The Football Association has today submitted its official bid to stage the UEFA Women’s EURO 2021 in England – and Meadow Lane is one of its proposed stadia.
The FA’s decision to submit its bid follows England Women’s successful Euro 2017 campaign in the Netherlands which saw the Lionesses reach the semi-finals, generating a record peak audience of four million TV viewers in the UK.
The bid proposes a country-wide spread of host cities and stadia of varying capacities, with Wembley Stadium earmarked to stage the tournament’s final in July 2021, a year after hosting the equivalent final for the men’s tournament.
The proposed cities and stadia included in the bid are:
Brighton & Hove - AMEX Stadium
London - Wembley Stadium, connected by EE, and Brentford Community Stadium
Milton Keynes - Stadium MK
Manchester - Manchester City Academy Stadium
Nottingham - Meadow Lane
Peterborough - ABAX Stadium
Rotherham - AESSEAL New York Stadium
Sheffield - Bramall Lane
Notts County chairman and owner Alan Hardy said: “We are absolutely delighted that The FA see us a worthy host for this prestigious tournament.
“At Notts County we are staunchly supportive of the development of women’s football and have recently set up a girls’ academy and women’s team which will provide a sustainable, professional platform for player development.
“Should The FA’s bid be successful, this would be hugely exciting news for the city and we await the outcome with great anticipation.”
Nottingham City Council leader, Cllr Jon Collins, added: “The UEFA Women's European Championship is the most significant women's national football team competition in Europe.
“We’re pleased that, alongside Notts County, we have secured Nottingham as a host city for 2021 in the event that The FA’s bid is successful.
“This would provide a good opportunity to shine a global spotlight on Nottingham as a great sporting and tourism destination.
“We could expect around 100,000 fans to attend the four matches which could be staged here, bringing a huge boost to the local economy, along with an estimated global TV audience of 165 million.
“It would be a chance for us to stage another top-class sporting event and to bring women's football to a new family and young crowd, which would increase the opportunities for women and girls to play football.”
Martin Glenn, The FA’s chief executive officer, is also excited by the prospect of securing the tournament.
“Our bid to host UEFA Women’s EURO 2021 reflects our strong commitment to supporting and growing women’s and girls' football in England,” he said.
“We have invested heavily in the women’s game in recent years and the opportunity to bring the tournament to England would represent a landmark moment for women’s football in this country.
“Our aim is to make UEFA Women’s EURO 2021 the biggest and best showcase for women’s football ever seen in Europe.
“We have not only the ambition, but the tournament hosting experience, infrastructure and incredible spectator demand to ensure we would deliver a truly memorable tournament.”
Baroness Sue Campbell, The FA’s director of women’s football, added: “We have made great strides in growing participation, support and success at all levels throughout women’s and girls' football, of which we can be rightly proud.
“In our Gameplan for Growth strategy, launched in March last year, we set ourselves some challenging targets which we are on course to achieve, but we are impatient to accelerate the development of the sport.
“There is no question that the opportunity to host such a prestigious tournament would provide us with an incredible catalyst for the future growth of the game at all levels.”
The FA’s bid has received the full support of the UK Government.
Tracey Crouch, minister for sport and civil society, said: “On behalf of the UK Government, I give our wholehearted support for the bid to host the UEFA Women’s EURO 2021 in England.
“Our nation has a proud track record of successfully staging the most prestigious sporting events in the world. Having recently hosted the Women’s Hockey World Cup, last year’s Women’s Cricket World Cup and soon to host the Netball World Cup, we have demonstrated that the British public have a passion for supporting women’s sport at the highest level with record attendances.
“We are excited by the opportunity UEFA Women’s EURO 2021 presents, which will undoubtedly inspire thousands of women and girls to get active and take up football, whilst showcasing to the rest of Europe and the world our country’s capacity for delivering truly world class events.”
England previously staged the UEFA Women’s Euro 2005 at venues across the north-west of the country with 29,092 watching England’s opening win against Finland in Manchester a record for an opening group match.
Earlier this year, St. George’s Park and stadiums across the Midlands and South Yorkshire welcomed the UEFA Men’s EURO U17 while Wembley Stadium will be a key venue when the UEFA EURO 2020 finals is played across 12 European cities.
UEFA’s deadline for bids to stage the tournament is 31 August 2018, with a final decision on the successful host nation to be taken by the UEFA Executive Committee on 3 December 2018.