31st May 2001
An Easter Rising towards 2008? 
Capital rivals position themselves for the fight that never was
(Stuart Crowther)

WHEN THE IDEA OF STAGING THE 2008 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS were first mooted it was deemed by many of our media pundits as a daft idea, created by daft dreamers who really should know better.

These same pundits are now conspicuous by their silence, as Scotland's football authorities and government have talked the talk and have come out in favour of the dream becoming a reality.  Not many months have passed since I spent some time on the streets of Rimini handing out 'Why the Hell Not?' Euro2008 T-Shirts to Scotland fans, some of whom themselves did not believe the dream could ever come true but thought the design of the shirts nice enough to give it a go anyway!

While stepping aside and letting others take over that worthy 'Why the Hell Not?' campaign, my belief that Scotland should and could host Euro 2008 has never diminished, and so I am now delighted to hear the news this week that the SFA are going for it.  Just how large they go for it, however, remains very much in doubt, as I still hear talk of Scotland hosting the championships on their own and sorry, but with the best will in the world I still do not see UEFA going for that.  At no time in the history of the tournament has any nation ever hosted the tournament with three of the stadiums in a single city, so quite what makes the SFA believe that they will change that view for 2008 escapes rational thought.

Bricks and mortar - Euro 2008 could bring a £40m investment

I would not wish to draw anything from the very fact that the SFA are at least showing an ambition and flair that few of us believed they were capable of.  They are going for this thing, and that is what really matters, and perhaps when they hear from UEFA about what the criteria is for bidding nations, they may see sense and call upon the Irish and Welsh to join them in a Celtic festival of football.

In the meantime the positioning has already begun.  At least two new stadiums are required in Scotland, and these must be on the East Coast given the 3 that already exist in Glasgow.  So Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh are shaping up for one heck of a battle for a share of a reported £40m likely to be made available for the building of two new stadiums.  The pity is that had common sense prevailed in the Scottish game some years ago, Hibs and Hearts could have been sharing such a stadium in the city right now, leaving the Edinburgh clubs in a much better financial position to invest in players rather than bricks and mortar, and the same of course applies, if not more so, to Dundee and Dundee United.

All four of these clubs have already invested heavily in their existing grounds, and that must put Aberdeen in the best position of all the major clubs to cash in on Euro 2008.  The Dons also invested in Pittodrie of course, but some years ahead of the rest of the SPL and as a result their stadium is now looking inadequate with a move to an all-new ground in the city already being planned.  It has to be assumed that with the Dons geographical position for once being a plus factor, situated as they are far enough from Glasgow to justify the cities inclusion in the Euro 2008 tournament infrastructure, will lead to half of the available funding helping build a new super-stadium in the North East.

Which leaves Dundee and Edinburgh to fight it out for the other one.  Upgrading existing stadiums could still be a viable option.  Hearts could not do so at Tynecastle, although the Gorgie club have their own plans for a new home.  Hibs could, but as experience has shown the Easter Road club already that will be fraught with difficulties, not the least being the intransigence of a council that appears to bend over backwards to make life difficult for the Easter Road club.  That said club spokesman David Forsyth is clearly up-beat, saying: "`We would certainly throw our hat into the ring. We still have one stand to do and the potential to develop is there.  We could also fill in the corners.  We would certainly be interested in talking to the authorities and saying `here's one we could do without having to go and find a Greenfield site'.''

Much talking will clearly have to be done, with SPL clubs such as St Johnstone, Motherwell, Kilmarnock and Livingston all sure to be looking for a piece of the cake, should the cake ever proceed beyond the bakery.