UEFA announced that 5 member nations will be hosting the 2028 UEFA Euro tournament. They’ve recently confirmed the 10 stadiums where the tournament games will be held. Some of the best stadiums England has to offer are not on that list. Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United and Anfield, the home of Liverpool will not be hosting any of the games. The Emirates Stadium which is the home of Arsenal has missed the cut as well. All these have their different reasons.
Euro 2028 venues spread across England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland
- Wembley, London – England: 90,000 capacity
- Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London – England: 62,850 capacity
- The Etihad, Manchester – England: 53,400 capacity
- Everton Stadium, Liverpool – England: 52,888 capacity
- St James’ Park, Newcastle – England: 52,305
- Villa Park Stadium, Aston Villa – England: 42,652 capacity
- The Principality Stadium, Cardiff – Wales: 74,500 capacity
- Casement Park, Belfast – Northern Ireland: 34,500 capacity
- The Aviva, Dublin – Republic of Ireland: 51,700
- Hampden Park, Glasgow – Scotland: 51,866
As above mentioned, one stadium each has been chosen from all nations barring England. 6 stadiums have been chosen from England. Home stadiums of Everton, Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United, and Manchester City are in the mix. However, the home stadium of Liverpool did not make the cut as UEFA regulations say that the necessary length of the field needs to be 105m. However, Anfield has a field length of 101m, which became the reason why they were not even considered.
Emirates Stadium was eligible in terms of fulfilling what was needed to host European games. However, only one stadium from each city would be chosen. London is the home of amazing clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Tottenham Hotspur, Fulham, and West Ham United. Spurs’ stadium is the biggest and most technologically sound. Hence, they were chosen to host London’s share of UEFA Euro 2028 matches. Other than Anfield and Emirates, Old Trafford were also absent from the result as the owners removed themselves from the list.
The FA put the name of Old Trafford in the mix. However, as the stadium is going through renovation work, Manchester United owners are unable to guarantee that it will be ready before the tournament. Even though, there are still 5 years and other stadiums like Everton’s are also undergoing renovation work, Man United were still unsure. They released a statement saying, “Manchester United was pleased to put Old Trafford forward as a potential host of UEFA Euro 2028 matches and proud of the strong case we made.”
It further read, “However, during follow-up discussions with the FA, it became clear that we were unable to provide the necessary certainty around availability of Old Trafford due to potential redevelopment of the stadium. As a result, we have mutually agreed to withdraw from the shortlist of potential hosts. We are committed to maintaining Old Trafford’s status as the largest and most iconic club football ground in England and look forward to future opportunities to host international matches and major events at the Theatre of Dreams.”
