News of the acceptance of the UK and Ireland bid to host Euro 2028 has brought things into motion quickly in Northern Ireland.
Only naturally, too, because there is presently no venue that can meet the 30,000-capacity requirement for staging games at the tournament, per UEFA’s demands.
For how successfully as Windsor Park played host to the 2021 UEFA Super Cup, the ground still falls short of that 30,000 marker by almost 12,000 seats, and the home of the Northern Ireland international team will as such be set to take a back seat.
Ulster Rugby’s home stage, Ravenhill, is also well down on that and, consequently, there is a need to act should matches in the quadrennial showpiece be held in this part of the world. And urgently.
Enter Casement Park.
Now, eyebrows will have been raised from some, particularly across the water, that a ground that has lay derelict for some time – 10 years now – would actually be used in Europe’s leading international competition in half a decade’s time.
But, should everything run smoothly, we will have a 34,500-seater, state-of-the-art stadium that will account for Northern Ireland’s participation in the football bonanza come 2028.
Will we, though? Well, the work will have to start fast if so, and a timeframe of early 2024 to 2026 for construction should have it ready with two years to spare.
Question marks have and will hang over, however.
During Northern Ireland’s 3-0 victory over San Marino, chants of ‘you can shove your Casement Park up your h**e’ could be heard at Windsor.
The ground will host Northern Ireland’s fixtures should Michael O’Neill’s men qualify, but for being a project that is expected to cost comfortably over £100m worth of what in large part will be public money to complete – perhaps in excess of £160m, according to some accounts – scepticism in the air remains about whether Casement will be central of NI’s legacy at the tournament.
Or, let alone that, if there is a legacy at all.
After all, as the historic epicentre of Antrim GAA, it may instinctively not feel like home.
Debate rings, too, over whether Windsor Park, which is also the home of Linfield FC for 118 years and counting, could have had its capacity increased to meet demands – this point was raised by the Amalgamation of Official Northern Ireland Supporters’ Clubs (AONISC), for instance – have been posed. Whether that is the most practical option has been mulled over by others, given a 30,000-seater Windsor would likely leave an increased feel of emptiness for Blues fixtures where the club’s attendances rank between 3,000 and 4,000 on average.
Casement Park, first erected in 1953 and based along the Andersonstown Road in west Belfast, could, upon completion, revert not just to being Antrim’s home, but a base of operations for Ulster GAA as a whole.
Such that, in 2027 and 2028, the county’s governing body for Gaelic Games have already pencilled in the Ulster Senior Championship deciders in those years to be held at the stadium.
Ulster GAA chief Stephen McGeehan told the Irish Examiner: “We’re talking to UEFA’s central bid team about the 2028 season and how we will try to make sure our major fixtures are played in the early part of the year prior to the Championships in June of 2028, and between now and then, the 2027 and ’28 Ulster Finals both played in Casement Park.”
That wouldn’t be illogical by any stretch from the GAA’s perspective, but the concern among football fans is whether a finished build is enough.
Truth be told, it probably isn’t.
Clubs across the Irish League and beyond are eager to get their hands on long-awaited Sub-Regional Funding to improve their grounds and facilities.
Despite an initial sum of £36.2m being allocated as part of the Stadia Programme, Irish FA Chief Executive Patrick Nelson last week admitted that this would not be close to enough.
His quoted figure? £120m. “And that’s just for the NIFL clubs”.
Investment is starting to stream into Irish League football, with a takeover of Carrick Rangers by American businessman Michael Smith and a proposed handover of the reins at Coleraine two recent examples to add to that of Kenny Bruce at Larne and Glentoran’s Ali Pour. But it’s not a tool that is accessible to all, and that is exactly why Sub-Regional Funding is so necessary.
The initial number was agreed in 2011 and its release was timetabled for 2015, but both have since been rendered long obsolete.
The crowds are growing and the calibre of player is improving within Northern Irish domestic football, and full-time models as seen at Larne, Linfield, Glentoran and Crusaders – the latter in a three-quarter capacity – have came to fruition that will further drive up the standards.
Now that Casement Park’s renovation will shortly be under way, patience is expected to drop in terms of delivering such funding as that.
That’s not to make Casement out to be the big, bad wolf, by the way. But in order to truly satisfy supporters, there is work still to do.
From personal experience having worked on the Super Cup, which saw Champions League winners Chelsea and Europa League victors Villarreal come to Belfast and wow crowds on the Windsor Park surface, NI’s capital city really can put on a show.
I even quote one award-winning English sports journalist who said on the way to the media tribune: “This is the best-run UEFA event I’ve ever seen.”
Belfast’s ability to host, whether at Windsor or Casement, is out of the question in my book.
But a stadium alone does not solely spell success.
A local residents group opposed plans and sections of the Green and White Army may have voiced their disapproval, but if Casement is to come to fruition, then what will be, will be.
Ulster just recently broadened their horizons by playing at Cavan GAA’s Breffni Park, facing Glasgow in a pre-season rugby match but still capturing a sense of occasion it commanded.
Northern Ireland matches at Casement may turn out better than expected – although we can’t truly assess that for several years yet – and, if it is to serve as a multi-purpose venue, Euro 2028 could be a key taster to see how it functions in that regard. This is European international football’s pinnacle; will it live up to the billing?
“Our vision has been that while Casement Park is a Gaelic Games stadium, it will always play a role in future major international sport because it’s one of the benefits and reasons why Government are committed to funding the project,” added McGeehan.
“When Patrick Nelson approached (Ulster Council CEO) Brian McAvoy over a year ago about the prospect of Casement ensuring Belfast could play a part in this bid, we embraced it with a heart and a half.
“We thought it was the right thing to do and it was the right thing for Belfast.”
So, after the plan to break new ground on The Maze was scrapped, we do have the go-ahead to pave the foundation for Northern Ireland to shine in UEFA competition on a grander scale than in 2021. That isn’t an opportunity that can go amiss.
If handled right, Casement Park can provide a fresh boost on a number of fronts, too – even if, for the ordinary Northern Ireland fan, it may feel like a home away from home for a while.
But the pats on the back can’t start yet.
Make no mistake about it; the next five years will be defining for NI football in more ways than one.
Featured image from BBC Sport NI.
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