth largest outside of London.
Newcastle was used when England hosted the European Championships in 1996, with the likes of Zinedine Zidane turning out on the St James’ Park turf during three group stage matches.
The stadium has since held other major events such as football fixtures during the London 2012 Olympics, three games at the 2015 Rugby World Cup and rugby’s Heineken Cup final in 2019.
Both Newcastle and Sunderland were also included in England’s failed bid to host the 2018 World Cup.
A notice on Newcastle City Council’s website confirms that it and the football club “have submitted a bid for Newcastle to be a host city within the Football Association’s bid for the UK and Ireland to host the Men’s Euros Football Championships in 2028”.
A council spokesperson added: “We are pleased to have been invited by the FA to bid to be a host city as part of their bid to host the Euros Football Championships in 2028. This is fantastic news for the city, and demonstrates that we can compete with the rest of the UK to host major events.
“The tournament is viewed by three billion people worldwide, and hosting it would put Newcastle on an international stage and bring significant social and economic benefits to the city.
“At this stage, the FA have requested an early response from bidding cities that they can commit to meeting the requirements necessary to qualify as a potential host city. The process is extremely competitive as we go up against many other leading football cities with stadiums that meet the requirements of the FA and UEFA.
“The invitation is on the back of Newcastle delivering successful global tournaments including Olympic football, Rugby Union World Cup, and the upcoming Rugby League World Cup.”
City councillors are due to discuss next month what commitments local authorities and NUFC would need to make in order to stage matches during the Euros.
UEFA requires that a minimum of 10 stadiums are used for the 51-match competition.
The Times has reported that there are 10 stadiums in England left in the race to be host venues – Wembley, St James’ Park, the Stadium of Light, Old Trafford, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the London Stadium, the Etihad Stadium, Everton’s proposed Bramley Moore Dock ground, and Villa Park. Wembley would be a certainty to be a host venue, while stadiums in Glasgow, Cardiff, Belfast, and Dublin are all expected to be included too as part of the multi-nation bid.
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