Villa Park included in UK and Ireland's Euro 2028 bid
Villa Park will be part of the UK and Ireland’s Euro 2028 bid after being included in the preliminary dossier submitted to Uefa.
The 125-year-old stadium is one of 14 on a shortlist which will be cut to 10 when the final bid is presented next April.
But with Villa Park now the only remaining Midlands ground in the running, after Milton Keynes was deemed too small, it is guaranteed to survive the cut with the FA determined to ensure the tournament is staged across the country.
One of either Tottenham Hotspur Stadium or the London Stadium will be trimmed, along with two of either Old Trafford, the Etihad Stadium or Everton’s new still to be built Bramley Moore Dock home.
The bid team will also choose between Newcastle’s St James’s Park and Sunderland’s Stadium of Light.
Glasgow’s Hampden Park, Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, Belfast’s Casement Park and Dublin’s Aviva Stadium and Croke Park are the other stadiums on the list along with Wembley, which will host the final.
Ensuring Villa Park was part of the bid was a driving factor behind expansion plans which will see the North Stand completely rebuilt and the stadium’s capacity increased beyond 50,000 in the next few years.
Villa chief executive Christian Purslow previously claimed it would be “unthinkable” for the ground not to be part of the bid.
Wolves, who last summer hosted their first senior England international for 66 years, also considered putting Molineux forward as a host venue but did not follow up initial interest after meeting with organisers.
Russia and Turkey have also stated their intention to bid for the tournament, though the former has already been blocked following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
A joint statement from the FA’s of the home nations and the Republic of Ireland said: “The bid sets out our clear and compelling vision for UEFA EURO 2028: ‘Football for all. Football for good. Football for the future’.
“Together, we believe we can deliver a world-class tournament, and that hosting UEFA EURO 2028 will achieve a strong and sustainable legacy for football and wider society, helping to drive economic growth in local communities.”
