UK and Ireland bid to host Euro 2028 set for approval

By Sports Desk October 09, 2023

The UK and Ireland’s bid to host Euro 2028 is poised to get the formal seal of approval on Tuesday.

The UEFA executive committee is set to give the green light to the five-nation bid, which is unopposed after Turkey withdrew last week to focus on its joint bid with Italy for Euro 2032.

Ten stadia were included in the UK-Ireland’s bid submission in April. Six of the venues are in England, with one each from Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

The six in England are Wembley, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Etihad Stadium, St James’ Park, Villa Park and Everton’s new home at Bramley-Moore Dock.

A redeveloped Casement Park in Belfast, the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Hampden Park in Glasgow and the Principality Stadium in Cardiff are the other stadia included in the submission.

Even with Turkey in the running, the five-nation bid was the overwhelming favourite to be selected.

Senior UEFA sources have indicated the importance of another Euro in a major football market, following on from next year’s tournament in Germany, as European football’s governing body seeks to further replenish its reserves after the financial shock of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The five nations released a joint statement last week following Turkey’s withdrawal, stating they had a “compelling” and “ground-breaking” proposal for UEFA to consider, which would deliver “lasting legacies” across the whole of Ireland and the UK.

There are nevertheless some major issues that need to be addressed if the UK-Ireland bid is accepted by the ExCo.

For a start, the Casement Park site is derelict and plans by the Gaelic Athletic Association to redevelop it with a 34,000 capacity have been mired in controversy and hit by delays.

The Casement project has been delayed by a series of legal challenges and is further complicated by the lack of a functioning Executive at Stormont.

The redevelopment has also been hit by rising costs, with an original projected price tag from almost a decade ago of £77.5million now believed to have spiralled well above £100m.

The GAA is part-funding the project but has yet to reach an agreement with Stormont on how to cover a multi-million-pound shortfall.

Wembley would be expected to host the final in 2028, another major test for the 90,000-capacity venue after the chaos surrounding its hosting of the Euro 2020 final.

Football Association chair Debbie Hewitt said in June: “One of the things I am absolutely convinced UEFA’s Exco will ask us is, ‘How can you assure us nobody will storm the turnstiles?’

“We have to convince every one of those Exco members we have not only thought about it, but that we have planned for it – that we know what we would do in what order and who is accountable.”

England manager Gareth Southgate said it was a “brilliant opportunity” for the nations involved and added: “They will have huge pride in hosting and if the teams get qualified as well then there’s obviously some home advantage to hosting as well.”

Qualification for all of the hosts is not guaranteed.

UEFA’s preferred approach is that all five nations enter qualification, with two host-nation places kept in reserve for any that fail to make it.

However, if more than two do not qualify by right, then only the best two to miss out will be given host-nation places.

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    A new champion will be crowned in the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Wata daCosta Cup as defending champions Clarendon College were knocked out at the competition following a 1-2 loss to Cornwall College in their final Round of 16 contest in May Pen on Saturday.

    Deshaun Talbert (33rd) and Dante Escoffery (44th) got the goals in the consolation win for Cornwall College in Zone Two, while Nicholy Forbes pulled one back for Clarendon College in the 73rd.

    The result saw both teams being eliminated from the daCosta Cup as Zone winners Munro College (seven points) and Frome Technical (five points) secured the quarterfinal spots after a goalless stalemate in the other zone contest.

    Cornwall College and Clarendon College ended on three points and one point, respectively. However, both teams will have a shot at the Ben Francis knockout title.

    Theodore ‘Tappa’ Whitmore was pleased with the fact that his team ended the daCosta Cup on a high.

    “I think it was more the desire and commitment with which we played. The second half of the season has been lacking but they came out this afternoon and we could see the fight and commitment from the players. The Ben Francis Cup is still a trophy to play for so we are looking forward to it, but it is a game-by-game situation so we just want to get the first game out the way and then see where we go from there,” Whitmore said in a post-game interview.

    Though Clarendon College had a slight chance of progressing, provided they won and Frome Technical lost, it was Cornwall College, playing for pride, that looked more purposeful from the start.

    Kayvon Donaldson proved troublesome to the opponent’s defence as he got the first two warning shots off from distance, the first of which went straight at Lydel Rodney in goal for Clarendon College, while the second sailed over the crossbar.

    Donaldson, sporting the number 14 jersey, continued to lead Cornwall College’s attacking line and his persistence proved rewarding when he won a penalty after being taken out inside the 18-yard box. Talbert later converted the 12-yard kick.

    With Clarendon College looking deflated, Cornwall College doubled their lead when Escoffery produced a well-timed run to meet a weighted pass inside the 18-yard box and head past Rodney, who should have done better.

    Clarendon College showed more life on the resumption and created a few decent opportunities, with Forbes at the forefront of each attack.

    The player sporting the number nine jersey first went close in the 71st when he was played in behind defenders, but his first effort came back off the upright, while the follow-up attempt was kept out by Carlyle Tinglin in goal for Cornwall College.

    Forbes again went close soon after, but again failed to beat Tinglin, who was well-positioned to stop the effort.

    He inevitably hit the back of the net when he finished a rebound after Tinglin spilled the ball from Nashon Bolt’s freekick.

    Clarendon College’s Head coach, Lenworth ‘Teacha’ Hyde, felt his team underperformed this season.

    “We didn’t do well this season; we lost some players last year, so we are basically on a rebuilding process. We have some Under-16 players to look at to gel with these current players. So it is a rebuilding process but I think we played well today, we had possession, it is just that we are not scoring, hence we lost the game,” Hyde said.

    Saturday’s results

    Alphansus Davis 0, Garvey Maceo 0

    Kemps Hill 0, STETHS 2

    Clarendon College 1, Cornwall College 2

    Frome Technical 0, Munro College 0

    Ocho Rios 2, Dinthill Technical 2

    Happy Grove 0, Glenmuir 1

    Central High 2, McGrath 1

    Manchester High 2, Denbigh High 2

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    Milan are seventh in Serie A following Saturday's win, which came courtesy of a Tijjani Reijnders header.

    The Rossoneri, who have been crowned champions of Europe on seven occasions, are 25th in the new-look Champions League standings, having taken three points from their opening three matches.

    But Fonseca did not think his team would be overawed at the prospect of facing 15-time European champions Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday.

    "I am always fired up for every game and do not think that Real Madrid is any more important than what we played tonight," Fonseca told Sky Sports Italia.

    "I strongly believe in teamwork. Nowadays, football is challenging; we need to function as a team at all times, and that’s what we’re striving to achieve."

    Speaking to DAZN, Fonseca added: "On Tuesday, we face Real, but it doesn't matter if it's Real Madrid or any other team; we need points to improve our position in the standings. I hope it will be a great night for all of us."

    While Monza dominated the first half, they could not find the margins to score. Milan rallied in the second half, with Fonseca acknowledging that the first-half performance was below par.

    "I was concerned in the first half as we weren’t aggressive enough and didn’t win enough individual duels, but I don’t really remember Monza's chances in the second half," Fonseca said.

    "We adjusted what we needed to do during the half-time break and it was a totally different game after that."

    Substitute Rafael Leao entered the match late and came close to scoring twice in the closing stages.

    "He came on well, it is important to have this reaction from Rafa and that's what I want to see. I think he is ready to play in Madrid," Fonseca said.

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    Milan managed a 1-0 win at Monza thanks to a first-half header from Tijjani Reijnders on Saturday.

    Midfielder Reijnders scored two minutes before half-time in the Serie A contest when he nodded home after Alvaro Morata's header was blocked.

    Monza had wasted some decent openings before Milan went ahead, with Mike Maignan making a fine save to deny Pedro Pereira while Dany Mota had a goal disallowed.

    Reijnders almost made it 2-0 after the break, but his deflected effort was kept out by Stefano Turati.

    Monza goalkeeper Turati made another stop later on, this time to deny Rafael Leao, who scuffed his finish at the end of a mazy run.

    Milan, who had 18 shots and accumulated 2.5 expected goals (xG), were not made to pay for that profligacy, though, as they got back on track after their defeat to Napoli, though the Rossoneri sit seventh, eight behind the Serie A leaders.

    Data Debrief: Reijnders on a roll

    After netting twice against Club Brugge in the Champions League, Reijnders, who did not play against Napoli on Tuesday, has now scored in two matches in a row for Milan for the first time.

    It was the Dutch international's first league goal of the season, and capped a fine performance in which he also played two key passes and completed 44 of his 46 passes, with a team-leading 14 of those played in the final third.

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