Photo: England Football
In a statement confirmed by the FA, all four home nations in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) have submitted a collective joint bid to host the 2035 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
If FIFA were to select this bid as the winner of the competition, then it would be recorded as the first World Cup hosted in the country since England’s glory in 1966.
As part of this bid, the host nations have selected a list of twenty-two proposed stadiums, with sixteen being in England, three in Wales, two in Scotland and one in Northern Ireland. This would also make it one of the most accessible international tournaments, with locations proposed that are all within a two-hour travelling radius of up to 63 million people across the UK.
With there being up to 22 selected venues (proving some are upgraded in order to meet FIFA criteria), this will mean that for teams involved there will be forty-eight team-base training camp sites with nearly double the venue-specific training sites and thirty-two FIFA fan festival sites planned for across all four host countries.
An increase in the competition would see forty-eight teams contest for the prestigious trophy across thirty-nine days. A statement from each home nation’s FA (football association) reads, “Hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup would be a huge privilege for our four home nations. If we are successful, the 2035 tournament will be the biggest single-sport event held on UK soil, with 4.5 million tickets available for fans.”
Some of the proposed stadium locations across the home nations include:
- Clearer Twist National Stadium at Windsor Park, Belfast, NI
- Cardiff City Stadium and Principality Stadium, Racecourse Ground – Wales
- Easter Road, Glasgow, Scotland
- Etihad Stadium – Manchester
- Wembley Stadium – London
Out of the twenty-two proposed grounds, there are several pending which are either under development or moving to a new location, and some of the pending locations include “The Sports Quarter Stadium”—a newly proposed stadium by Birmingham City with a rumoured capacity of around 62,000 seats. Stamford Bridge is also pending, as according to the FA website, Chelsea are in consultation for a new ground, as their current stadium does not reach FIFA technical specifications, meaning if they were to redevelop or find somewhere else, they could be included as one of FIFA’s final selections.
All four nations involved have committed to the bid, aiming to reach the three key propositions of increasing participation, increasing and empowering leadership and finally commercial growth by attracting new supporters from all over and investing into grassroots projects across the Kingdom.