Euro 2028 Stadium Guides

Alongside the United Kingdom, there were were a number of countries that had expressed interest in hosting the European Championships in 2028. The country that is England's biggest rival for the rights are Turkey. However, the country have been unsuccessful in their five previous attempts ranging from 2008 to 2024. There were two other bids that were in consideration, they were Italy, who abandoned their bid and stated their intent to host the 2032 competition and Russia, who were deemed ineligible after a breach of article 16.2 in the bid regulations.

Main Stadium: Wembley Stadium

• Location: London - HA9 0WS
• Home Team: N/A (National Stadium)
• Opened: 9th March 2007
• Capacity: 90,000
• Pitch Size: 115 x 74 (yards)
• Pitch Surface: Desso GrassMaster
• Best Place to Sit: Level 2 (Wembley Club)

It is a hundred years since Wembley Stadium was opened and although it has taken a huge transformation since, it remains the home of English football.

Here we take a look at the stadium’s history and redevelopment.

Wembley’s history

The Empire Stadium, Wembley was opened for the 1923 FA Cup final between Bolton and West Ham when an estimated 250,000 people turned up to watch the fixture and had to be moved to the sidelines so the game could take place.

From then on, it was the premier sporting venue in the country and was used for the London Olympics in 1948, while it will always be remembered as the stage upon which England won the 1966 World Cup when they beat West Germany 4-2 after extra-time with the help of Geoff Hurst’s hat-trick.

But it was not all about football. Wembley staged all sorts of sporting events, including regular greyhound racing and being the home of rugby league’s Challenge Cup final.

Frank Bruno won a world heavyweight boxing title there in 1995 and Henry Cooper floored a young Cassius Clay beneath the iconic Twin Towers in 1963 before losing to the Louisville Lip.

Add to that the staging of the Live Aid concert in 1985, there was not much that the old stadium did not see.

Wembley Regeneration

The stadium had previously had a 125,000 standing capacity before that was reduced to 100,000 and then it became 80,000 when Wembley became all-seated in 1990.

However, the stadium was demolished after England lost 1-0 to Germany in a World Cup qualifier in 2000, and the $800m redevelopment process began.

While the Twin Towers were an iconic feature of the old stadium, the Arch, which holds up most of the roof, at 134m can be seen across London. There are also two sections of the roof that are retractable, so they offer the opportunity to allow sunlight and aid pitch growth.

The stadium now has a capacity of 90,000 seats, which makes it the second largest in Europe after Barcelona’s Camp Nou and it was completed in 2007. Chelsea won the first FA Cup final to be played there when they beat Manchester United 1-0 that year.

The new stadium

There have been plenty of big events held at Wembley since then, with one of the biggest coming in 2022 when England won the Women’s Euros by beating Germany in the final.

A year earlier, the men’s team were unable to claim their first Major tournament success for 55 years when they lost on penalties to Italy in the delayed Euro 2020 final.

NFL regular-season matches have also been played there since the Miami Dolphins faced the New York Giants in the first one a few months after the stadium opened.

As the stadium is on the same site as the old one, the transport links remain the same, with the nearest London Underground station being Wembley Park, which is served by the Jubilee and Metropolitan lines. Wembley Stadium station also serves Marylebone.

Where can I park close to Wembley Stadium?

Wembley has a number of car parks located just minutes away from the main venue. Parking can be booked in advance on event days, Wembley Park has Red, Pink, Green and Blue parking areas.

England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland have submitted a joint bid to host Euro 2028 and Belfast’s Casement Park has been earmarked as Northern Ireland’s venue.

Here we take a look at the stadium’s history and redevelopment.

Main Stadium: Casement Park

• Location: London - BT11 9BD
• Home Team: N/A (National Stadium)
• Opened: June 1953
• Capacity: 32,282
• Pitch Size: 145 x 90 (yards)
• Pitch Surface: Desso GrassMaster
• Best Place to Sit: Currently Closed.

Casement Park’s history

Casement Park is situated on Andersonstown Road in the west of Belfast, County Antrim, and is the principal Gaelic games stadium in the city.

The stadium opened in 1953 and the opening fixture saw Armagh Harps defeat St John’s of Antrim in the final of the first ever Ulster Senior Club Football Championship.

The ground would go on to host the Ulster Championship final a few weeks later, with Armagh beating reigning All-Ireland champions Cavan.

In total, Casement Park hosted eight Ulster football finals and had an official capacity of 32,282, with safety certification for 31,661, 6,962 of which would be seated.

The original ground was one of the biggest in Northern Ireland when in use and celebrates the 70-year anniversary of its opening this year.

Casement Park disrepair and redevelopment

Despite a redevelopment in 2000, Casement Park fell into disrepair in the latter part of the 2000s and has not hosted a competitive match of any kind since 2013, lying disused for the last decade.

Various plans for redevelopment have been discussed throughout the years, with the first announced in 2009.

The Northern Irish government announced funding for a new stadium on the site in 2011 and Ulster GAA submitted plans for a 40,000 capacity all-seater stadium which, if approved, would have made Casement Park the biggest stadium in Ulster.

However, local residents opposed the proposals and the High Court ruled them as unlawful, setting the plans back further.

Ulster GAA responded with another proposal in 2016 for a 34,500 seater stadium but, once again, planning permission could not be obtained.

Casement Park: The new stadium

Following years of delays, uncertainty regarding funding and opposition from some locals, the redevelopment of Casement Park looks like it may finally get off the ground with the backing of the joint bid for Euro 2028.

If the bid is successful, both Casement Park and Croke Park, in Dublin, would be granted special dispensation to host association football under Rule 42 of the GAA laws.

The High Court has approved planning permission and work is due to begin at an unspecified date in 2023, with completion expected to be in 2025.

There seems to be real momentum behind the proposals and they could see competitive GAA and football taking place on the ground in the next few years, bringing to an end the long wait for action at Casement Park

Main Stadium: Etihad Stadium

The Etihad Stadium is the home of the current Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League champions Manchester City and it is among the most impressive grounds in England.

Here we take a look at the stadium’s history, construction and future plans.

• Location: Manchester - M11 3FF
• Home Team: Manchester City
• Opened: August 2003
• Capacity: 56,000
• Pitch Size: 114.8 x 74.4 (yards)
• Pitch Surface: Desso GrassMaster
• Best Place to Sit: Longside Lower Tier

The Etihad Stadium’s history

The venue was built to host the 2002 Commonwealth Games, which was staged in the city of Manchester. The 41,000-seater Athletics stadium played host to the track and field events at the Manchester games, but it was decided that the venue would be converted from an Athletics stadium into a football ground. Originally constructed as the City of Manchester Stadium, the venue was renamed as the Etihad Stadium by Manchester City in July 2011.

Construction began in January 2000 and was completed in time for the opening ceremony of the 2002 Commonwealth Games on 25 July 2002. The building cost £112m and it has received an award from the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2004 for its innovative inclusive building design and a special award in 2003 from the Institution of Structural Engineers for its unique structural design.

Following the 2002 Commonwealth Games the stadium conversion to a football stadium began. The Athletics track was removed, the internal ground level was lowered to make way for an additional tier of seating and the capacity of the converted stadium was increased by 7,000.

However, after Manchester City’s continued success on the pitch, demand for tickets and a further increase in capacity grew, and that led to an expansion of the ground in 2010. City sold all 36,000 of its allocated season tickets in each season from 2011 to 2014 and an expansion of the stadium was undertaken during the 2014-15 top-flight campaign.

A third tier of seating was added to the South Stand and a further three rows of seats were introduced closest to the pitch. That saw the capacity rise to 55,000 for the start of the 2015-16 Premier League season.

Bars, restaurants and various outlets were added in order to fulfil the needs of the Manchester City faithful and the Etihad Stadium is now the sixth largest football stadium in England and ninth biggest in the United Kingdom.

Etihad Stadium: Future developments

Consultation over improvements and further development to the Etihad site began in 2018 and a £300m development programme of the existing North Stand was approved.

It’s expected that construction on a new hotel and fan park, as well as redevelopment of the North Stand, will start this year.

Once complete the capacity of the Etihad Stadium will rise to 61,474 and it will feature premium seating for 450 people billed as the Skybar.

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Guide

• Location: London - N17 0BX
• Home Team: Tottenham Hotspur
• Opened: April 2019
• Capacity: 62,850
• Pitch Size: 114.8 x 74.4 (yards)
• Pitch Surface: Desso GrassMaster
• Best Place to Sit: South Stand

The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium forms part of the joint-bid from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Republic of Ireland to host the 2028 European Championship.

The north London venue is a state-of-the-art ground which regularly hosts Premier League football matches, concerts and has also staged heavyweight championship boxing and NFL matches.

We take at some of those major events held at the stadium, its construction and the history of the north London venue.

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium construction & history

Building work on the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium began in 2015 on the same site as Tottenham Hotspur's former ground, White Hart Lane. However, planning disputes and delays meant the stadium was not opened until April 3rd, 2019.

The 62,850-seater stadium is a multi-purpose venue and features the world's first dividing, retractable football pitch, which sits above a synthetic turf surface used for NFL London games as well as other events.

Early construction continued while Tottenham played at White Hart Lane with building work taking place in two phases.

The first involved the building of the northern section of the stadium and the second phase did not start until White Hart Lane had been demolished - which resulted in Tottenham playing home games at Wembley Stadium for a short period of time.

The stadium opened on April 3rd, 2019 with a ceremony before Tottenham's game with London rivals Crystal Palace. Spurs won 2-0 with Heung-min Son scoring the first goal at the stadium.

The ground is expected to be renamed once naming rights have been sold to a sponsor.

Tottenham Hotspur's Boisterous bowl

Surprisingly, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium doesn't have a retractable roof like many modern state-of-the-art stadiums, but the enormous asymmetric structure is impressive nonetheless.

The stadium stands at 48m high and covers 43,000 square metres. The bowl-shape design enables a huge number of hospitality sections, which includes nine floors in the horseshoe-shaped northern section.

The venue stands at four times the size of White Hart Lane and can accommodate 62,850 supporters who can create a loud and intimidating atmosphere when Spurs are in the ascendancy.

The Multi-purpose Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Regarded as one of the best stadiums in the world, the north London venue has unsurprisingly proved popular with event organisers from sport and entertainment alike.

It is the first stadium outside of North America to have been designed specifically to host NFL games and first staged a game of American Football in October 2019.

Both codes of rugby have held matches at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and it also staged the heavyweight unification title fight between boxers Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk in 2020.

However, outside of football the stadium's biggest function is to stage music concerts.

Guns N' Roses were the first music act to perform at the venue but they have since been followed by some giants of the music industry such as Lady Gaga and Beyonce.

Whether it's a rock concert or an elite football match, the fan experience and atmosphere at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is guaranteed to be top-class, making it a worthy venue to stage any of the action at Euro 2028.

Millennium Stadium Guide

• Location: Cardiff - CF10 1NS
• Home Team: Wales National Team
• Opened: June 1999
• Capacity: 73,931
• Pitch Size: 131 x 86 (yards)
• Pitch Surface: Desso GrassMaster
• Best Place to Sit: BT Stand

England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Ireland have submitted a joint-bid to host Euro 2028 and Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium has been put forward as Wales’ selected venue.

We take a look at the major events staged at the stadium, the construction and history of the Cardiff venue.

Millennium Stadium construction & history

Located on Westgate Street in Cardiff and on the site of the old National Stadium, the Millennium Stadium was constructed in 1999 initially to host the Rugby World Cup of the same year.

The National Stadium played host to both the Welsh national football and rugby union teams, but with a capacity of 52,000 it was felt that this needed to be extended.

Many options were explored - however, the decision was made to build a new stadium on the same site but with a considerable increase in its capacity.

In 1999 construction of the Millennium Stadium was complete, at a cost of £121m, and it was first used for a major event on 26 June 1999, when Wales played South Africa in a rugby union Test match in front of a crowd of 29,000.

The Millennium Stadium was completed with a capacity of 73,931. It is the largest stadium in Wales and the fourth biggest in the United Kingdom.

Crowds to raise the roof in the Millennium

Along with a 73,931 capacity, the Millennium Stadium features a retractable roof. It is one of only two stadiums in Europe with a moveable covering and it’s the largest football stadium in the world with this feature.

Since the opening of the venue in 1999 the setting has seen various upgrades. In 2015 replacement seats were fitted at a cost of nearly £5m and in 2018 a new £3.1 million Desso hybrid pitch was installed.

Each of the stadium bars boast the ability to pour 12 pints of beer in less than 20 seconds and that kept 63,000 thirsty fans happy when sinking 77,184 pints in a Wales v France Six Nations contest.

Millennium Stadium is a venue full of fire

There has been no end of major events staged at the Cardiff venue. As well as playing host to the national football and rugby teams, the Millennium Stadium has held the Tsunami Relief Cardiff concert, the Super Special Stage of Wales Rally Great Britain and the Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain.

During Wembley’s redevelopment, the Millennium Stadium became home to some of English football’s biggest events.

The FA Cup, League Cup and Football League play-off finals were staged in Cardiff between 2001 and 2006 and that was a period which saw Arsenal win three FA Cup titles in Wales, a tally that is unlikely to ever be surpassed.

The Westgate Street venue also hosted football matches during the 2022 Olympic Games and it was the setting for the 2017 Champions League final between Juventus and Real Madrid.

The Millennium Stadium is one of the crown jewels of European stadia and it would be a fitting venue for Euro 2018.

Hampden Park Guide

• Location: Glasgow, G42 9BA
• Home Team: Queen's Park & Scotland National Team
• Opened: October 1903
• Capacity: 51,866
• Pitch Size: 131 x 86 (yards)
• Pitch Surface: Natural Grass Surface
• Best Place to Sit: South Upper

Hampden Park is home of the Scottish national football team and a historic venue that sits proudly in the city of Glasgow.

Here we take a look at the origins, construction and future of the Scottish venue.

History of Hampden Park

Hampden Park, on its current site in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, dates back to 1903.

The stadium was the biggest in the world when it was opened, with a capacity in excess of 100,000. Between 1927 and 1937 the capacity was increased even further peaking at nearly 150,000 and it set a record attendance of 149,415, during a Scotland v England football match in 1937.

This remains a European record for an international football match, but the capacity has gradually been lowered following a series of redevelopments. The latest of those updates took place in 1999 and the stadium now holds 51,866 seats.

Along with Celtic Park and Ibrox, the city of Glasgow once possessed the three largest football stadia in the world.

Hampden Park: Stadium uses

As well as being home to the Scottish national team, Hampden Park also hosts the final stages of the Scottish FA and League Cups.

The venue was home to Scottish Championship side Queen’s Park for over a century and its uses have extended far beyond football.

During the 2014 Commonwealth Games, held in Glasgow, Hampden Park was restructured to allow the staging of track and field events inside the historic venue.

Baseball, rugby union and American Football have all been played at the Mount Florida setting and it was once the home of the Glasgow Tigers speedway team.

Former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson defeated Lou Savarese at Hampden Park and it’s a venue that has a long and varied sporting history.

Away from sport, The Rolling Stones, Oasis, Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay and U2 have also performed at Hampden Park.

The future could be bright for Hampden

In 2020 the SPFA commissioned architects to draw up plans on the complete redesign of the arena.

A two-tiered bowl-like structure inspired by Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena, an increase in capacity to 65,000, a retractable roof and a colour changing exterior were among the plans, but they now look uncertain.

The overhaul of Hampden Park was put on hold after the 2030 World Cup bid was scrapped and it remains to be seen if the plans will ever come to light.

Dublin Aviva Stadium Guide

• Location: Dublin, D04 K5F9
• Home Team: Republic of Ireland National Team
• Opened: 2010
• Capacity: 51,711
• Pitch Size: 115 x 74 (yards)
• Pitch Surface: Perennial Ryegrass
• Best Place to Sit: Western Stand

The Aviva Stadium in Dublin is the national stadium for the Republic of Ireland football team and the Irish rugby team and is one of the venues featuring in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland's joint bid to host Euro 2028.

Ireland's only UEFA Category 4 stadium was opened in 2010 and has already played host to some memorable sporting moments.

The history of the Aviva Stadium

The Lansdowne Road Stadium, a legendary Irish rugby venue, was knocked down in 2007 and the Aviva Stadium was built on the same Dublin site, officially opening in May 2010.

The Aviva Stadium is an all-seater ground with a capacity of 51,711 and is jointly owned by the Football Association of Ireland and the Irish Rugby Football Union.

The first international football match at the ground saw the Republic of Ireland host Argentina in August 2010 and home fans enjoyed one of the Aviva Stadium's earliest events, the 2011 Nations Cup football tournament in which Ireland beat Scotland 1-0 in the final.

The same year, Dublin hosted the Europa League final after seeing off competition for the fixture from Arsenal's Emirates Stadium. Porto beat fellow Portuguese club Braga 1-0 in the final thanks to a goal from Colombian striker Radamel Falcao.

Manchester United's South Korean star Park Ji-Sung scored the first goal in the history of the Aviva Stadium in a 2010 friendly victory over a League of Ireland XI and Kevin Kilbane was the first Republic of Ireland player to find the net there against Andorra in a Euro 2012 qualifier.

Aviva Stadium set for second Europa League final in 2024

The Aviva Stadium was due to host four fixtures at Euro 2020 – three group games and one match in the round of 16 – but Covid-19 restrictions in the Republic of Ireland meant those fixtures had to be moved to St Petersburg and Wembley when the postponed tournament took place in the summer of 2021.

To compensate for the loss of Dublin's Euro 2020 hosting rights, UEFA awarded the Aviva Stadium the 2023-24 Europa League final, which is scheduled for 22nd May 2024.

Dublin provides home comforts for Ireland's rugby stars

The Aviva Stadium has developed into a fortress for the Ireland rugby team, who racked up 12 straight international victories at the ground between 2016 and 2018.

They recently improved on that record with a 14-match winning run at home, culminating in a 29-16 Six Nations victory over England in March 2023 which sealed the Grand Slam.

At club level, Leinster have played important fixtures in the United Rugby Championship and the European Champions Cup at the Aviva Stadium, losing 27-26 to French raiders La Rochelle in a thrilling 2023 Champions Cup final at the venue.

As well as hosting top-class rugby and football matches, the Aviva Stadium has witnessed concerts by superstars including Madonna, Lady Gaga, Billy Joel, Rihanna, Robbie Williams and Harry Styles with Taylor Swift set to play in Dublin in June 2024.