Newcastle United and council bid to host Euro 2028 at St James' Park

Council chiefs said bidding to be a city host would be "competitive"

Council chiefs are hoping to put Newcastle on the "international stage" and be a host of Euro 2028.

Earlier this year, the UK and Ireland launched a joint bid to Uefa to stage the football tournament.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service has confirmed that the city council and Newcastle United will bid for St James' Park to host matches.

However, the council said the process to be allowed to hold games at the stadium would be "competitive".

The UK and Ireland had been favourites to host the 24-team tournament and looked set to be unopposed until Turkey also lodged an initial application ahead of Uefa's deadline in March.

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A Russian bid was deemed ineligible after the invasion of Ukraine and it has been banned from Euro 2024.

European football's governing body is due to announce the host nation for Euro 2028 in September next year.

Stadiums wishing to host matches must have a capacity of more than 30,000, a criteria which the 52,000-seater St James' meets, as would Sunderland's Stadium of Light.

Newcastle hosted France 3-1 Bulgaria in Euro 1996

St James' is the eighth biggest stadium in England and Newcastle was a host city when England put on the European Championships in 1996.

The stadium has since held other major events such as football fixtures during the London 2012 Olympics, three games at the 2015 Rugby World Cup and rugby's Heineken Cup final in 2019.

Both Newcastle and Sunderland were also included in England's failed bid to host the 2018 World Cup.

A statement on the council's website said it and Newcastle United "have submitted a bid for Newcastle to be a host city within the Football Association's bid for the UK and Ireland to host the Men's Euros Football Championships in 2028".

A council spokesperson added: "We are pleased to have been invited by the FA to bid to be a host city.

"This is fantastic news for the city and demonstrates that we can compete with the rest of the UK to host major events.

"At this stage, the FA have requested an early response from bidding cities that they can commit to meeting the requirements necessary to qualify as a potential host city."