Unexpected boost to Newcastle United’s hopes of hosting Euro 2028 fixtures

Newcastle United appear to have moved a step closer to hosting a major international tournament after the United Kingdom and Ireland’s bid to host Euro 2028 received an unexpected boost.

A final bid to host the tournament was submitted in April as St James Park was named as one of ten venues across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland that will host fixtures. The Magpies home last hosted major tournament fixtures during Euro 96 when the likes of Bulgaria, Romania and France visited Tyneside and also hosted six fixtures during the 2012 Olympic Games.

The UK and Ireland Euro 2028 official bid brochure confirmed the ‘state of the art venues’ would provide a platform for what they believe will be the ‘biggest and most commercially successful’ European Championships of all time. The full list of potential host venues in the UK and Ireland include: Wembley Stadium, the Principality Stadium, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Etihad Stadium, St James Park, Villa Park, Hampden Park, the Aviva Stadium, Casement Park and Everton’s new stadium, which is set to open ahead of the 2024/25 season.

A rival bid from Turkey was also submitted and that remains alive - but Friday brought confirmation Italy and Turkey are now looking to become joint hosts of Euro 2032 after previously going head-to-head as potential hosts.

A UEFA statement released on Friday morning confirmed the move: “UEFA confirms that it has received today a request from the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) to merge their individual bids into one joint bid to host UEFA EURO 2032.

“UEFA will now work with FIGC and TFF to ensure that the documentation to be submitted for their joint bid is compliant with the bidding requirements.”

A decision over the joint-bid is expected to be made ahead of October 10, when the UEFA executive committee will decide which countries will host Euro 2028 and Euro 2032.