UEFA Final for Lansdowne / U21s Finals for Ireland

From Irish Times:

Lansdowne to host major soccer final
Paul O'Hehir

28/09/2006: The soon-to-be redeveloped Lansdowne Road stadium in Dublin has been pencilled in to host a major European soccer final, most probably the Uefa Cup showpiece in 2010.

Uefa made the announcement in Strasbourg today following a meeting between the organisation's chief executive Lars-Christer Olsson and his FAI counterpart John Delaney.

"This is marvellous news," Delaney said.

"Ireland showed last week with the Ryder Cup that it is capable of hosting the world's major sporting events and bringing a Champions League or UEFA Cup Final to Lansdowne Road will have a similar impact in terms of promoting the country around the world."

The redevelopment of Lansdowne into a 50,000 all-seater stadium at a cost of €300 million will, of course, not be completed before the end of 2008, the target date when the project was originally given the green light.

But the FAI insists the development is on schedule for a 2009 finish with construction due to start next year.

Planning permission received recently is still the subject of an An Bord Pleanala oral hearing but should that final hurdle be met then, conceivably, a high-profile final in 2010 could indeed be staged.

Today's announcement gave the association impetuous to have the stadium built on time, Delaney said.

Uefa, however, would still have to send a team of inspectors to the new stadium on its completion to compile a report of the facility.

Those inspectors would then have to report their detailed findings to Uefa's executive committee, a process which in itself takes a considerable amount of time.

Consider the chance that construction runs over time, such a report would not get returned to committee members in time to confirm - in advance - that all is ready to host such a lucrative match.

Only stadia with five-star gradings are permitted to host Champions League finals while the Uefa Cup final can be staged at venues with either five or four star grades.

Reports that Ireland will host the entire under-21 European Championship finals in 2011 - the final of which would be staged at Lansdowne Road - have yet to be confirmed.

Irish MEP Eoin Ryan conducted a report into the future of European football for the economic committee of the European Parliament and also attended today's meeting in Strasbourg.

He welcomed the commitment given by Uefa to Irish football and said the announcement was "good news for the international image of Ireland as a key country that can regularly host important international sporting events".

Surely this is more general football as it doesnt directly affect the national team

There isnt a chance in hell that the ground will be finished by 2010.
In the Ryder cup case the course was already there.
Do they not realise how bad we are at building things and how ridiculous
the planning laws are
Port Tunnel,Luas etc etc, 2012 if we are lucky

STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - Ireland should host the UEFA Cup final in 2010 if the rebuilding of its Lansdowne Road stadium in Dublin is completed on time, the CEO of European football's governing body said on Thursday.

Lars-Christer Olsson confirmed that his organisation are also hopeful of awarding the finals of the under-21 European Championship to Ireland in the following year.

'If all goes well, Ireland should expect to host the UEFA Cup final in 2010 and most likely the under-21 finals in 2011,' Olsson told.

According to the soccer chief, UEFA envisages the under-21 finals as a joint venture between the Dublin-based Football Association of Ireland (FAI), which is in charge of the game in the Republic, and the Belfast-based Irish Football Association (IFA), which governs the game in Northern Ireland.

'Basically you need four to five small to medium size stadiums and one very large one, so this would really have to be shared between the two associations,' Olsson said.

If approved, it will be the first time that Ireland will host a major European soccer final or major tournament.
Work on redeveloping Lansdowne Road, which hosts Ireland's soccer and rugby internationals, is expected to begin in January with completion of the new 50,000-seater stadium expected by 2009.

'The stadium needs to be up and running for at least a year before we would give the go ahead, but at the moment it's all systems go,' Olsson said.

On another unrelated topic that cream of foot.ie thing
is the funniest thread ever on foot

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Originally Posted by gustavo

Surely this is more general football as it doesnt directly affect the national team

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The U21s automatically qualifying for a major finals?

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Originally Posted by hoops1

On another unrelated topic that cream of foot.ie thing
is the funniest thread ever on foot

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eh? :confused:

At least this is a decent reason the get the stadium completed by 2009. Good point about the automatic qualification for the U21 finals too. :)

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Originally Posted by eirebhoy

eh? :confused:

At least this is a decent reason the get the stadium completed by 2009. Good point about the automatic qualification for the U21 finals too. :)

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Click on the link on Dodges sig

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

The U21s automatically qualifying for a major finals?

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That's the only way they'd get there at the moment.

I was just going to add that even automatic qualification isn't a certainty under Givens! He'd still manage to get us knocked out.

If the FAI were previously serious about hosting the European senior championships they would have applied to host under-age tournaments in advance as it lets Uefa know you there for the long haul.

What would the FAI need to host the U21 Championships in stadi terms?

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Originally Posted by pete

What would the FAI need to host the U21 Championships in stadi terms?

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From the Reuters piece above

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Basically you need four to five small to medium size stadiums and one very large one, so this would really have to be shared between the two associations

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What they mean by "small to medium" I don't know but if they need the North involved too, Turner's Cross, Flancare, Dalymount (or its replacement) and Athlone's and Drogheda's new stadiums (assuming they're finished by then) wouldn't be enough. I can only see Windsor up North that would be better than those though.

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Originally Posted by Schumi

I can only see Windsor up North that would be better than those though.

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By 2011 there may be other alternatives to Windsor in Northern Ireland that would more than fit the bill.

Glentoran's proposed new 10,000 seater stadium springs to mind.

Glenavon's ground (Mourneview Park) would also be well capable of hosting a fixture - would require a new stand behind one of the goals, but otherwise ideal as it is.

Whilst appreciating they are under the control of the FAI, it would be great to see redevelopments at The Brandywell completed in time for this too, so that the city of Derry/Londonderry/Doire/Stroke City could be part of such a prestigious event.

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Originally Posted by Not Brazil

Glentoran's proposed new 10,000 seater stadium springs to mind.

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Didn't know about that, any details?

I didn't realise Glenavon's ground was as big as that, do they get big crowds? It's still not really any better than the EL grounds listed above though.

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Originally Posted by Schumi

Didn't know about that, any details?

I didn't realise Glenavon's ground was as big as that, do they get big crowds? It's still not really any better than the EL grounds listed above though.

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Link to latest on Glentoran's new ground plans.

http://www.sundaylife.co.uk/sport/st...p?story=706605

Glenavon's ground is a wee belter - capacity about 3,500, with new seating on three sides of the ground - hence the need for one more stand. Very modern, and excellent facilities, and a super pitch.

Used regularly by the Northern Ireland Under 21's.

Glenavon get home crowds of 300/500 - more against Linfield, Glentoran and their local rivals Portadown.

I'm quite sure the FAI could stage such an event on it's own, without the need for any cross border cooperation. - Northern Ireland staged the European Under 19 Championship last year very successfully, and is being touted as a venue for matches in the London Olympics competition.

In terms of football stadia, the Republic of Ireland must rank somewhere below 45 in the European rankings out of 52 nations.

We have no national stadium, Tolka Park is our best ground. Cities the size of Galway, Limerick and Waterford have grounds which could be described as poor, shocking, and poor.

We need to wise up and build 2-3 15,000 capacity stadia before we start bidding for "major" tournaments.

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Originally Posted by Patrick Dunne

In terms of football stadia, the Republic of Ireland must rank somewhere below 45 in the European rankings out of 52 nations.

We have no national stadium, Tolka Park is our best ground. Cities the size of Galway, Limerick and Waterford have grounds which could be described as poor, shocking, and poor.

We need to wise up and build 2-3 15,000 capacity stadia before we start bidding for "major" tournaments.

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Absolutely. It's typical of this country. Fur coat and no knickers I believe is the phrase. Delaney and the Minister would be better advised trying to improve the general condition of grounds in the country before going brown nosing to UEFA. BTW, where did the suggestion of Croker for the CL final come from ? Was that Delaney as well ? Can't you just imagine the GAA reaction to that ?:)

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Originally Posted by TonyD

Absolutely. It's typical of this country. Fur coat and no knickers I believe is the phrase. Delaney and the Minister would be better advised trying to improve the general condition of grounds in the country before going brown nosing to UEFA.

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Report in todays paper that the government during a countrywide survey of all sporting facilities to identity aras of most need. Also going to see if municipal shared facilities the best way forward.

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Originally Posted by TonyD

Delaney and the Minister would be better advised trying to improve the general condition of grounds in the country before going brown nosing to UEFA.

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I think that the way they've gone about it is the better way.

It's easier to convince people to invest in stadia if there's the possibility of a return (hosting a major tournament), than it is to get people to invest with no short term return.

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Originally Posted by irishfan86

I think that the way they've gone about it is the better way.

It's easier to convince people to invest in stadia if there's the possibility of a return (hosting a major tournament), than it is to get people to invest with no short term return.

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What return would any investors get?

I honestly don't think that there would need to be severe heavy investment beyond what's already planned to be spent for Ireland to host an U21 championships. It's more ifs and buts about whether current planned stadium developments are completed by 2011.

If all goes to plan, three stadiums capable of hosting a U21 championship should be available for use by 2011; Lansdowne (50,000), Thomond Park (15,000) and Turner's Cross (7,000). Three non-Dublin LOI clubs have stadium plans that could be completed by 2011 to be venues that could be capable of hosting U21 championship matches; Athlone, Drogheda and Finn Harps. With a relative small helping hand of government investment these stadium plans can be completed. The Showgrounds in Sligo, Terryland Pk in Galway, Flancare Pk in Longford and Buckley Pk in Kilkenny would also need relatively small investments to bring them up to the required standard - a fraction of the cost that the government has already invested in our network of greyhound stadiums.

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

The U21s automatically qualifying for a major finals?

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Yea but surely UEFA wouldnt allow 2 countries automatically through (NI and ROI) for an u21 tournament that is quite small in team terms?

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Originally Posted by Dassa

Yea but surely UEFA wouldnt allow 2 countries automatically through (NI and ROI) for an u21 tournament that is quite small in team terms?

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Why would NI be given automatic qualification?:confused:

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Originally Posted by DmanDmythDledge

Why would NI be given automatic qualification?:confused:

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Because they'd be joint hosts.

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According [Lars-Christer Olsson], UEFA envisages the under-21 finals as a joint venture between the Dublin-based Football Association of Ireland (FAI), which is in charge of the game in the Republic, and the Belfast-based Irish Football Association (IFA), which governs the game in Northern Ireland.

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cant see it happen, joint bids for the senior european championships is fair enough but not really for an u21 tournament and in theory either of the countries could do it themselves.