[TRS-T]

With it looking like we have no hope of hosting the World Cup until 2066 (think the earliest World Cup we can bid for is 2030), does anyone think we should bid for the Euros instead?

France have got Euro 2016 so we could bid for Euro 2020.

It would be no effort for us to host at all

2 stadiums with 50,000 seats
3 stadiums with 40,000 seats
4 stadiums with 30,000 seats

So we could do

Stadiums with 50,000 seats - Wembley, Old Trafford, Emirates Stadium, St James' Park

Stadiums with 40,000 seats - Stadium of Light, Etihad Stadium, Anfield, Villa Park, Stamford Bridge, Goodison Park

Stadiums with 30,000 seats - Hillsborough, Elland Road, White Hart Lane, Upton Park, Riverside Stadium, Pride Park, St Mary's Stadium, Bramall Lane, Ricoh Arena, King Power Stadium, Ewood Park, City Ground, Portman Road, St Andrew's

We could give each stadium one game each or something (there are 51 games at the tournament in total.)

And that's not taking into account new stadiums which could be built i.e. new stadiums for Liverpool and Spurs.

And then you've got teams who are looking to expand their stadiums to make them hold 30,000+ i.e. Wolves and West Brom.

Also with the tournament being expanded to 24 teams from 2016, it would make it harder for the smaller nations to host it, so I guess we would have a better chance of getting it?

The new format will mean fewer countries will have the capacity to host the tournament but it is believed the 53 member nations are unanimously in favour of the change

"It is disappointing in that it means we will not be able to stage the tournament in the future, and we recognise that will be the case," said Scottish FA chief executive Gordon Smith.

"It was a trade-off between trying to stage it or open up the qualification process and we have decided to look at something that helps everybody."

Potential bids for Euro 2020
Armenia/Azerbaijan/Georgia
Belgium
Bosnia-Herzegovina/Croatia/Serbia
Czech Republic/Slovakia
Romania/Bulgaria or Hungary
Netherlands
Turkey

Or should we just leave the Euros to be hosted by smaller nations who can't host the World Cup?

UEFA Euro 2020

English football stadiums

[Fusion]

Since France have 2016 I highly doubt they'd pick another large, advanced, western european national host for 2020. My bet would be the Bosnia/Croatia/Serbia bid as they'd be the 'progressive' and politically astute choice considering their history.

[Clip]

Might as well. The Qatar and Russia world cups are likely to be such a shambles that UEFA won't want to risk looking like chumps and will want to play it safe with a country with a highly developed football infrastructure.

[JK.]

(Original post by Fusion)
Since France have 2016 I highly doubt they'd pick another large, advanced, western european national host for 2020. My bet would be the Bosnia/Croatia/Serbia bid as they'd be the 'progressive' and politically astute choice considering their history.

Given that Bosnia are banned from UEFA/FIFA atm I'd say they're highly unlikely. The trouble that Serbian fans cause is likely to rule them out of contention too - plus, beyond the Marakana and Partizan's stadium their facilities are fairly poor. The progressive thing is definitely taken into consideration but these are here and now problems, not ones that were sorted a few years back making it now time to showcase the improvements (I guess Poland/Russia hosting upcoming tournaments negates this point to an extent, but given the UEFA action taken against Serbia, it'd be a lot harder to justify, imo). If Croatia bid they may stand a chance, though I imagine it'd need to be a joint bid and I'm not sure who it'd be joint with - discounting those already mentioned, the best option would perhaps be Hungary. In theory I'd quite like that, combining a nation with great past successes with one of recent success, but it's very questionable whether or not the level of renovation/building required (particularly in Hungary) would be realistic.

[Fusion]

(Original post by JK.)
Given that Bosnia are banned from UEFA/FIFA atm I'd say they're highly unlikely. The trouble that Serbian fans cause is likely to rule them out of contention too - plus, beyond the Marakana and Partizan's stadium their facilities are fairly poor. The progressive thing is definitely taken into consideration but these are here and now problems, not ones that were sorted a few years back making it now time to showcase the improvements (I guess Poland/Russia hosting upcoming tournaments negates this point to an extent, but given the UEFA action taken against Serbia, it'd be a lot harder to justify, imo). If Croatia bid they may stand a chance, though I imagine it'd need to be a joint bid and I'm not sure who it'd be joint with - discounting those already mentioned, the best option would perhaps be Hungary. In theory I'd quite like that, combining a nation with great past successes with one of recent success, but it's very questionable whether or not the level of renovation/building required (particularly in Hungary) would be realistic.

I also thought Hungary would be a great nostalgic host, and it'd be much valued because it could do with some fdi.

[JK.]

(Original post by Fusion)
I also thought Hungary would be a great nostalgic host, and it'd be much valued because it could do with some fdi.

With the amount Hungary would have to invest themselves, it just doesn't seem likely.

Would love to go to that tournament tbh.

[LewisH]

Bulgaria didn't do themselves any favours with their treatment of the black English players on Friday. Not that they're the only country in Europe with a vocal lunatic fringe, I hasten to add...

If I wanted a sneaky bet, I'd go for Turkey as the PC choice. Worth a sneaky fiver I'd say

[Fusion]

Potential bids for Euro 2020

Armenia/Azerbaijan/Georgia - too much of a geographical outlier and 3 hosts is excessive

Belgium - co-hosted 2000 (fairly recent), geographically good considreing proximity to france, germany, british isles, netherlands..., home of the eu must be a benefit in political terms....perhaps

Bosnia-Herzegovina/Croatia/Serbia - as mentioned a vote for this is eroding the past and embracing a peaceful future, but then its not 1 not 2 but 3 host nations, maybe before their time

Czech Republic/Slovakia - I don't think either has held any tournament previously which is a PLUS, not as risky as other hosts further east and a good location in the heart of continental europe.

Romania/Bulgaria or Hungary - the first 2 are notorious for corruption at least prior to eu accession, would look good on the eu if they won the bid...


Netherlands - fine stadiums, great location...but can't offer a political reason.

Turkey - the largest potential host of them all which is an advantage, looking to join eu, would be the most exciting host out of the rest imo, passionate fans, eur-asia linkage....certaintly a credible contender

[JK.]

Are those potential bids of your imagining or are they ones that have been proposed informally?

Have to agree with the thoughts on Turkey, I think it's a good shout. Can see them starting to emerge as better contenders by then as well which probably works in their favour.

[CB91]

Netherlands. The country would be orange from space.

[maccy7]

(Original post by Fusion)
Potential bids for Euro 2020

Armenia/Azerbaijan/Georgia - too much of a geographical outlier and 3 hosts is excessive

Belgium - co-hosted 2000 (fairly recent), geographically good considreing proximity to france, germany, british isles, netherlands..., home of the eu must be a benefit in political terms....perhaps

Bosnia-Herzegovina/Croatia/Serbia - as mentioned a vote for this is eroding the past and embracing a peaceful future, but then its not 1 not 2 but 3 host nations, maybe before their time

Czech Republic/Slovakia - I don't think either has held any tournament previously which is a PLUS, not as risky as other hosts further east and a good location in the heart of continental europe.

Romania/Bulgaria or Hungary - the first 2 are notorious for corruption at least prior to eu accession, would look good on the eu if they won the bid...


Netherlands - fine stadiums, great location...but can't offer a political reason.

Turkey - the largest potential host of them all which is an advantage, looking to join eu, would be the most exciting host out of the rest imo, passionate fans, eur-asia linkage....certaintly a credible contender

You say Belgium hosted it in 2000, but we had '96. I doubt this comes into massive consideration beyond a point, I'd say anyone from Belgium back has as good a chance as any.

[Helpful_Charlie]

(Original post by JK.)
Given that Bosnia are banned from UEFA/FIFA atm I'd say they're highly unlikely. The trouble that Serbian fans cause is likely to rule them out of contention too - plus, beyond the Marakana and Partizan's stadium their facilities are fairly poor. The progressive thing is definitely taken into consideration but these are here and now problems, not ones that were sorted a few years back making it now time to showcase the improvements (I guess Poland/Russia hosting upcoming tournaments negates this point to an extent, but given the UEFA action taken against Serbia, it'd be a lot harder to justify, imo). If Croatia bid they may stand a chance, though I imagine it'd need to be a joint bid and I'm not sure who it'd be joint with - discounting those already mentioned, the best option would perhaps be Hungary. In theory I'd quite like that, combining a nation with great past successes with one of recent success, but it's very questionable whether or not the level of renovation/building required (particularly in Hungary) would be realistic.

If they're banned then how did they play on Friday, winning 2-0 away to Belarus?

[Helpful_Charlie]

(Original post by Fusion)
Potential bids for Euro 2020

Armenia/Azerbaijan/Georgia - too much of a geographical outlier and 3 hosts is excessive

Belgium - co-hosted 2000 (fairly recent), geographically good considreing proximity to france, germany, british isles, netherlands..., home of the eu must be a benefit in political terms....perhaps

Bosnia-Herzegovina/Croatia/Serbia - as mentioned a vote for this is eroding the past and embracing a peaceful future, but then its not 1 not 2 but 3 host nations, maybe before their time

Czech Republic/Slovakia - I don't think either has held any tournament previously which is a PLUS, not as risky as other hosts further east and a good location in the heart of continental europe.

Romania/Bulgaria or Hungary - the first 2 are notorious for corruption at least prior to eu accession, would look good on the eu if they won the bid...


Netherlands - fine stadiums, great location...but can't offer a political reason.

Turkey - the largest potential host of them all which is an advantage, looking to join eu, would be the most exciting host out of the rest imo, passionate fans, eur-asia linkage....certaintly a credible contender

3 hosts wouldn't be too problematic, because of the increase from 16 to 24 teams, from the 2016 Championships onwards.

[JK.]

(Original post by Helpful_Charlie)
If they're banned then how did they play on Friday, winning 2-0 away to Belarus?

I didn't see that their suspension had been overturned at the time, must have been too distracted by the CL final.

Still, combining them with Croatia isn't enough.

[robocop1andahalf]

Why not Spain for 2020? They have not hosted anything since the 82 World Cup whereas England did have Euro 96, plus the advantage of being in a Western country big on football with plenty of stadia, need I go on?

[neiljeff123]

Would it matter that a load of Turkey isn't actually in Europe?

And would there be security concerns because of its proximity to certain countries?

[wildrover]

(Original post by Helpful_Charlie)
3 hosts wouldn't be too problematic, because of the increase from 16 to 24 teams, from the 2016 Championships onwards.

It would make a shambles of the seedings though, look at euro 2012 were 50% of the teams in pot 1 are crap.

[Kevmeister]

(Original post by wildrover)
It would make a shambles of the seedings though, look at euro 2012 were 50% of the teams in pot 1 are crap.

Seedings are a joke, though, only serve to make it easier for the bigger teams to qualify/go through. Should be scrapped for tournaments, imo.


As for the question at hand, no. The money that would be used for a bid is better off spent elsewhere, like improving grass-roots football, coaching standards, building technical centres throughout the country....

[Helpful_Charlie]

(Original post by wildrover)
It would make a shambles of the seedings though, look at euro 2012 were 50% of the teams in pot 1 are crap.

Spain (title holders) - Not rubbish
Germany - Not rubbish
Netherlands - Not rubbish
Italy - Not rubbish
England - Not rubbish
Croatia - Decent
Portugal - Not rubbish
France - Not rubbish
Russia - Not rubbish

I'd like to see who should replace them.

[wildrover]

(Original post by Helpful_Charlie)
Spain (title holders) - Not rubbish
Germany - Not rubbish
Netherlands - Not rubbish
Italy - Not rubbish
England - Not rubbish
Croatia - Decent
Portugal - Not rubbish
France - Not rubbish
Russia - Not rubbish

I'd like to see who should replace them.

I was refering to the finals, which will look something like this;

Pot 1
Poland
Ukraine
Netherlands
Spain

Pot 2
Germany
England
Italy
Portugal

Clearly any of the teams in pot 2 would love to play Poland or Ukraine yet Spain may end up playing Germany.