Euro 2028: NI Supporters' Group questions legacy for football after Casement chosen as host stadium

The Amalgamation of Official Northern Ireland Supporters Clubs has questioned what effect the choice of Casement Park as a host stadium for Euro 2028 will have on the legacy for football in the country.

The redevelopment of Casement Park, traditionally a GAA venue but not in use since 2013, is set to go ahead over the next few years if sufficient funding can be secured for the project.

"We are asking what the legacy for local football will be, how does football in Northern Ireland benefit," said AONISC chairman Gary McAllister.

It was confirmed on Tuesday that the UK and Ireland had been selected to host the Euro 2028 finals, with a yet-to-be-built new Casement Park one of 10 host venues.

"I don't think anyone doesn't want to see Northern Ireland host a major tournament. It's something most of us never expected to be possible but we have a number of questions regarding the Irish FA's participation as hosts," explained McAllister.

"It remains our view that football tournaments should be hosted by football stadia."

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It is believed that the reconstruction of Casement Park will now cost at least £110m, perhaps well in excess of that figure, and certainly well in advance of the £77m which was originally forecast when the project was first mooted.

The GAA have committed to contribute a minimum of £15m, with the British and Irish Governments also signalling their intention to make significant contributions to the rebuild.

It is understood that the new Casement stadium will have approximately a 26,000 all-seater capacity (including terracing this would rise to 34,500), with additional temporary seating set to be installed to facilitate the 30,000 seats necessary to host Euros matches.

The National Stadium at Windsor Park, which hosts Northern Ireland football matches, currently has a capacity of 18,500.

A £36m funding package to upgrade and redevelop regional soccer stadia in Northern Ireland has not been forthcoming, an issue that remains a major bone of contention with football supporters in Northern Ireland and the AONISC.

'Funding has to be equitable'

"No one is arguing against each of the three sports [soccer, rugby union and GAA] getting their fair share but with the lengthy delay in construction the government and other funders are going to put a significant amount of money into the upgrade of Casement Park.

"It's important that football is not overlooked, because of the years of delay since the initial commitment to give funding to football the cost for local football will also have increased.

"So if funding is going to be delivered it has to be equitable.

"We're waiting on a training centre here in Northern Ireland, we'd like to see local domestic clubs receive funding to allow them to modernise their stadiums, to improve the facilities and standards of local football and enable them to host the likes of underage internationals.

"All of that benefits local football in Northern Ireland so the question we're asking is if we're putting a substantial amount of money into Casement Park, where is the money for football to allow us also to fulfil our needs - the development of coaches, young players, raising the standards of local football.

"Football contributes so much to society in Northern Ireland, it has done for decades.

"This is a football tournament, the plan is for it not be hosted by a football stadium, which is something we don't particularly agree with, so where is the benefit for football, another sport is going to get their stadium costs covered, that's going to be a stadium being used for another sport and other events, but not for football in the longer term."

'Temporary seating at Windsor Park?'

McAllister says the supporters' group he represents are keen to "start a conversation" on issues around Northern Ireland's part in hosting the tournament, including whether additional seating could be added to Windsor Park in order to meet the minimum capacity requirement for the European Championships.

"Have we looked properly at whether we could have hosted these games here in Belfast, but at a football stadium, the home of football here in Northern Ireland, which is the National Stadium at Windsor Park," he asks.

"There are many questions around this, and I think these are fair questions to ask from the point of view that we are football people. These are football issues, we care about football in NI. They are legitimate questions that we can ask.

"Casement Park plans to have 26,000 seats so Casement won't reach that target unless it has temporary seating installed in some form.

"If they can do that at Casement Park, then why not at Windsor Park?

The National Stadium at Windsor Park is the traditional home of the Northern Ireland football team

"The other benefit would be with an increased capacity for NI games, there would be the added benefit of a reduction in ticket prices, which is an issue that people have raised with us for some time.

"20,000 to 25,000 seats in the longer term would make it more affordable for people to come along, and the IFA would be able to make more ticket income, albeit by selling tickets more cheaply."

The Northern Ireland fans' body has further suggested to the IFA there should be a 'Plan B' in place in the event that Casement Park is not ready in time.

"In order to be in the game at this stage, to be able to be one of the hosts, we have to have something on the list. Whether there is room for movement within that, whether there are options that we have, we should have a Plan B, an alternative, because at the moment Casement Park is not in any fit state to host any sort of event.

"I understand that this stadium would have to be ready two years before the Euros. We have to get over that obstacle of that stadium being built."

'Safety concerns'

McAllister believes that although the issue is still "hypothetical", some Northern Ireland supporters have already raised safety concerns about attending NI matches in west Belfast, a largely nationalist area of the city.

"It's an issue a lot of people have raised with us. It is hypothetical at the moment, the stadium hasn't been built, Northern Ireland haven't qualified for the tournament, but it is an important conversation that needs to take place," he said.

"It's a question that we have raised in our letter [to the IFA] and it would be irresponsible of us to ignore the questions that people are bringing to us.

"We have to be realistic, unfortunately our society remains very divided and polarised and while we would all like to live in a Northern Ireland that doesn't have those divisions, that's not the reality.

"As a supporters' organisation we have contributed positively to the challenge of eradicating sectarianism at international matches so we've played our part, but we all to have to be realistic about what we can and can't achieve."