Ireland as a host for Euro 2020?

klose

Final should be held in semple so everyone can go drinking in the square beforehand

SantryRed

If this was to be successful there's no fcuking way rugby or gaa stadiums should be upgraded. It should be football stadiums upgraded to improve infrastructure for the LOI.

Speak Now

Hope they like hang sanwiches and flasks of tae.

Prop Joe

SantryRed wrote: »

If this was to be successful there's no fcuking way rugby or gaa stadiums should be upgraded. It should be football stadiums upgraded to improve infrastructure for the LOI.

Hahahahahahaha LOL:D

dsmythy

I know UEFA say three countries could host, they will find better options.

SantryRed wrote: »

If this was to be successful there's no fcuking way rugby or gaa stadiums should be upgraded. It should be football stadiums upgraded to improve infrastructure for the LOI.

Can picture it now, host Euro 2020. Leave a legacy for gaa and rugby.....

Pinturicchio

SantryRed wrote: »

If this was to be successful there's no fcuking way rugby or gaa stadiums should be upgraded. It should be football stadiums upgraded to improve infrastructure for the LOI.

What LOI club(s) would want or need a 40k seater stadium?

Dempsey

SantryRed wrote: »

If this was to be successful there's no fcuking way rugby or gaa stadiums should be upgraded. It should be football stadiums upgraded to improve infrastructure for the LOI.

I agree but how many stadiums are needed to host a 24 team tournament? How many will Ireland have to stump up? Which stadium gets the upgrade?

dan1895

I agree that it should be football (soccer) stadiums developed rather than those of other sports but I also agree that no LOI club needs 40,000 all seater stadia. therefore, see my eaarlier post about bidding for underage tournaments etc

SantryRed

Pinturicchio wrote: »

What LOI club(s) would want or need a 40k seater stadium?

It doesn't matter. Why should a football tournament upgrade stadiums for competing sports? Not that the FAI will give a fcuk though.

J Cheever Loophole

As a GAA fan, I don't feel there is a need to involve the GAA here to make it work from a stadia point of view. The Aviva would be an obvious choice, and thereafter probably two 30K plus stadiums. The obvious one is Thomond Park, which would probably reach the required standard with a similar style stand to the two already there, at one end of the ground (or one smaller version at each end if room is an issue).

After that, there would be a need to build a new 30K stadium, which I would guess would be relatively inexpensive if modelled along the lines of St Marys or the Walkers Stadium in Leicester. Indeed the cost would probably be as cheap to redeveloping a Provincial GAA stadium.

If it was to be built, somewhere like Waterfordcould be a good choice, and could be adapted to multi purpose use thereafter, in which case it might justify it's existence in the long run as a multi purpose sports ground.

This is of course is all based on significant investment to start with, which is obviously required, and of course further investment would be required outside the ground(s) for things like transport infrastructure and accommodation. I believe these things are considered as part of an overall package before any country gets the green light.

As I say, it will of course cost money but I wouldn't imagine it would be an impossibility if linked with two other hosts.

Pawwed Rig

Maybe we could build a new stadium in Abbottstown:D

Reekwind

J Cheever Loophole wrote: »

As a GAA fan, I don't feel there is a need to involve the GAA here to make it work from a stadia point of view

As a GAA fan, I'd love to see a European Championship final being held in Croke Park

As an Irishman, I don't want a single cent of public money being put into this madcap plan

Edit:

SantryRed wrote:

It doesn't matter. Why should a football tournament upgrade stadiums for competing sports? Not that the FAI will give a fcuk though.

Fine then. Enjoy hosting Euro games in Lansdowne (just be sure to give the IRFU their cut) and... Oriel Park?

The reason that a football tournament should upgrade other stadiums, from a purely selfish perspective, is that the FAI currently doesn't have a single adequate stadium (ie, 25k plus) to its name. It doesn't have the money to build a single adequate stadium. It doesn't have the need for a stadium of such size

If FAI participation in this bid is to amount to anything other than a handful of games in Lansdowne then other sports will have to be involved. Period. And if this is to happen then their grounds will have to be upgraded

Amirani

GAA stadiums shouldn't be used to host any matches, for two main reasons:

1. Pitches are stupid sizes and make for an awful spectator experience, particularly true of Croke Park.

2. They're in the middle of nowhere for the most part. Dublin and Cork are probably the only cities big enough to host the fans that would fluctuate towards these games.

Metropolitan population of cities hosting Euro 2012 games:

Poland
Warsaw: 2,631,902
Gdansk: 1,080,700
Wroclaw: 1,030,000
Poznan: 943,700

Ukraine:
Kiev: 3,648,000
Donetsk: 2,009,700
Kharkiv: 1,732,400
Lviv: 1,498,000

Our second largest city is half the size of the smallest venue for Euro 2012. Expanding stadia isn't really much of an option either as there's not enough support for domestic football in Ireland to justify it. As said above, trying to host an Under 21 Championship would be a far better goal. The most recent event in Denmark was hosted in one 20,000 stadia and three 10,000 seater stadia.

Jimmy Iovine

NiallSparky wrote: »

GAA stadiums shouldn't be used to host any matches, for two main reasons:

1. Pitches are stupid sizes and make for an awful spectator experience, particularly true of Croke Park.

2. They're in the middle of nowhere for the most part. Dublin and Cork are probably the only cities big enough to host the fans that would fluctuate towards these games.

Metropolitan population of cities hosting Euro 2012 games:

Poland
Warsaw: 2,631,902
Gdansk: 1,080,700
Wroclaw: 1,030,000
Poznan: 943,700

Ukraine:
Kiev: 3,648,000
Donetsk: 2,009,700
Kharkiv: 1,732,400
Lviv: 1,498,000

Our second largest city is half the size of the smallest venue for Euro 2012. Expanding stadia isn't really much of an option either as there's not enough support for domestic football in Ireland to justify it. As said above, trying to host an Under 21 Championship would be a far better goal. The most recent event in Denmark was hosted in one 20,000 stadia and three 10,000 seater stadia.

Take a look at Qatar with the 2022 World Cup. There is one "major city" there that has a population of 3,000, while the proposed stadium is 35,000 capacity.

Their entire population is 1.6 million. The amount of tickets on sale for the last world cup in South Africa was 2.9 million. And don't forget that it's the same size as Leinster. If they can do it so can we. I know they are absolutely minted but we have more than enough hotels in place already I feel to be able to accommodate fans.

Between the three countries you have Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Cardiff and Cork (if they build a stadium or upgrade an existing one). 6 large cities that would be entirely capable of holding a big match.

Your point about GAA stadiums being in the middle of nowhere is a sort of okay point until you look at the stadiums in Ukraine. There is an 800km journey between them for fans. That's equivalent almost to driving the length of Ireland twice. At least in Ireland we could run buses between venues and everything is within an hours driving distance.

ArmaniJeanss

Local_Chap wrote: »

Kilkenny,Cashel and Clonmel are all within a half hour of Thurles. Dublin, Cork, Waterford and Limerick are only a hour to an hour and a half away. Im sure they could manage to hold 35,000 foreigners.

So in some of parellel universe where no-one else wants to host the tournament we could at a sort of push be a co-host using the likes of Semple and McHale. With fans bussing in on the day from 100 miles away.

Unfortunately in the real world of bidding, our opponents will be putting in top notch bids based on modern purpose built soccer stadia in 1M+ functioning cities like Poland and Ukraine's bid.

This dragon is out.

Jimmy Iovine

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Unfortunately in the real world of bidding, our opponents will be putting in top notch bids based on modern purpose built soccer stadia in 1M+ functioning cities like Poland and Ukraine's bid.

It all hinges on Turkey's bid for the Olympics. I think their government is more in favour of hosting that event which is on in the same year. If they get that gig then they won't get the ECs.

That leaves it a straight shoot-out between Ireland/Scotland/Wales and probably a solo bid from Georgia. If Turkey were to get the Olympics then I'd fancy us to get the Euros.

dsmythy

tolosenc wrote: »

To be honest, if it's us 3 against Turkey, and a whole bunch of countries just don't want it in Turkey (be it because they're anti-corruption, anti-racism, or Greek), we might just get it.

Not only do UEFA like having stadia in different cities, it's actually a specified critea for ranking bids.

9 stadia are required, so 3 each(1 >50,000; 1>40,000; 1>30,000): Aviva, Croker, Thomond(+upgrade); Hamden, Murrayfield, AN Other (is there a 20k+ stadium in another city there? Pittodrie?); Millennium, Liberty (+upgrade), Wrexham or Cardiff City Stadium.

Deadline is tonight and the only other bidders are Turkey and Georgia. If Istanbul is picked for the Olympics in the same year Platini has said they wouldn't be allowed host Euro 2020 too.

We might actually have a chance of hosting this thing. Where's all the other bidders at? Any big country in Europe has Euro 2020 in their lap potentially if they put in a bid. Where's England now?

Dempsey

Jimmy Iovine wrote: »

Take a look at Qatar with the 2022 World Cup. There is one "major city" there that has a population of 3,000, while the proposed stadium is 35,000 capacity.

Their entire population is 1.6 million. The amount of tickets on sale for the last world cup in South Africa was 2.9 million. And don't forget that it's the same size as Leinster. If they can do it so can we. I know they are absolutely minted but we have more than enough hotels in place already I feel to be able to accommodate fans.

Between the three countries you have Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Cardiff and Cork (if they build a stadium or upgrade an existing one). 6 large cities that would be entirely capable of holding a big match.

Your point about GAA stadiums being in the middle of nowhere is a sort of okay point until you look at the stadiums in Ukraine. There is an 800km journey between them for fans. That's equivalent almost to driving the length of Ireland twice. At least in Ireland we could run buses between venues and everything is within an hours driving distance.

Qatar have money coming out their ears though, they are even building stadiums that can be sold to other countries after the tournament!

Jimmy Iovine

Dempsey wrote: »

Qatar have money coming out their ears though, they are even building stadiums that can be sold to other countries after the tournament!

I know that. The point I was making was that the size of the country should not matter in this instance. All of the stadiums (bar one) are along the same 70 kilometre stretch of coastline. Three of the locations have a population of 30,000. I know their bid was almost certainly rigged but I think with the help of Scotland and Wales we could pull this off.

homerjay2005

ScienceNerd wrote: »

Can't see the GAA agreeing to anything, especially seeing as how it's during the championship season. Non-runner really I'm afraid.

money talks....croke park was closed for 2 weeks in 09, to let bono and 80,000 people onto the pitch.

the negativity sourrounding bids like this always both amuse and annoy the f*ck out of me. "it wont happen" or " we cant do it" is one of the most over used phrases in ireland today. of course it can be done, if any of you know what poland was like (ie one of the poorest countries in europe) when this was given to them, you might reconsider. ukraine is an absolute s*it hole, with barely finished stadiums and no road and rail infrastructure. we can hold at least 6 games in this country, without any bother at all.

the bid looks like it will happen, fai confirmed an interest today. after that, its up to uefa, but no reason why we cant get it, with the right bid.

joshrogan

I think a rugby world cup would be a more reasonable target if it was an all Ireland affair.

Zebra3

dan1895 wrote: »

If Ireland wants to host a tournament we should look at one of the underage ones. Throw a bit of money at the stadia in Sligo, Athlone, Longford, Waterford and Tallaght in addition to Thomond, Turners Cross and Lansdowne and maybe the new Finn Harps stadium and we might have the required grounds for an under 20 World cup or Euro's but that's about it.

NiallSparky wrote: »

As said above, trying to host an Under 21 Championship would be a far better goal. The most recent event in Denmark was hosted in one 20,000 stadia and three 10,000 seater stadia.

Yep, just four stadia needed for Euro U21 finals.

Lansdowne for Ireland's group games, a semi and the final. With reasonable ticket prices (like with the FAI Cup final) there should be 30-40,000 at those games.

Thomond Park as it is has about 13,000 seats. No work needed. Three group games and a semi.

Tallaght Stadium has almost 6,000 seats and modern facilities. Probably just one new stand needed at either end of the ground to satify UEFA. Three group games.

A.N.Other. Finn Harps new ground/redeveloped Brandywell/ modernised Showgrounds or an upgraded Turner's Cross though I don't think the space is there. Three group games.

Easily doable and a lot more realistic.

The next tournaments are in Israel (2013) and Czech Rep (2015).

Fr Tod Umptious

homerjay2005 wrote: »

money talks....croke park was closed for 2 weeks in 09, to let bono and 80,000 people onto the pitch.

the negativity sourrounding bids like this always both amuse and annoy the f*ck out of me. "it wont happen" or " we cant do it" is one of the most over used phrases in ireland today. of course it can be done, if any of you know what poland was like (ie one of the poorest countries in europe) when this was given to them, you might reconsider. ukraine is an absolute s*it hole, with barely finished stadiums and no road and rail infrastructure. we can hold at least 6 games in this country, without any bother at all.

the bid looks like it will happen, fai confirmed an interest today. after that, its up to uefa, but no reason why we cant get it, with the right bid.

But the bid will never be right on the basis that Scotland and Ireland would have too many stadiums in too few cities, that's what killed the Euro 2008 bid.
Unless UEFA relax that then it's a non starter

If that problem remains and a bid were to still go ahead it would require the creation of a number of white elephants, be they soccer, rugby or GAA stadiums in various parts of the country.

And I for one have no interest in financing white elephants right now or in the next 8 years.

ColeTrain

SantryRed wrote: »

If this was to be successful there's no fcuking way rugby or gaa stadiums should be upgraded. It should be football stadiums upgraded to improve infrastructure for the LOI.

You have to have stadiums in the first place if you want to upgrade them..

homerjay2005

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

But the bid will never be right on the basis that Scotland and Ireland would have too many stadiums in too few cities, that's what killed the Euro 2008 bid.
Unless UEFA relax that then it's a non starter

the awarding of the WC to Qatar has surely changed all that....

and back then, our bid was based on a stadium that might be built and another that had no indication of ever being available to be used.

realistically, with little investment, croker and aviva are solid grounds to start with. maybe the only other need is one other ground, which is where perhaps thomond comes in.it would need to be upgraded again, but that wouldnt break the bank to add in about 10,000 seats to make it 30k.

Fr Tod Umptious

homerjay2005 wrote: »

the awarding of the WC to Qatar has surely changed all that....

and back then, our bid was based on a stadium that might be built and another that had no indication of ever being available to be used.

realistically, with little investment, croker and aviva are solid grounds to start with. maybe the only other need is one other ground, which is where perhaps thomond comes in.it would need to be upgraded again, but that wouldnt break the bank to add in about 10,000 seats to make it 30k.

Qatar got the WC because of corruption and bribes.

Ireland and Scotland will not be greasing the palms of the UEFA officials the same way as Qatar did to FIFA

Dempsey

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Qatar got the WC because of corruption and bribes.

Ireland and Scotland will not be greasing the palms of the UEFA officials the same way as Qatar did to FIFA

Every bid bribed officials in one way or another, Qatar werent the first and wont be the last

plasmaguy

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Qatar got the WC because of corruption and bribes.

Ireland and Scotland will not be greasing the palms of the UEFA officials the same way as Qatar did to FIFA

UEFA isn't in any way corrupt like FIFA is.

In FIFA you have all these third world and Carribean representitives, a lot of whom but not all see the chance to make massive money through their vote. It used to be the same with the Olympic voting panel, bribes, offers of scholarships, pet projects, the works.

As long as you have representatives from poorer nations or nations where corruption is a way of life voting for who gets the World Cup, you probably will have corruption.

UEFA officials are more than likely well paid and don't need bribes.

FIFA was and probably still is rotten to the core, UEFA still ok for the most part.

plasmaguy

homerjay2005 wrote: »

money talks....croke park was closed for 2 weeks in 09, to let bono and 80,000 people onto the pitch.

the negativity sourrounding bids like this always both amuse and annoy the f*ck out of me. "it wont happen" or " we cant do it" is one of the most over used phrases in ireland today. of course it can be done, if any of you know what poland was like (ie one of the poorest countries in europe) when this was given to them, you might reconsider. ukraine is an absolute s*it hole, with barely finished stadiums and no road and rail infrastructure. we can hold at least 6 games in this country, without any bother at all.

the bid looks like it will happen, fai confirmed an interest today. after that, its up to uefa, but no reason why we cant get it, with the right bid.

Good point. The GAA are down about 5 million a year since the soccer and rugby left.

Financially the arrangement was very good for the GAA and I think they'd have no problem holding Euro games.

Laois_Man

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

But the bid will never be right on the basis that Scotland and Ireland would have too many stadiums in too few cities, that's what killed the Euro 2008 bid.
Unless UEFA relax that then it's a non starter

If that problem remains and a bid were to still go ahead it would require the creation of a number of white elephants, be they soccer, rugby or GAA stadiums in various parts of the country.

And I for one have no interest in financing white elephants right now or in the next 8 years.

These may be the 9 stadiums I would envisage. Some need a bit of work but not a huge amount. It's 9 stadia in 9 different cities!


Millenium Stadium Cardiff (75K)
Liberty Stadium Swansea (with a bit of work)
Racecource Ground Wrekham (with a lot of work)


Celtic Park Glasgow (60K)
Pittodrie Stadium Aberdeen (30K with a bit of work)
Murrayfield Edinburgh (67K)

Croke park OR Aviva 82K/50K
Gaelic Grounds Limerick 55K (just needs more seating - already has 35k)
Pearse stadium Galway or Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork (just needs seating)

And don't anyone try to tell me the GAA wouldn't jump at the chance of this, the money they would make and the stadia improvements they would get for free!!

Dempsey

I cant see the SFA choosing Celtic Park over Hampden

cruiserweight

Laois_Man wrote: »

Pittodrie Stadium Aberdeen (30K with a bit of work)

Pittodrie has a capacity of around 22k at the moment. Doing work on the stadium might be a bit tricky as part of the stadium is protected afaik. Although there are/were plans to build a new stadium in Aberdeen.

Fr Tod Umptious

Laois_Man wrote: »

These may be the 9 stadiums I would envisage. Some need a bit of work but not a huge amount. It's 9 stadia in 9 different cities!


Millenium Stadium Cardiff (75K)
Liberty Stadium Swansea (with a bit of work)
Racecource Ground Wrekham (with a lot of work)


Celtic Park Glasgow (60K)
Pittodrie Stadium Aberdeen (30K with a bit of work)
Murrayfield Edinburgh (67K)

Croke park OR Aviva 82K/50K
Gaelic Grounds Limerick 55K (just needs more seating - already has 35k)
Pearse stadium Galway or Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork (just needs seating)

And don't anyone try to tell me the GAA wouldn't jump at the chance of this, the money they would make and the stadia improvements they would get for free!!

So you are quiet willing to ditch Hampden Park, Ibrox and the Cardiff City stadium in favour of Pearse Stadium, The Gaelic Grounds and Páirc Uí Chaoimh ?

Please stop.

Coillte_Bhoy

Laois_Man wrote: »

These may be the 9 stadiums I would envisage. Some need a bit of work but not a huge amount. It's 9 stadia in 9 different cities!


Millenium Stadium Cardiff (75K)
Liberty Stadium Swansea (with a bit of work)
Racecource Ground Wrekham (with a lot of work)


Celtic Park Glasgow (60K)
Pittodrie Stadium Aberdeen (30K with a bit of work)
Murrayfield Edinburgh (67K)

Croke park OR Aviva 82K/50K
Gaelic Grounds Limerick 55K (just needs more seating - already has 35k)
Pearse stadium Galway or Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork (just needs seating)

And don't anyone try to tell me the GAA wouldn't jump at the chance of this, the money they would make and the stadia improvements they would get for free!!

Absolute nonsense, UEFA stadia criteria are based on way more than the simple number of seats. And none of the 3 you mention come within an asses roar of meeting them. Honest to god, this thread is nuts, no wonder this country is in the state it's in.

Coillte_Bhoy

Dempsey wrote: »

I cant see the SFA choosing Celtic Park over Hampden

No, considering Hampden is their national stadium.

Dempsey

cruiserweight wrote: »

Pittodrie has a capacity of around 22k at the moment. Doing work on the stadium might be a bit tricky as part of the stadium is protected afaik. Although there are/were plans to build a new stadium in Aberdeen.

Construction was suppose to start this year, no idea if they have actually started or not.

Coillte_Bhoy

Jimmy Iovine wrote: »

Kilkenny definitely could. 20,000 descend here every June bank holiday weekend for the Cat Laughs and there is never a problem. If the 35,000 is split between Cork and Kilkenny then it'd be perfect. It divvies out the profits between neighbouring counties as well. Cork and Kilkenny profit from the accommodation and Tipperary profit from the game itself and anything else that goes with it.

So how do these 35,000 get to Thurles? By bus? That would require about 6-700 buses would it not? Please think again. Oh and im sure there'd be no bother finding parking for these buses in Thurles.

Laois_Man

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

So you are quiet willing to ditch Hampden Park, Ibrox and the Cardiff City stadium in favour of Pearse Stadium, The Gaelic Grounds and Páirc Uí Chaoimh ?

Please stop.

You don't know what you're talking about!

Hampden Park, Ibrox and Celtic Park are all in the same city.
Cardiff City Stadium is in the same city as Mellinum Stadium.

If you were gonna have 5 of the 9 stadia in 2 cities, you might as well just use the biggest from each (Celtic Park and Mennium stadium) and none of the others! But UEFA would never sanction that for the same reasons they didnt sanction Euro 2008 - it would mean supporters of 10 countries all moving around Glasgow and Cardiff all at the same time.

So you please stop!

Dempsey

Laois_Man wrote: »

You don't know what you're talking about!

Hampden Park, Ibrox and Celtic Park are all in the same city.
Cardiff City Stadium is in the same city as Mellinum Stadium.

If you were gonna have 5 of the 9 stadia in 2 cities, you might as well just use the biggest from each (Celtic Park and Mennium stadium) and none of the others! But UEFA would never sanction that for the same reasons they didnt sanction Euro 2008 - it would mean supporters of 10 countries all moving around Glasgow and Cardiff all at the same time.

So you please stop!

Capacity isnt the only consideration so please please stop.

Laois_Man

Coillte_Bhoy wrote: »

Absolute nonsense, UEFA stadia criteria are based on way more than the simple number of seats. And none of the 3 you mention come within an asses roar of meeting them. Honest to god, this thread is nuts, no wonder this country is in the state it's in.

Its not absolute nonsense. When I say "just needs seating", I am referring only to the capacity issues. I also realise dressing room and security and safety upgrades would be needed. It's not as if it involves spending a couple of hundred million like some make out!

Laois_Man

Dempsey wrote: »

Capacity isnt the only consideration so please please stop.

I didn't say it was. See above!

Fr Tod Umptious

Laois_Man wrote: »

You don't know what you're talking about!

Hampden Park, Ibrox and Celtic Park are all in the same city.
Cardiff City Stadium is in the same city as Mellinum Stadium.

If you were gonna have 5 of the 9 stadia in 2 cities, you might as well just use the biggest from each (Celtic Park and Mennium stadium) and none of the others! But UEFA would never sanction that for the same reasons they didnt sanction Euro 2008 - it would mean supporters of 10 countries all moving around Glasgow and Cardiff all at the same time.

So you please stop!

And that is why the bid is dead before it even starts.

The good stadiums are too concentrated in too few cities and the alternatives (from Ireland's perspective) are non runners.

So please stop all this 'if you upgraded the Gaelic Grounds and managed to find that Santa left Castlebar a present of a new stadium' folly.

let the Scots and Welsh make their own build and do what ever they want.

Dempsey

Laois_Man wrote: »

Its not absolute nonsense. When I say "just needs seating", I am referring only to the capacity issues. I also realise dressing room and security and safety upgrades would be needed. It's not as if it involves spending a couple of hundred million like some make out!

Other major considerations are transport links, accommodation, corporate and media facilities. Excluding Croke Park, all GAA stadiums fail these criteria miserably. Hampden Park will be the 1st stadium on any list from the SFA.

plasmaguy

Laois_Man wrote: »

You don't know what you're talking about!

Hampden Park, Ibrox and Celtic Park are all in the same city.
Cardiff City Stadium is in the same city as Mellinum Stadium.

If you were gonna have 5 of the 9 stadia in 2 cities, you might as well just use the biggest from each (Celtic Park and Mennium stadium) and none of the others! But UEFA would never sanction that for the same reasons they didnt sanction Euro 2008 - it would mean supporters of 10 countries all moving around Glasgow and Cardiff all at the same time.

So you please stop!

What about Murrayfield, it's in Edinburgh, not a bad stadium, capacity of about 45,000 I think.

homerjay2005

SantryRed wrote: »

If this was to be successful there's no fcuking way rugby or gaa stadiums should be upgraded. It should be football stadiums upgraded to improve infrastructure for the LOI.

while what you are saying is true, is there really a need for another large stadium in Dublin when there already are 3 non loi grounds that have 18,000 plus seats?

there is no justification for investing 100+ million into a stadium in cork for example, that will have about 5,000 fans for every game.

at least the GAA ground there would get some big crowds every year and i am sure munster could play a few games also.

investing in a 30k seater stadium in the loi, is not financially viable, the only real option would be opening up thomand for a team in limerick, but loi football is sruggling, its local junior that thrives down there.

Jimmy Iovine

Coillte_Bhoy wrote: »

So how do these 35,000 get to Thurles? By bus? That would require about 6-700 buses would it not? Please think again. Oh and im sure there'd be no bother finding parking for these buses in Thurles.

Right rule out Kilkenny for all but a handful of the supporters.

Stick with Cork as the primary accommodation location. It's linked with Thurles via the main Cork-Dublin train route. Makes everything much easier. I've been to 3 British Opens in Scotland and England where the courses were in the absolute back arse of nowhere. The local authorities put on extra trains and had shuttle buses waiting to ferry fans to the course from the station and managed to get 200,000 people to the tournament over the course of 4 days.

No traffic problems at all with this approach.

Fr Tod Umptious

Jimmy Iovine wrote: »

Right rule out Kilkenny for all but a handful of the supporters.

Stick with Cork as the primary accommodation location. It's linked with Thurles via the main Cork-Dublin train route. Makes everything much easier. I've been to 3 British Opens in Scotland and England where the courses were in the absolute back arse of nowhere. The local authorities put on extra trains and had shuttle buses waiting to ferry fans to the course from the station and managed to get 200,000 people to the tournament over the course of 4 days.

No traffic problems at all with this approach.

Just when I though this thread could not get any worse, it just has.

Try going to a major soccer international tournament some time.

homerjay2005

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Just when I though this thread could not get any worse, it just has.

Try going to a major soccer international tournament some time.

and you should take a trip to poland and ukraine and compare how bad those countries were when they got the euros. i was there in poland 4 years ago and the country was in a state of absolute mess. its getting there now, ukraine is a s*ithole. if they can host it, we can certainly do so, with the right planning and investment.

ireland can comfortably host at least 6 games in this, no problem at all.

plasmaguy

Not sure how many big stadiums Wales has. They have Millenium Stadium, and apart from that, maybe if Swansea's and Cardiff City's were upgraded.

To be honest, when you are hosting one of these events, you do have to spend a lot of money and usually massively upgrade or build new stadiums, that's what the Poles and Ukranians did, while the Quatari's are building almost all their's from scratch, and all their stadiums will be very concentrated too.

I wouldn't be too concerned about the present state of stadiums in the 3 countries. You'd want to spend a combined 5 billion to upgrade/build new ones, and I'm not sure there's that kind of money around, and there would be minimal legacy to all 3 countries, who don't have the fanbase to sustain big stadiums.

rossie1977

at euro 2004 matches were held here

at euro 2008 klagnefurt held matches, thats a town of about 90,000, innsbruck and geneva both euro 2008 hosts are no bigger than cork, i was in innsbruck the summer before that tournament and it seemed they were doing a massive overhaul on the stadium in that town so to suggest that just because limerick or cork dont have the necessary facilities now they wouldn't have in 8 years is wrong, limerick city according to trivago has 73 hotels, cork has 134 hotels, both cities have international airports on their doorstep as well