UEFA rating for Emirates?

[GriffinGunner]

Saw the story linked below where Wembley has made the short list to host the Champions League final in 2010 or 2011. What ever became of efforts to gain UEFA's highest rating for Emirates so that they may host this or comparable events? I realize with Wembley on the ground hosting and ECL final may be out of the question, but perhaps a UEFA cup final is still possible.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=474876&cc=5901

[Skizz]

Erm...the Emirates and Lansdowne Road are the two grounds nominated to host the UEFA Cup Final, so the UEFA Cup Final WILL be at the Emirates in May 2010 or May 2011.

[DaPrince84]

Emirates will get one eventually... Mestalla is being considered yet the Nou Camp and Berenbeau are bigger parks...

[GriffinGunner]

Erm...the Emirates and Lansdowne Road are the two grounds nominated to host the UEFA Cup Final, so the UEFA Cup Final WILL be at the Emirates in May 2010 or May 2011.

My bad. :o Missed that one. Thanks for the update, Skizz.

[GriffinGunner]

Emirates will get one eventually... Mestalla is being considered yet the Nou Camp and Berenbeau are bigger parks...

That'd be for the new stadium (Nou Mastella) which will reportedly be 75k and have the UEFA-cherished roof over all the seats. Looks nice though I was surprised at the size, given Valencia regularly fills the current 55k(?) Mastella to roughly 90% capacity or lower, on average. Good for them if they pull this off, however, as it'd be nice for La Liga to have some other clubs able to stand toe-to-toe with the giants in terms of facilities.

[Skizz]

My bad. :o Missed that one. Thanks for the update, Skizz.
No problem. Hey, what are the odds of Spurs getting to the final the year we host it? :p

[Jeff L]

No problem. Hey, what are the odds of Spurs getting to the final the year we host it? :p

I think the odds of me shagging Catherine Zeta Jones and Jennifer Anniston in a space rocket going to the Moon to meet Elvis are better! :D

[Guy Fawkes]

No problem. Hey, what are the odds of Spurs getting to the final the year we host it? :p

I'm not sure how many tickets they allocate to the general public, but if they (completely by accident and it would only be because they were drawn against Hungarian and Polish teams or something) were to actually get to the final after winning every leg in penalties after bunkering to scoreless draws- we would need to get every ticket we possibly could.

The chances of Spurs making it to a final are none to none, however, so it's just a pipe dream that our supporters would get to watch them lose more than twice a season in person.

[Gooner_for_Life]

I'm not sure how many tickets they allocate to the general public, but if they (completely by accident and it would only be because they were drawn against Hungarian and Polish teams or something) were to actually get to the final after winning every leg in penalties after bunkering to scoreless draws- we would need to get every ticket we possibly could.

The chances of Spurs making it to a final are none to none, however, so it's just a pipe dream that our supporters would get to watch them lose more than twice a season in person.

What ya talkin about? We get to watch them lose week in and week out. Not to us is the key. Sure i LOVE it when we beat them, but it is NICE to see them lose to other teams too. :D

[Guy Fawkes]

What ya talkin about? We get to watch them lose week in and week out. Not to us is the key. Sure i LOVE it when we beat them, but it is NICE to see them lose to other teams too. :D

Oh, trust me, the more we get to see them lose the better, but seeing them lose in our stadium more than normal is better!

[CaptVimes]

I could be wrong but dont think the stadiums are rated until applying for a major event so we should get to know what the rating is soon.

[DaPrince84]

That'd be for the new stadium (Nou Mastella) which will reportedly be 75k and have the UEFA-cherished roof over all the seats. Looks nice though I was surprised at the size, given Valencia regularly fills the current 55k(?) Mastella to roughly 90% capacity or lower, on average. Good for them if they pull this off, however, as it'd be nice for La Liga to have some other clubs able to stand toe-to-toe with the giants in terms of facilities.
oh I know it was hte Nou Mestalla, I am just saying that if Valencia can get a 5 star raiting and be able to host a CL final in same country as Nou Camp and the Berenbeau, than Emirates can as well... if we get the 5 star raiting...

Barca are renovating their stadium also I believe

[ArsenalTexan3]

http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?thisNav=News&article=483428&lid=NewsHeadline&Title=Emirates+Stadium+up+for+2011+UEFA+Cup+Final

This is who the bid is up against: Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen(GER), the Olímpico de Montjuic in Barcelona(SPA), the Arena in Hamburg(GER), Lansdowne Road in Dublin(IRE) and the National Stadium in Bucharest(ROM).

I say the chances at this point are 75% that we will host the UEFA Cup.

[Skizz]

Didn't Lansdowne Road get knocked down and they built Croke Park instead? The rugby and football teams play their home games there now.

[Gittle]

Didn't Lansdowne Road get knocked down and they built Croke Park instead? The rugby and football teams play their home games there now.

Yes and no. Typical Brit; ignorant of recent history that harms the Empire! :p (That was supposed to be sarcastic; please don't go after me) Lansdowne Road is currently closed for renovations; it is essentially being rebuilt and will open in a couple of years. The IRFU and FAI moved their international matches to Croke Park (Pairc an Chrocaigh), the home of the Gaelic Athletic Association and the only other ground in Dublin that is large enough to host international matches, since Dalymount Park, the traditional home of the FAI, only holds around 8,000. This move was not without controversy, as Article 42 of the GAA regulations prohibits "foreign" (i.e., British) games from being played at Croker, which is understandable considering the place of the GAA in the Irish nationalist and Irish republican movements. Therefore, some observers were worried when Ireland and England played a rugby international there, since that required the playing of "God Save the Queen" at a site where the Black and Tans killed a GAA player and some fans after firing rounds into the crowd in 1920 (see "Bloody Sunday 1920"). However, it went off without a hitch, and there were no tensions.

It's interesting to see association football and rugby played there because the Gaelic football and hurling pitch is much larger, and there is terracing at Croker as well, so not only is the capacity reduced, but the fans are further away and they have to re-orient the floodlights.

So, to recap, yes, Lansdowne Road got knocked down (when I was in Dublin, the hotel I stayed at was around the corner, and I could see the work crews through some of the still-standing original gates, with warning signs in English, Polish, and a Cyrillic language that I could not detect) and no, they did not build Croke Park in its place, since it already existed. Croke Park is for Gaelic games and Lansdowne Road is for "foreign" games, which were discouraged for a long time after Irish independence, and even before that in the nationalist communities. Having said that, that is definitely not the case today, given the widespread popularity of association football in the Republic of Ireland (it was already popular in the North), and considering that the Premiership's new broadcast partner is Irish.

This site (http://www.lrsdc.ie/home/default.asp) has more information on the Lansdowne Road redevelopment, which they would like to be completed in 2009. Please keep in mind that it is the new Lansdowne Road ground that is up for consideration for the UEFA Cup; what I want to know is how the Dublin 4 snobs are going to handle the heathen Continentals should the ground host the UEFA Cup. :D

Note: I apologise for bringing up the contentious issue of Irish nationalism. I know I got chastised for getting into an argument with Rick over that sort of thing, but I feel that it is important to understand the context of the national stadia of Ireland. If anyone is offended by this discussion, then, well, I'm sorry.

[Bluto11]

Didn't Lansdowne Road get knocked down and they built Croke Park instead? The rugby and football teams play their home games there now.
short answer......

yes, but they are rebuilding it and it should be done by then

[Gittle]

short answer......

yes, but they are rebuilding it and it should be done by then

Well, thankie thankie. :D

I understand what both you and Mr. Enforcer are getting at, but it is incorrect, and some would say wrong, for him to make such a statement as it implies that Croke Park exists for rugby (union) and association football, which completely disregards the entire history of the GAA. Granted, those games were played there before the GAA bought the ground at Jones's Road, but if he said that to an Irish person, especially if that person just happened to be Catholic, then he would be in quite a bit of trouble. ;)

[Skizz]

Everything I've heard while watching Ireland play football and rugby at LR implied it wasn't being rebuilt, hence me coming to that conclusion.

[Bluto11]

so I'm bumping this because my buddy and I were discussing Moscow being the host city and the Luzhniki Stadium having a 5-star rating. got me thinking, when is Emirates going to get it's 5 star rating?

[GriffinGunner]

I thought UEFA dumped the rating system and merely set minimum standards for hosting their events. If not, seems silly it hasn't been awarded by now.