Ireland to stage three group games and a round of 16 game at Euro 2020

[DannyInvincible]

Not that I'm suggesting the redevelopment/modernisation of Dalymount wouldn't be a good thing - it'd be a great thing - but what exactly does it have to do with Lansdowne hosting Euro 2020 games? Why need the discussion be tied into that?

[Charlie Darwin]

Not that I'm suggesting the redevelopment/modernisation of Dalymount wouldn't be a good thing - it'd be a great thing - but what exactly does it have to do with Lansdowne hosting Euro 2020 games? Why need the discussion be tied into that?
Packaged with the award of the games is a "legacy" grant from UEFA which, unlike prize money, UEFA actually police to make sure you're using it properly rather than giving yourselves bonuses, hence why the FAI have been forced to scratch around and think of a concrete project they could throw the money at.

[ArdeeBhoy]

'Concrete', hmm. How original.

[Charlie Darwin]

Yes, Ardee, concrete. As opposed to vague, which covers just about every irritating, unhelpful and completely unconstructive post you make here.

I anxiously await your brief and evasive response followed by an ellipsis, giving the misleading impression you've said something meaningful...

[ArdeeBhoy]

As opposed to yer own sham posts and a bid to to be the unfunniest person in public since Les Dawson...
;)

[bennocelt]

As opposed to yer own sham posts and a bid to to be the unfunniest person in public since Les Dawson...
;)
And now ArdeeBhoy that's unfair, Les Dawson was class

[ArdeeBhoy]

No, he was pish. Though I suppose he wasn't a hypocrite.

[tetsujin1979]

grow up. the lot of you. now.

[colonelwest]

Yes, Ardee, concrete. As opposed to vague, which covers just about every irritating, unhelpful and completely unconstructive post you make here.

I anxiously await your brief and evasive response followed by an ellipsis, giving the misleading impression you've said something meaningful...

I'm just surprised that ArdeeBhoy hasn't already petitioned FIFA, UEFA, the European Court of Human Rights, the FAI, John Delaney, Bono and Bob Geldof to have that legacy fund ring fenced to pay for Maxi's legal defence fund over the next 6 years


Anyway, fantastic news on the success of the bid, it will actually bring a hell of a lot to the city and the country and I'm delighted to hear that something will be done for Dalyer. Hopefully that will go ahead sooner rather than later and having to wait the 6 years to get the few bob to do it up!

[Charlie Darwin]

No word that I can see on when the grant will be released, but if it's about creating a legacy you'd assume UEFA will release it so it can be used before the tournament takes place.

[Crosby87]

Im hearing crackbird is the early favorite to supply concessions at Euro 2020. The Serbian fans will be thrilled.

[geysir]

I think they should call it John Delaney Park and have Bohs, Shels and Pats all share it. And Dundalk.
Just because Delaney has a dream, therefore (according to him) it should be become his legacy. Has he got his personality mixed up with the board so much, as a result of atom interchanging (Flann O'Brien theory), that he's half Delaney and half board?

If not, then he can as CEO make a proposal to the management board and the board can decide on its merits.

[Charlie Darwin]

I think we know at this point that the tail wags the dog at the FAI. He has no control over junior football, but as far as the LOI and the association's finances go, he can do what he wants.

[geysir]

Then the board are responsible for Delany acting out being Delaney.

[paul_oshea]

Cd likes the world ellipsis.

On the arguments of croker, what has grandeur and factor got in common?

[DannyInvincible]

I'm not sure. What do grandeur and factor have in common?

[paul_oshea]

I could be wrong but because I was referring to a previous post, in the context "has" seems more appropriate than the quesion of asking what do two things have in common.

[DannyInvincible]

It's not necessarily the grammar I'm struggling with. The question simply doesn't make sense to me, whether 'has' or 'have' is used.

[Charlie Darwin]

This is post of the month territory, lads. It's like you're having two separate one-sided conversations.

[paul_oshea]

More like seperate conversations completely rather than one-sided ones. Interesting how I read the Italics all the same. Because it got me thinking - logically - which is more correct gramatically as opposed to danny - who was also thinking logically about the factors - not getting what I was referring to in earlier posts.

Specifically referring to this DI:


Croke Park ... lacks .. grandeur to stage a final.
...
and it lacks the factors I mentioned to do so.

[DannyInvincible]

Hehe, I get that you're referring to two posts of Fly's, but, having re-read the question multiple times, I'm still not sure what it actually means:

"On the arguments of croker, what has grandeur and factor got in common?"

[paul_oshea]

You have confused me now too DI :)

[NeverFeltBetter]

Formal unveiling etc: http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro-2020/news/newsid=2425237.html?rss=2425237+Dublin+excited+to+ share+in+2020+experience

Looks like the logo idea is famous bridges in each city? Nice awkward picture of Delaney next to the Taoiseach.

In bigger news, has Roy Keane shaved?

[BonnieShels]

Im hearing crackbird is the early favorite to supply concessions at Euro 2020. The Serbian fans will be thrilled.

I miss Crosby.


Formal unveiling etc: http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro-2020/news/newsid=2425237.html?rss=2425237+Dublin+excited+to+ share+in+2020+experience

Looks like the logo idea is famous bridges in each city? Nice awkward picture of Delaney next to the Taoiseach.

In bigger news, has Roy Keane shaved?

http://img.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Photo/competitions/General/02/42/52/38/2425238_s1.jpg

I like the idea of the logo and theme, but they didn't pick Dublin's most iconic bridge? Ridiculous. The Beckett Bridge is not quite there yet. Even the Loopline is more iconic if gack.

[geysir]

I see Uefa Euro 2020 refer (http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro-2020/index.html) to our stadium as Dublin Arena and not by the name of the company who bought the naming rights for a period of time. Where did they get that from? Is that the default name of the stadium?

In the total absence of imagination, the national stadium in Belgium is to be called Eurostadium, but you've got to admire the euro esprit de corps.
I would have called it Black Albert 13%, as in try and beat that.

[BonnieShels]

Dublin Arena is always UEFA's default name for the Lansdowne Road Stadium. Perhaps someone should suggest that as the "default" name?

When we hosted the Europa League Final it was held in the Dublin Arena.

[tetsujin1979]

It's because Aviva isn't a UEFA sponsor, so they can't be mentioned anywhere

[geysir]

Uefa do acknowledge the name of the stadium as being the Aviva Stadium in their intl match reports.
Where did the Dublin Arena name come from, is it a uefa make-up name?

[BonnieShels]

Uefa do acknowledge the name of the stadium as being the Aviva Stadium in their intl match reports.
Where did the Dublin Arena name come from, is it a uefa make-up name?

During Tournaments they will have a whole raft of paid up sponsors and Aviva would be freeloading otherwise. Same as happens with the Fußball Arena München...

[Real ale Madrid]

It annoys me way more than it should that it will be called the Dublin Arena rather than Lansdowne Freaking road of all things.

[geysir]

During Tournaments they will have a whole raft of paid up sponsors and Aviva would be freeloading otherwise. Same as happens with the Fußball Arena München...
Then Uefa could easily have called ours The Hoofball Arena.

[pineapple stu]

I would presume the FAI had a say in "The Dublin Arena".

I'd say for Aviva's sake, "Lansdowne Road" as a name must be buried and not allowed to return.

[Charlie Darwin]

I would presume the FAI had a say in "The Dublin Arena".

I'd say for Aviva's sake, "Lansdowne Road" as a name must be buried and not allowed to return.
That's precisely it I'd say.

[Dodge]

FWIW, the IRFU called the stadium Lansdowne Road (Aviva Stadium) for their 2023 Rugby World Cup submission. By that stage, the Aviva sponsorship may be gone too

Calling it Dublin Arena, Aviva Stadium or Lansdowne Road doesn't bother me in the slightest btw

[DeLorean]

Confirmed that it'll be either Germany or Turkey in 2024. - http://www.uefa.org/about-uefa/news/newsid=2447054.html

Would be a nice one to qualify for. Turkey a little dangerous maybe but the weather and holiday atmosphere could be great.

I'll be really old by then though. ;)

[paul_oshea]

Ha I was thinking just the same thing.

You will be old.

ANd Married.

And your Wife will put the foot down. Even if she enjoyed the now long distant past "France 2016".

[DeLorean]

Ha ha... :D

(she went to Vienna though, not France).

[DeLorean]

Some information from UEFA.com regarding the qualification process for Euro 2020 - http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro-2020/news/newsid=2502936.html

[Stuttgart88]

I need to read that again. And again.

[DeLorean]

I need to read that again. And again.

The video clears things up nicely. :D

[geysir]

A Rubik's Cube format.

I've got as far as a minute into the video, I keep pressing the 10 second playback function but to no avail, I'm none the wiser.

[pineapple stu]

Seems fairly straightforward?

Ten qualifying groups, with the top two in each qualifying. No play-offs. No foostering about. Back to the olden days.

Then the winners of Divs 1-4 of the Nations League qualify as well, to make 24. We knew the Div 4 winner would qualify, even if it's San Marino.

Only complication is that if you reach the Nations League knock-outs, and have already qualify for the Euros, you don't get to play in the Nations League play-offs, and are instead replaced by the runner-up in your Nations League group. That sounds silly. UEFA seem to be intent on ruining a potentially interesting format. You can basically only win the Nations League if you didn't qualify for the Euros.

[geysir]

Seems fairly straightforward?

Ten qualifying groups, with the top two in each qualifying. No play-offs. No foostering about. Back to the olden days.

Then the winners of Divs 1-4 of the Nations League qualify as well, to make 24. We knew the Div 4 winner would qualify, even if it's San Marino.

Only complication is that if you reach the Nations League knock-outs, and have already qualify for the Euros, you don't get to play in the Nations League play-offs, and are instead replaced by the runner-up in your Nations League group. That sounds silly. UEFA seem to be intent on ruining a potentially interesting format. You can basically only win the Nations League if you didn't qualify for the Euros.
There are no play offs but yet there are play offs :)

The video ain't straightforward
The video starts starts at some chosen spot in the elongated qualification process with a dazzling display of red, blue, green and yellow spotted paths
20 teams will have already qualified by then but still participate in the euro leagues where the 4 remaining places still have to be filled by teams who have to negotiate a maze around the teams who have already qualified and are not engaged in the business end of this section.


From the text version - spot the discrepancy
Qualifying group stage
The 55 teams will be split into ten groups of five or six. Four of the five groups of five will contain one team that has qualified for the UEFA Nations League finals (to be played June 2019). The top two from each group will qualify for the final tournament, determining the first 20 places.

[DeLorean]

We knew the Div 4 winner would qualify, even if it's San Marino.

So would we be better off in Division 4?

[pineapple stu]

So would we be better off in Division 4?
Yes, we've known that for ages.


There are no play offs but yet there are play offs :)
The qualifying groups have no play-offs. No best runner-up calculations, no worrying about seeding. Just the top two qualify, end of story.

The Nations League has play-offs, but we've known that since the format was announced.


20 teams will have already qualified by then but still participate in the euro leagues
Not correct. The Nations League happens first, and from that, 16 teams will reach the divisional play-offs (4 from each division, or one from each group within each division). This will happen by Nov 2018.

Then Euro 2020 qualifying happens - from Mar to Nov 2019. So at this stage, no-one has qualified for the Euros via the Nations League.

Once qualifying is over, the play-offs of the Nations League take place (Mar 2020), with any team who qualified for both the play-offs and the Euros being replaced in the play-offs by the next best team in the Nations League who didn't qualify for the Euros. This bit is daft.

The UEFA article says the draw for the Euros will be in December 2019, before 4 of the qualifiers are even known. This bit is also daft, and leads to them postulating an "additional tournament draw" in April 2020 if required.

I'll agree the article is badly written, but the video (when it doesn't freeze) is good.

This does all appear to differ from the schedule schedule (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_2020_qualifying#Schedule) on the wiki article on both competitions, incidentally.

[DeLorean]

Yes, we've known that for ages.

So long that it would be forgivable for one to forget?

[pineapple stu]

No. That's never forgivable, DeL!

There was an article posted here only this month on it (http://foot.ie/threads/225112-UEFA-Nations-Cup) (joe_denilson's link post)

[DeLorean]

Never saw that. Qualifying for competitions based on results in the weaker group(s) is bizarre.

[pineapple stu]

Yeah, though I don't mind it too much - why not have the smaller teams something to play for? And if, say, the Faroes qualify and get thumped in three group games, so what? I don't see the harm in giving them something to get excited over. (Though it might screw around with the third-place rankings - one win against the Faroes and you could be almost assured a place in the last 16)

But the Nations League format as a whole seems a bit daft. We could end up playing two countries twice - and that's it.

Even something like 9 divisions of 6 seems better. Play home and away - 10 games. (There's surely space for that many over two years?) Top 2 promoted each year, bottom 2 relegated. (Yes, it's a lot, but who really cares?) Div 1 v Div 2 winner for a Euro spot; if the winner has already qualified, then the place carries down to the best team in the play-off winner's division not to have qualified. Div 3 v Div 4 for a Euro spot, and so on. Div 9 winner can't qualify.

[DeLorean]

The Convention Centre in Dublin will host the qualification draw - http://www.fai.ie/ireland/news/dublin-selected-to-host-uefa-2020-draw