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Liverpool’s home Anfield was a notable omission from Uefa’s confirmed list of tournament grounds for the 2028 European Championship hosted by England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland – due to a little-known European rule.
Cardiff’s Principality Stadium will play host to the tournament opener, while Wembley will provide the backdrop for the semi-finals and the final, which will kick off at the new time of 5pm in three-and-a-half years.
Among the English club grounds selected for hosting duties are Everton’s newly built Hill Dickinson Stadium, Aston Villa’s Villa Park, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in north London, Newcastle’s St James’ Park, and Manchester City’s home base, the Etihad.
But despite extensive renovations to the Anfield Road End at Liverpool’s ground, it is an issue with the pitch that excludes the Reds from hosting duties for the international tournament, as well as for Uefa’s club competition finals.
Uefa regulations stipulate that ‘the field of play must have the standard dimensions of 105 meters by 68 m’, which leaves Anfield’s four meters short.
Penned in by the tight Anfield Road and Kop ends, there is no hope of an extension allowing Liverpool’s status to change in the future.
Anfield has been ruled out of hosting any Euro 2028 fixtures due to the small size of its pitch
Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge suffers similarly, with the Blues’ pitch measuring a comparatively tiny 103m by 67m.
Anfield was last used for a major tournament during the 1996 European Championship, playing host to Group C fixtures involving Italy, Russia, and the Czech Republic, as well as staging a quarter-final between France and the Netherlands.
Stamford Bridge has never hosted a major tournament fixture, but was used as a venue for England matches in the early 20th century.
However, neither ground is the smallest in the top flight; that honor instead sits with Fulham, whose Craven Cottage pitch is just 100m long, and 65m wide.
Other historic grounds omitted all together from Uefa’s thinking regarding Euro 2028 include Old Trafford, with Manchester United’s home ruled out due to its age and lack of recent renovations.
United released a statement in 2023 during the bidding process that confirmed they were ‘unable to prove the necessary certainty’ needed for the stadium’s inclusion in the British and Irish bid.
It read: ‘Manchester United was pleased to put Old Trafford forward as a potential host of UEFA Euro 2028 matches and proud of the strong case we made.
However, during follow-up discussions with the FA, it became clear that we were unable to provide the necessary certainty around the availability of Old Trafford due to the potential redevelopment of the stadium. As a result, we have mutually agreed to withdraw from the shortlist of potential hosts.’
