By Sean Boyle

The United Kingdom and Ireland have won the bid to host the UEFA European Championships in 2028 meaning the UK will host an international football tournament just 7 years on from the last one.

The announcement was made on Tuesday by UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin at a ceremony with the bid delegations in Nyon.

The 18th edition of the tournament will see the Euros return to England for a third time after hosting in 1996 and 2021, Scotland will host matches for a second time after their first in 2021. And for Wales, Northern Ireland, and Ireland it will be the first time they have European Championship games.

The venues which will be used at the tournament in 2028 are Wembley Stadium in London, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, City of Manchester stadium in Manchester, Everton’s new ground in Liverpool, St James Park in Newcastle, Villa Park in Birmingham, National stadium of wales in Cardiff, Dublin arena in Ireland, Casement park in Belfast, And Hampden Park which is in Glasgow.

Tartan Scarf who creates content around the Scottish National team and has a big presence on Social media stated that ‘Scotland and England and the rest of the UK should be hosting tournaments like this.’

He said:

“This is going to be a much more tightly packed tournament, obviously the UK and Ireland have got some of the best stadiums and best facilities for football and the most history in the game, obviously we just celebrated 150 years since the first ever international football game between Scotland and England.”

“So look I think Scotland and England and the rest of the UK is absolutely the home of international football, so they should be hosting tournaments like this and it’s great to see Hampden part of that process.”

And also a big part of the excitement for football fans when their national team qualifies for a tournament is the fact that they normally get to go to another country that they might not have visited before.

And of course Scotland haven’t yet qualified for Euro 2024, but if they do the Tartan army will surely have a blast in Germany in just under 12 months time.

But in this case because the UK is hosting the tournament their won’t be any trips abroad for the tartan army if they qualify for 2028.

But Tartan Scarf has stated that you can’t please everyone and that it will be more ‘accessible’ for fans.

He said:

“I can see where they are coming from, with these big announcements and big plans your never going to be able to please everyone all the time.”

“As I said before the last Euros when it was host cities all across Europe was something unique, something that has never been done before so it was positive in it’s own way but it had some drawbacks in it’s own way, in the same way people are excited for Euro 2024 next summer being in Germany with all the fans getting to travel into one country.”

“A Euros across the UK and Ireland arguably it would be far more accessible because it will absolutely be on our doorsteps, so fans up and down the country will be able to get games if they might not have been able to afford perhaps to travel internationally for a couple of weeks.”

And of course one of the main reasons why it is beneficial to host football tournaments like the European Championships is the boost it gives to the economy.

Glasgow has a very recent record of hosting big events also as just this summer we seen the cycling championships take place which was a huge success.

Hospitality is an industry that could benefit massively from the tournament as of course you see numerous bars especially in Glasgow rely on numbers from massive football crowds who might be attend the games on a weekly basis.

The Green Pollockshields councillor Jon Molyneux stated that Glasgow ‘has a very good record of hosting events’ and that it is ‘a big opportunities for venues and hospitality.’

He said:

“I think it’s really good that we are going to be hosting another major event in the city, we’ve got a really good record of hosting major events and I do think they bring the best out of Glasgow, I think we seen that with cycling championships this summer.”

“Football is obviously quite important to many people in Glasgow, so I hope it’s an opportunity to show the best of the city to a global audience.”

“It’s a big opportunity for venues, hospitality business’s, we want these kind of events to have a benefit to the city’s economy, and they do, they do have a proven benefit to the economy.”

The Competition will get underway in June 2028.