posted Jun 9, 2008

Lads

A short while ago I was thinking of going to the Euro 2012 finals in Ukraine and Turkey, regardless of whether we qualify but I learned that some of the match venues are 21 hours apart on train journeys - and thats just in Ukraine alone!!!!

Far from ideal, now is it!

I'd say alot of europeans would much prefer the Irish/Scots option now!

Its all fine stating that only one venue per city, but if the knock on effect of that is 21 hours on a train, surely common sense would suggest that the Glasgow and Dublin scenarios are preferable.

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posted Jun 11, 2008

I honestly cannot see how this would work for Scotland. I would LOVE Scotland to host it, but I don't think its feasible.

Hampden
Murrayfield
Ibrox
Celtic Park

As I understand it from above, we need another four. Perhaps Dundee and Dundee United could build a new stadium and share, as they are so close together, but that is only one stadium. 3 more are needed.

there was rumors that Motherwell were thinking about a new stadium in Ravenscraig. Perhaps we could inject money into that to get them a decent one. But it would only be quarter-full, as opposed to the normal half-full stadium currently being used.

I think we need to face it. Not enough people in Scotland go to games, perhaps because of the cost, but that means that big stadiums are a waste of money, and if we dont have big stadiums, we wont get big tournaments...

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posted Jun 19, 2008

The whole Poland/Urkaine tournament would just be a pain due to travelling between them and that... I can't understand how Scotland and Ireland failed in the first place.

I mean look at Scotland stadium's:
Hampden
Celtic Park
Murryfield
Ibrox
(all in good conditiona and well over 30000 capacities)

And Ireland's
Croke Park (roughly 80000 or more)
Landsowne Road (brand new state of the art)

All these stadium would not need a lot of funding to get ready compared to Poland/Ukraine.

Then to make up the rest of the stadiums it would be a matter of updating two stadiums such as Hearts/Dundee's or Aberdeen's)

In terms of money it makes sense to me that Scotland and Ireland should have got it in the first place. With the added bonus of easy/quick travel between the two.

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posted Jun 24, 2008

It's utter madness to have the thing in Ukraine. The country is on the verge of a civil war, it has no motorways, no modern trains, no stadia of the size and style required and no means of getting any of this stuff done in time!

At least Poland have the EU to help fund them.
But the Ukraine dont. They CANT do it.

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posted Jun 28, 2008

I can't see the point in Poland hosting on its own. What benefit would Poland get from 10 class stadiums after the tourney? Scotland is definitely feasible. The revenues that the tournament brought in could be used to help fund the stadium upgrades in Edinburgh and a joint stadium in Dundee with a new stadium in Aberdeen would also work. However, these big stadiums will stay half full after the event so I guess the overall financial/cultural benfit has to be the deciding factor.

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posted Jun 28, 2008

I know not many Scottish fans would be too happy about sharing a tournament with England, but, if there's only one good stadium short in this idea, why not use St. James' Park? Newcastle is not very far to travel for a team based in a Scottish hotel- they wouldn't need to get on a plane, which they would to go to Ireland- and it has a capacity of over 50,000. I know England hosted Euro 96 but if it's an emergency and it's only one stadium I'm sure this wouldn't hamper a Scottish bid, especially if England didn't automatically qualify.

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posted Jun 30, 2008

I'm sure Cork City's ground could be sufficiently done up for the occasion. And maybe Derry City?

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posted Jul 9, 2008

Interesting debate and here's my tuppence worth (or Aussie dollar at least considering my current location).

Dead Certs:
===========
Hampden
Murrayfield

Dead Certs (with caveats):
==========================
Aberdeen - City with good infrastructure.
Sell existing land and build 30,000+ Stadia.

Dundee - - City with pretty good infrastructure
Requires (IMHO) a ground share and lets not be parochial and use Motherwell / Gretna as an example..... 30,000+ (or good use of temporary stands).

Deathstar & Potatodome:
=======================
Depending on the context of UEFA rule 2 Stadia per city, vs "use as many as you like, as long as they are not on the same night in the same city" then the option of these two great locations are in the mix.
Hopefully we can push the "One City, Three Stadium" arguement with UEFA and that makes life easier for us to go it alone.....

What else we looking for ?

The Capital City:
=================
Tynecastle as we all know has limitations due to UEFA regulations not on capacity but on real estate and it seems your common or garden public park has more acceptable turf available to kick a tanner ba' on than down Gorgie way.
This (again in my opinion) as the stadium design and proximity to the pitch makes for a great atmosphere (this coming from a Killie fan who only has ever experienced an atmosphere at this ground between both clubs - and I'm too young to have been there in 1965 sadly......). Can Hearts build UP and move a stand BACK ?

Hibees: Already documented here that the corners can be filled in and the Mickey Mouse terracing / stand conversion can / should be able to take an extra tier.

Recap:
------
Hampden / Murrayfield / Dundee / Aberdeen / {Hearts & Hibs} / {Celtic & Rangers}.

Right......

8 Stadiums there (granted three in two cities), however with careful planning (ahem) of no more that one game per night - again depending on UEFA it's do-able.

Back up (if UEFA say "Non" to the three grounds).

Killie perform a temporary upgrade.
Falkirk perform a temporary upgrade.
Inverness perform a temporary upgrade
Motherwell perform a temporary upgrade (plus the pitch).

If you look at what just came to pass in Switzerland and Austria this is a no brainer......

Are you seriously telling me that FC Servette who moved from ramshackle downtown Geneva to an upgraded site on the outskirts near the French border or what conversions happened in Austria can't apply in Scotland ?

Since when did the Austrian or Swiss League attract more (on average) supporters to their key games outside their major city Derby ?

Please...........

As much as I love the Irish (am married to a Dublin lass), I do feel (when you size this to Austria / Switzerland) we can go on our own.
Moving ahead to an expanded tourney.......

A revisited bid with Ireland would be necessary, however to mirror an earlier point....
Apart from about 6 countries there is no other single country in Europe that can do this on an individual basis if the tourney is expanded to the extent "they" are suggesting.

Go on Scotland.........

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posted Jul 29, 2008

man_on_the_continent: "Since when did the Austrian or Swiss League attract more (on average) supporters to their key games outside their major city Derby ?"

Derby is not a major city in Austria or Swizerland,() however, it was once part of Scotland... - for about a day, before bonnie prince Charlie turned on his heel and ran... Maybe they'd lend us their stadia for a few weeks?

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posted Sep 3, 2008

As the article says we've already got Ibrox, Celtic Park, Hampden, & Murrayfield that satisfy UEFA stadia requirements.
We would then need to upgrade 4 of our existing grounds due to the cost of that compared to biulding 4 new stadiums that there would be confusion over what 4 teams would move into them after the tournament was over.
Also I would upgrade Hampden as well,because even though it satisfy's all the requirements, it's hardly a structure we would want to showcase to the whole of Europe as our national stadium as the way it looks at the moment.
So, the 4 stadiums to upgrade, (after Hampden) would be Tyncastle,Easter Road,Tannadice,& Pittodrie.
My reason for this is that after the Old Firm, Hearts, Hibs, Dun.Utd,& Aberdeen have the largest average attendances, and hopefully once the tournament was over - if we were lucky enough to get it - even though all four grounds would then have increased cappacites, I believe that the feel-good factor of the tournament being held in Scotland would last for a couple of years at least.
This I believe would mean at least 2 or 3 of the 4 stadiums,(WITH their increased cappacites) would be 70 - 75% full for the 1st 2 seasons. This in turn would make these clubs more money, allowing them to buy a better quality of player - Who WOULD COME not just for the money but also when they would see the brand spanking new stadiums that they would be playing in.
And of course this would enable these clubs to get closer to Rangers & Celtic as they would be taking a lot more points off of the Old Firm than they do at the moment. So we would have a much more competive league, which would also attract better quality players to ALL THE CLUBS in the SPL.
So Scotland win in all ways.

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