Mayor Jamie Driscoll has backed a bid to see St James’ Park made a host stadium for another Euros. Newcastle United hosted 1996 group matches featuring France, Bulgaria and Romania. Now St James’ Park could be confirmed as one of the stadiums that will host matches at the 2028 Euros finals.
Newcastle City Council estimate that if St James’ Park is indeed a stadium to host games at the 2028 Euros, that would then give the north east region a £150m boost with football fans flocking to Tyneside and spending their cash.
Elected Metro Mayor for the North of Tyne, Jamie Driscoll, said: “I’m buzzing about this. A chance to show off this great city to the world. To bring people together, from around Europe – united by their love of the beautiful game.
“To write another chapter in the history of St James’ Park. Fingers crossed for a successful bid!”
Newcastle City Council and the North of Tyne Combined Authority have underwritten the bid to bring the Euros to SJP.
Forecasts have highlighted the huge economic impact the tournament would bring to each host city, with a significant number of jobs created for local people, a boost to local skills, and expenditure from the huge number of visitors to the city during the tournament if selected as part of the bid.
Cllr Nick Kemp, Leader of Newcastle City Council, said: “The possibility of hosting one of the world’s biggest sporting events in our city is incredibly exciting and it would be brilliant to be able to deliver this for our residents.
“We are renowned for our capability to host world-class events in Newcastle and our track record speaks for itself.
“We’ve just hosted the opening ceremony and fixture of the Rugby League World Cup, we’ve previously staged fixtures from the Rugby World Cup, the European Rugby Champions and Challenge Cups, and each year the world’s biggest half-marathon begins in our city.
“The social and economic benefits of being involved in such a global event, with billions of tv viewers around the world seeing what Newcastle can deliver while providing jobs and opportunities for residents, makes it a truly exciting prospect for us and an opportunity we want to make sure we properly explore.”
Darren Eales, Newcastle United CEO, said: “We are proud to be working with Newcastle City Council, North of Tyne Combined Authority and our other partners as we look to deliver even more world-class events to the North East.
“Newcastle is an incredible city and, in St. James’ Park, we have an iconic stadium that is world-renowned as a special place to experience football.
“Together with our city partners, we hope to support the Football Association in a strong five-nation bid to secure the Euros in 2028.”
UEFA, European football’s governing body, will announce the Euro 2028 host nation next week.