Northern Ireland legend David Healy thinks that the investment of "£30m a game" in Casement Park for EURO 2028 will not be worth the money.
The redevelopment of the Antrim GAA county ground in the suburbs of Belfast has been the most controversial element of the UK and Ireland's successful bid to host the European Championships in 2028. The stadium has been left derelict for the best part of a decade, with the last Antrim intercounty game on the pitch taking place in 2013.
10 October 2023; A general view of Casement Park, which was announced as one of the proposed venues for UEFA Euro 2028, in Belfast, for the 2028 UEFA European Football Championship. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
The cost of redeveloping the stadium is set to be one of the biggest investments in infrastructure associated with the tournament, with a complete redesign gaining planning permission approval in 2021, but work yet to start.
Casement Park's inclusion in the EURO 2028 bid has been met with staunch opposition from unionists in Northern Ireland, and some fans of the national team protested against the decision ahead of Northern Ireland's EURO 2024 qualifier against Slovenia last month.
Shamrock Rovers keeper and former Northern Irish international Alan Mannus recently added his voice to the chorus shouting down Casement Park's inclusion.
Now, the country's all-time record goalscorer David Healy has spoken out against the heavy investment in the stadium, questioning whether it will be a worthwhile use of funds if Northern Ireland do not progress to the tournament.
Healy - 36 goals 95 apps 13 year career
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David Healy has major doubts about Casement Park investment
8 November 2019; Linfield Manager David Healy after the Unite the Union Champions Cup first leg match between Linfield and Dundalk at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park in Belfast. Photo by Oliver McVeigh/Sportsfile
David Healy scored 36 goals for Northern Ireland across a 13-year career, and has been manager of Belfast side Linfield since 2015.
Quoted in the Belfast Telegraph this week, Healy said that he felt that the investment in bringing the EUROs to Casement Park would not be worthwhile if Northern Ireland did not qualify for the tournament, and the city was left hosting less glamorous ties:
The biggest concern for me is if Northern Ireland are not given automatic qualification and we fail to qualify.
Then we will have spent £150m or more to host five games that don't involve Northern Ireland. It's basically £30m a game.
What will those five games be? Let's get it right, they're not going to send Germany versus Spain to Belfast. You might see games like Bulgaria against North Macedonia at Casement Park.
We're going to get a mishmash of games involving the weakest teams in the tournament. When you weigh that up against the amount of money it's going to cost, it doesn't make sense.
It is worth noting that the games are handed out before the group stage draw is made, and therefore games between prestigious opponents could well end up being in Belfast through luck of the draw, and it is highly unlikely that the draw would not land at least one major name in the city.
Healy would go on to explain that his concerns are not due to an anti-GAA sentiment and said, "This is nothing against Antrim or Ulster GAA. Let’s be honest, Casement should have been rebuild at the same time as Windsor and Ravenhill. I’m not across all the ins and outs to know exactly why that didn’t happen."
The 44-year-old also noted that his questioning of Casement Park's inclusion went beyond the spending of money on the stadium, and extended to concerns that funds promised to the grassroots game in the country would fail to trickle down in the years following the tournament. He would add that the pressures of a cost-of-living crisis, and the need for investment in pivotal areas of society, also made him question the wisdom of spending £150m on a tournament where Northern Ireland are likely to host only five of the 51 games.
It's early days yet, but the voices of dissent surrounding Northern Ireland's - and Casement Park's - involvement in hosting EURO 2028 are only growing louder.
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