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

[endabob1]

Hosting the senior tournament is unrealistic without a partner (Scotland) and that's unlikely after the debacle the last time around.

The U21's is a realistic shout

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_UE...ionship#Venues
4 stadiums smallest 8k biggest 21k I assume the difference from normal capacity and Tournament capacity is that they were all seated for the tournament?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_UE...ionship#Venues
2011 has similar sized venues

We could feasibly host this as soon as Lansdowne is ready.
LR 50,000 - Opening Game & Final
RDS - 18,500 (assuming it has a UEFA licence)
Tallaght - 5,700 (Expanded?)
Thomond Park - 25,000 15,100 Seated
Turners Cross - 8,500 7,485 Seated

The only real alterations required I think would be temporary seating at Tallaght, which could be made permanent seating and actually have a decent 10,000 venue for cup finals, A Internationals, Underage Internationals etc..

[HammerNThongs]

The big issue with our 2 stadia is that they are both in the same City and there are rulings preventing 2 games taking place in the same city within 24 hours of each other I think meaning that there would be logistical issues. Basically, it doesnt seem any different to us contributing 1 stadium because the same location is out of consideration for a period of time.

[bennocelt]

No chance, the country is practically bankrupt, there would we war if we made a bid. And we dont have enough hotel rooms, sh1t public transport and no suitable stadia except croker and landsdown. The automatic qualification would be nice though

Yeah thats true, and also didnt we kind of pee off the Scots in the last bid by not having everything ready and on time during the last application. I am nearly sure they wouldn't do it again with us.

Would much rather the FAI put all their energy fixing the many problems with our league

[backstothewall]

Thats a ridiculous comparison. It lasted 3 days and was held on an already existing course. The crowds who turned up were 80% Irish, with the total visitors in the 30-40,000 range (max).

How about fixing the delapidated stadiums we have, srting out the car crash that is Irish football (in terms of organistation and infrastucture), and when we have a solid footing think about doing a feasibility study on whether we can host some of the larger underage competitions

I don't think it is a ridiculous comparison. It is certainly shows the capacity of Dublin to host large numbers of people.

Rather than put us down, heres what we have going for us.

- An excellent transport system. By 2015 there will be motorways from Dublin to Waterford, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Belfast, with a proposal in place for one to Derry. We also have An excellent rail link between Dublin and Belfast.
- An excellent new stadium in Dublin.
- A stadium in Limerick with potential for expansion
- Excellent business cases for stadiums in Galway and Belfast.

Peronally I reckon if Ireland is to bid for a major event, the Rugby World Cup is a better fit for Ireland. The lack of partition in the sport certainly simplifies things for a start. As does the lack of a rule about not using 2 stadiums in 1 city, which puts Croke Park on the table. and the irb are quite happy to farm games out to other countries, Scotland and Wales the obvious locations

In 2003 Australia used stadiums with capacities of 18,484, 20,119 & 19,891. I am sure Derry, Cork and Waterford could make use of a 20,000 seat stadium.

Croke Pk 80,000
Lansdowne Rd 50,000
Thomond Park 35,000ish (if new stands built behind the goals)
Ravenhill 30,000 (assumed capacity for Ravenhill once the re-development is completed)
New build 30,000 stadium in Galway.
20,000 seat stadiums in Derry, Waterford and Cork

In addition to the prestige, and influx of tourists, there would be an excellent legacy of new publicly owned stadiums in Derry, Waterford and Cork, with Derry City, Waterford United and Cork City the obvious tennents.

And to be fair, given the financial mess that Irish football is, I like the idea of our clubs playing in stadiums the local council own. It means that when the blazers that run our football clubs **** up and the banks wind the club up, there will be somewhere for the new team to play. And if we were to host the 2023 RWC, it would leave us in a much better position to then bid for a Euro's

[sixesandsevens]

the idea is a non-runner, we barely have the facilities to stage a Europa Cup final. I think we're getting ahead of ourselves here, in terms of facilities and infrastructure UEFA couldn't find a worse candidate to host a major tournament.... well maybe Albania and Moldova would be just behind us in the pecking order.

[endabob1]

The Rugby one is an interesting shout, but I know that the IRB are trying to move towards having the RWC in one country as it has been a much bigger success than when it's effectively co-hosted.

New Zealand are using 13 venues
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Ru...rld_Cup#Venues
England are using 12 in 2015
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Ru...rld_Cup#Venues
Japan are planning 11 in 2019
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Ru...planned_stadia

So the next feasible date would be 2023 when I would guess it'll go to South Africa who bid for 2015. On that assumption we would be looking at a bid for 2027!!!!!!
Could we feasibly have 10+ venues in place by then?
Will we be out of recession by then???

[backstothewall]

There is no reason why we couldn't get 2023. They did bid for 2019, but so did we. They are a heavyweight in the rugby world, but so are we. Yet we have never hosted a World Cup. They have already had one. Frankly we are overdue our turn

And if you think we have problems hosting major event.....

....In Ireland 1.59 people per 100,000 are murdered annually, in South Africa it is 37.3.

... We have 87,043 km of paved road and 930 km of motorway , South Africa has 73,506 km of paved roads, and 239 km of motorway. (and if Ireland was dropped in a country as big as South Africa, it would take a couple of weeks to find it).

When i looked up those figures, there was a small part of me that thought maybe Thierry was doing us a favour.

incidently, their N17 runs running from Johannesburg to the border with Swaziland at Oshoek/Ngwenya, but do you think it has stone walls or the grass is green?

[jbyrne]

would never happen but it would be a great opportunity, gaa allowing, to redevelop stadiums (and i use the word lightly) like semple stadium, Pairc Ui Chaoimh, limerick grounds etc that are currently nothing more big lumps of concrete with a few seats into decent comfortable satdiums

[endabob1]

backtowalsall, check my Location......

You don't mention that they have the stadiums (lots of stadiums), the experience of hosting major events by 2023 it'll have been an African Nations, A RWC, A FIFA WC, 2 x Cricket WC's plus all the other events, tri-nations, super Bikes A1 Gp etc.....
Add to that it'll have been in England in 2015 and so is more likely to go to SA (or at least the souther hemisphere) than it is to be in Europe & if it is in Europe Italy would be a more likely location, they didn't pull out of the bidding when they got wind of the costs like we did!

[backstothewall]

backtowalsall, check my Location......

Ahh. Hadn't Noticed that.

At the minute if I was the IRB wouldn't commit to doing anything in South Africa in 2023 based on what I see on the news.

Politically all we see coming out of SA is a President who has been on trial for rape and corruption, had 18 children by 6 women, and is currently married to only 3 women because the other one commited suicide.

I fully expect there to be a couple of riots, dozens of people murdered, and a terrorist attack of some kind at the World Cup. What is the security situation like in SA these days? Will the World Cup be the disaster i expect it to be?

[endabob1]

In a word no. The world Cup will be a huge success and despite the scaremongering of the British Press everything is pretty much bang on track.
Firstly we had the will the stadiums be ready panic infused headlines, they have faded as South Africa opened its first of the new stadiums more a year before the start of the World Cup and the remaining stadiums have been shown to be progressing on or close to schedule with Cape Towns striking new Green Point Stadium the final one due for completion next month some 6 months before the start of the games.

Now we have progressed to the horrors of crime in South Africa, yes South Africa has a higher crime rate than most of the developed world, no one is naive enough to dispute this but 30,000 new police are being recruited in advance plus a 45,000 reserve force which will be on duty for the duration of the games.

The infrastructure is going to be an issue only in terms of people who are not familiar with life in a city that doesnt have underground trains, trams etc… The government is putting in place a Rapid transport system designed to improve this, it is not without its flaws but with plenty of high quality accommodation, upgraded international standard airports and an improved local transit system I have every confidence in SA pulling this off.
South Africa is not new to organising international sporting events, clearly nothing on the scale of a FIFA world cup but lets see since the end of Apartheid;
1995 – Rugby World Cup
1996 – African cup of Nations
1997 – Lions Rugby Tour
2003 – Cricket World Cup
2003 – Presidents Cup Golf
2007 – Twenty20 Cricket World Cup
2009 – IPL Cricket (organised at 3 weeks notice due to fears over election violence in India, ironically it was held in South Africa during the most hotly contested elections since the beginning of democracy, without any trouble)
2009 - Lions Rugby Tour
2009 – Confederations cup

Add to these the annual A1 GP race, The world Superbikes GP at Kyalami, the 5 Super 14 franchises that host New Zealand and Australian teams every season, 3 European PGA tour sanctioned events annually and you start to develop an understanding that perhaps these people do know a little bit about organising international events.

[Noelys Guitar]

In a word no. The world Cup will be a huge success and despite the scaremongering of the British Press everything is pretty much bang on track.
Firstly we had the will the stadiums be ready panic infused headlines, they have faded as South Africa opened its first of the new stadiums more a year before the start of the World Cup and the remaining stadiums have been shown to be progressing on or close to schedule with Cape Towns striking new Green Point Stadium the final one due for completion next month some 6 months before the start of the games.

Now we have progressed to the horrors of crime in South Africa, yes South Africa has a higher crime rate than most of the developed world, no one is naive enough to dispute this but 30,000 new police are being recruited in advance plus a 45,000 reserve force which will be on duty for the duration of the games.

The infrastructure is going to be an issue only in terms of people who are not familiar with life in a city that doesnt have underground trains, trams etc… The government is putting in place a Rapid transport system designed to improve this, it is not without its flaws but with plenty of high quality accommodation, upgraded international standard airports and an improved local transit system I have every confidence in SA pulling this off.
South Africa is not new to organising international sporting events, clearly nothing on the scale of a FIFA world cup but lets see since the end of Apartheid;
1995 – Rugby World Cup
1996 – African cup of Nations
1997 – Lions Rugby Tour
2003 – Cricket World Cup
2003 – Presidents Cup Golf
2007 – Twenty20 Cricket World Cup
2009 – IPL Cricket (organised at 3 weeks notice due to fears over election violence in India, ironically it was held in South Africa during the most hotly contested elections since the beginning of democracy, without any trouble)
2009 - Lions Rugby Tour
2009 – Confederations cup

Add to these the annual A1 GP race, The world Superbikes GP at Kyalami, the 5 Super 14 franchises that host New Zealand and Australian teams every season, 3 European PGA tour sanctioned events annually and you start to develop an understanding that perhaps these people do know a little bit about organising international events.

Good post. And the right decision was made by FIFA in this instance by choosing SA. Back to us hosting a major tournament. It could be done. But we would need a visionary at the helm. Possibly someone who has overseen major tournaments before. Not a Bertie/FF type within a thousand miles of having any input.

[kingdom hoop]

That's an impressive list. But I'm still not convinced on South Africa. I mean, how many Eurovisions have they hosted? Not very many I think. And can you see some Zulu dance at half-time in the World Cup final going on to become an international sensation, selling out theaters from Japan to Argentina? Not bloody likely.

[endabob1]

That's an impressive list. But I'm still not convinced on South Africa. I mean, how many Eurovisions have they hosted? Not very many I think. And can you see some Zulu dance at half-time in the World Cup final going on to become an international sensation, selling out theaters from Japan to Argentina? Not bloody likely.

You think we should suggest they get Flatley in to advise? He could do a black & white minstrels type show, I'm sure that would go down a blast

[backstothewall]

Good post. And the right decision was made by FIFA in this instance by choosing SA. Back to us hosting a major tournament. It could be done. But we would need a visionary at the helm. Possibly someone who has overseen major tournaments before. Not a Bertie/FF type within a thousand miles of having any input.

Realistically the only sports administrators we have who have the experience to organise this kind of thing are from horse racing and rugby.

[twoenz]

and if Ireland was dropped in a country as big as South Africa, it would take a couple of weeks to find it).

While you make some excellent, valid points, that's the one that matters the most. We've been told that already as Henry's actions confirmed. We're in the 3rd world when it comes to being worth something as a TV market.

When USA was chosen to host USA 94 they could have held it in Ireland if we compared it as a population that actually cared. But the longer term goal was to make the world's largest TV market sit up and take notice. I'm sure at some point down the line we'll be lining up in Russia, China and even India. Not for the good of the 11 a side treasure, but for "the game" of making FIFA as much money as possible.

[irishultra]

No. Poor football stadiums, sparsley populated island with poor transport it wouldn't be very likely sadly.

Scotland would struggle and they have much better foundations than we do.

[backstothewall]

Why does everyone keep mentioning poor transport?

The Irish transport network is excellent, or at least it certainy will be by 2015. We will have brand new motorways and rail links to every major city, and airports in Dublin, Belfast, Derry, Cork, Limerick and Galway.

The length of time the train from Belfast to Derry takes is one black spot, but otherwise I think we are well set up in terms of transport. And if we were to successfully bid for a major event, we could easily electrify the railways and/or buy new rolling stock.

[irishultra]

But you have to ask yourself what has Ireland got that Norway, Scotland, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland don't have? I mean I couldn't even invision something like that being staged here let alone think of it in any meanginful way.

With an island population of over 6 million it shouldn't be that inprobable but as has already been said we have the football stadiums of a country like Albania, who like Ireland won't be hosting any international events anytime soon.

How much stadiums do you need to co-host?

Lansdowne
Croke Park
A stadium in Belfast
Thomond Park

Thats 4 stadiums in two countries.

[kingdom hoop]

Why does everyone keep mentioning poor transport?

I partly agree with you, but I suppose the point to note is that we have a reasonable standard of transport, but only relative to population we have. In other words, the standard of infrastructure must be viewed in light of the amount of people that use it. For example, if you looked at the roads in Beijing in isolation you'd say they've a good infrastructure. But then when you drop howevermany million people in there the infrastructure isn't so great.

I think the main problem is that UEFA don't allow terracing. If they did, I think the GAA would soften up at the sniff of a few quid. I think we'd manage the logistical problems after that, there'll be plenty of empty hotels available anyway.