The stadia have been announced today that will host the UEFA Euro Under 17 tournament which is taking place across Ireland in May.
Simply bizarre that Turners Cross hasn’t been chosen for such a showpiece tournament considering the fact that such ramshackle grounds as Tolka Park and the Carlisle Grounds have been chosen.
Tallaght Stadium will host the U17 European Championships final as the seven venues for this year’s tournaments were announced by the FAI.
Seven host stadiums across four counties have been included, with four of those in Dublin and others in Longford, Waterford and Wicklow.
Tallaght Stadium, UCD Bowl, Tolka Park and Home Farm’s Whitehall Stadium are the pick of the capital’s venues while Bray Wanderer’s Carlisle Grounds, Longford’s City Calling Stadium and Waterford’s Regional Sports Centre are outside of Dublin.
As hosts, Ireland qualify automatically for the 16-team tournament and will play two group games at Tallaght Stadium and the other at the RSC.
Under UEFA rules, all venues must be within a specified radius from the designated teams hotel – Citywest Hotel – meaning that venues in Cork, Galway, Sligo and Donegal were automatically ruled out.
Considering the fact that Turner’s Cross (along with Tallaght Stadium) is comfortably the best stadium with a capacity of less than 10,000 in Ireland, special dispensation should been made, or at the very least sought for this showpiece tournament.
