This is great! But other than Dublin, what stadiums do we have that could handle this?

31 comments
  1. They’re not going to look outside Dublin and Belfast maybe, public transport links wouldn’t be good enough

  2. None. I imagine the Aviva is the only one we’ll have. Kind of a shame but still will be cool to have an international tournament in the country.

  3. Won’t be outside of Dublin but might prove good for places outside of Dublin for when tourists visit, I’d imagine a lot would stay outside of Dublin as it’ll be cheaper

  4. Exactly the problem here. We have league of Ireland clubs that need some serious investment in their facilities, but millions will be poured into this for a couple of games in the Aviva.

  5. There are usually about 10 stadiums. Realistically, with 5 football associations involved, the max we can get is two.

    Aviva and croke park are the obvious choices for a whole host of reasons outside of the actual stadium (transport, hotels, etc). While i’d like to see a stadium outside Dublin get used, unfortunately, GAA grounds use of terraces probably don’t make them attractive to uefa

  6. It’s spread over 5 “countries” (associations), so we won’t be getting any outside Dublin, I would imagine. Aviva and Croker are the most suitable by far.

  7. Thomond Park has held football internationals previously, as a die hard GAA fan I’d love to see the likes of the Gaelic Grounds be used for Treaty United and Munster Games – its bigger than Thomond by probably 15000 more people

    Same for Pearse in Galway or Pairc Ui Caoimh.

    Also with the Ryder Cup being held in Adare in 2026 transport infrastructure in Limerick would be the city an extremely viable place.

  8. Size isn’t everything, or so I’ve been told.

    Lack of public transport infrastructure will rule out a lot of places. People can’t be expected to fly here and then hire cars so they can get to matches.

    Lack of “business” hotels, the like of Jurys or Premier Inn, rather than tourist hotels will be another factor.

  9. This tournament will forever etch Ireland as part of the UK in the eyes of the world. Why couldn’t they do it with France or something.

  10. To directly answer your question about stadiums outside of Dublin being able to meet UEFA’s standards, the answer is no as of right now. Páirc Uí Chaoimh comes the closest with 21,000 of the 30,000 minimum seated capacity.

    Potentially Casement Park would meet the requirements after its redevelopment, and these are due to finish before the tournament starts.

  11. There are only two grounds in the country which are soccer-orientated that are fully covered and fully seated. The Aviva, and a League of Ireland ground.

    So if you make it only grounds that are fully soccer-orientated, then it’s just one.

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