- Old Trafford Has Been Officially Ruled Out of Euro 2028
- Why Was Old Trafford Left Off the Euro 2028 Venue List?
- Gary Neville, the Glazers, and the Fallout
- Which Stadium Is Hosting Euro 2028 Matches in Manchester?
- Old Trafford’s Proud History of Hosting Major Tournaments
- So What Is Actually Happening to Old Trafford?
- The Full List of Euro 2028 Host Venues
- Could Old Trafford — or Its Successor — Host a Major Tournament Again?
- Frequently Asked Questions
Old Trafford Has Been Officially Ruled Out of Euro 2028
Let’s get the straight answer out of the way first. UEFA confirmed nine host stadiums for Euro 2028 in November 2025, and Old Trafford is not among them. The tournament runs from 9 June to 9 July 2028 across England, Scotland, Wales, and the Republic of Ireland — and Manchester’s representative venue will be the Etihad Stadium, not Old Trafford.
Old Trafford was originally included on the FA’s longlist when the UK and Ireland bid was being assembled. By April 2023, it had been quietly dropped. UEFA rubber-stamped the full host list on 10 October 2023. The exclusion has been confirmed and final ever since.
Why Was Old Trafford Left Off the Euro 2028 Venue List?
This is the question everyone wants answered — and the real reason is slightly more nuanced than you might have read elsewhere.
Manchester United Couldn’t Guarantee the Stadium Would Be Ready
The official reason is straightforward: Manchester United could not commit. After discussions between the club and the FA, both parties agreed to remove Old Trafford from the bid because the club was unable to guarantee that the stadium would be in a suitable condition to host matches in the summer of 2028. United had already made their redevelopment intentions known — and faced with the possibility that construction delays might force a humiliating late withdrawal from the bid, the decision was made early to simply step aside.
That’s not a rumour or a spin — it’s the position confirmed by both the club and the FA. The mutual agreement was reached in early 2023, and Old Trafford was removed from the final submission.
Wasn’t the Leaking Roof Part of It?
You’ve probably seen the headlines about Old Trafford’s infamous leaking roof — there have been notable incidents in 2012, 2019, 2023, and most embarrassingly, during a match against Arsenal in May 2024. It’s become something of a symbol for the stadium’s broader deterioration.
Technically, the official reason for the Euro 2028 exclusion was the redevelopment uncertainty, not the roof itself. But the two things are deeply connected. The roof leaks because the stadium hasn’t received a major upgrade since 2006. The redevelopment plans exist because the stadium has been allowed to fall behind. So while the roof wasn’t cited as the reason, it’s very much part of the story of how Old Trafford got to this point.
What About Anfield — Why Did That Miss Out Too?
A completely different reason, actually. Liverpool’s Anfield was ruled ineligible — not excluded by choice. UEFA requires a playing surface of 105 metres by 68 metres for major tournament matches. Anfield’s pitch falls 4 metres short in length, at 101 metres, and the proximity of the stands behind each goal makes it impossible to extend. No amount of investment can fix that particular problem. So while Old Trafford’s exclusion was a decision, Anfield’s was a disqualification.
Gary Neville, the Glazers, and the Fallout
When the news broke in April 2023, the reaction from Manchester United’s most prominent pundit was immediate and brutal. Gary Neville, who made 602 appearances for the club, described the exclusion as a “dereliction of duty” by the Glazer family, who had owned Manchester United since 2005. He told the Daily Mail that the Glazers had “overseen a decline for 20 years in which it has gone from being one of the best stadiums in the world to one that can’t even get into the top 10 in the UK and Ireland,” adding bluntly: “This is an all-time low. It is a rusty stadium. It is shameful.”
It’s worth noting the context: in April 2023, the Glazer-era ownership was still in place, and the club was in the middle of a prolonged and troubled sale process. Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s arrival as a minority investor only came in February 2024. Neville’s anger was directed squarely at the years of underinvestment that had left the UK’s biggest club stadium unable to host one of football’s biggest tournaments — while a smaller, newer stadium across the city had no such problem.
Which Stadium Is Hosting Euro 2028 Matches in Manchester?
The Etihad Stadium Steps In
Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium has been confirmed as one of the nine Euro 2028 venues, and it’s been handed a significant role. The Etihad will host five matches in total — four group stage games across four different groups, plus a Round of 16 knockout fixture. Most notably, it will host England’s opening game of the tournament, should the Three Lions qualify.
That’s a big deal. England playing a home tournament game at a venue other than Wembley is historically rare — during both the 1966 World Cup and Euro 96, England played all their matches at Wembley. Manchester will be England’s home-away-from-home for Euro 2028.
The Etihad Is Being Transformed for 2028
The timing couldn’t be better for Manchester City. Their £300 million North Stand expansion — which adds approximately 7,900 upper-tier seats, a sky bar, a new hotel, and a covered fan park for up to 6,000 people — is scheduled for completion in late 2026. By the time Euro 2028 kicks off, the Etihad’s capacity will have risen to approximately 61,747, and the whole campus will have been rebuilt to a standard the city can genuinely be proud of.
Here’s the irony worth sitting with: the stadium hosting Euro 2028 in Manchester will have a capacity of around 61,747. Old Trafford, the stadium it replaced on the bid list, currently holds 74,310. Manchester’s Euro 2028 venue will be nearly 13,000 seats smaller than the one that was left out.
Old Trafford’s Proud History of Hosting Major Tournaments
Before you write off Old Trafford entirely, it’s worth remembering just how rich its tournament history actually is. The 2028 exclusion is about timing — it doesn’t erase a century of major event hosting.
- 1966 FIFA World Cup: three group stage matches, including a Portugal fixture featuring a young Eusébio.
- UEFA Euro 1996: three group games, a quarter-final, and the semi-final between the Czech Republic and France — all in front of a brand-new three-tiered North Stand that had been built specifically for the tournament.
- 2003 UEFA Champions League Final: AC Milan vs. Juventus — the only Champions League final ever held at a club ground in England.
- 2012 Summer Olympics: football matches including a men’s semi-final and a women’s semi-final.
- UEFA Women’s Euro 2022: the tournament opener — England vs. Austria — in front of a record-breaking crowd of 68,871. Still the most recent major tournament fixture at the ground.
That’s five major international tournaments across six decades. When you look at it that way, Euro 2028’s absence stings a little more — because the stadium clearly has the heritage and the history for this kind of occasion. It just doesn’t, right now, have the infrastructure to match.
So What Is Actually Happening to Old Trafford?
This is the part most people searching this question really want to know — and as of 2026, there’s genuinely significant news.
Manchester United Is Building a Brand-New 100,000-Seat Stadium
In March 2025, Manchester United officially confirmed that they intend to build a new 100,000-seat stadium on land adjacent to the current Old Trafford site. The project is being designed by Foster + Partners — the firm behind some of the most celebrated architecture in the world — and the designs reveal something genuinely spectacular: a vast canopy structure sheltering a public plaza described as twice the size of Trafalgar Square, with a central mast rising 200 metres above Greater Manchester.
If built as planned, the new stadium would become the largest football stadium in the UK — bigger than Wembley, bigger than the current Old Trafford, and the second-largest football stadium in Europe after Camp Nou. Sir Jim Ratcliffe has described it as the future “Wembley of the North.”
When Will It Be Built?
The target is the 2030–31 football season — though getting there requires resolving some significant hurdles first. The main obstacle, as of early 2026, is a land dispute with Freightliner, a rail logistics company that operates a depot on land adjacent to Old Trafford that Manchester United need for the new build. The two parties are reportedly far apart on valuation: United believe the land is worth around £40 million; Freightliner has reportedly asked for £400 million. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has indicated he would use compulsory purchase powers if necessary to unlock the project.
In January 2026, United announced a “major milestone” — the official launch of the Old Trafford Regeneration Mayoral Development Corporation (OTR MDC), chaired by Lord Sebastian Coe. This body will drive the wider transformation of the 370-acre area around the stadium, with ambitions that include 15,000 new homes and 90,000 new jobs. Construction shovels are now hoped to hit the ground in 2026, once planning permission and land purchase are finalised. A five-year build time would see the new stadium ready by 2031 — roughly on target.
What Happens to the Current Old Trafford?
According to the BBC, once the new stadium is complete, the existing Old Trafford is likely to be demolished. That’s an emotionally charged prospect — a ground that has stood since 1910, survived German bombing raids in the Second World War, and hosted everything from the 1966 World Cup to a Champions League final, facing the wrecking ball. Some supporters feel conflicted about it. But it would free up valuable land as part of the wider Trafford Wharfside regeneration.
Nothing is confirmed yet. But that currently appears to be the direction of travel.
The Full List of Euro 2028 Host Venues
For context, here are all nine confirmed stadiums hosting Euro 2028, which runs from 9 June to 9 July 2028:
- Wembley Stadium — London (both semi-finals and the final)
- Tottenham Hotspur Stadium — London
- Etihad Stadium — Manchester (5 matches, including England’s group opener)
- Hill Dickinson Stadium (Everton) — Liverpool
- Villa Park — Birmingham
- St James’ Park — Newcastle
- Hampden Park — Glasgow
- Aviva Stadium (Dublin Arena) — Dublin
- Millennium Stadium (Principality Stadium) — Cardiff (tournament opener, 9 June 2028)
Note: Casement Park in Belfast was originally part of the bid but was dropped in late 2024 due to construction delays, meaning Northern Ireland will not host any matches.
Could Old Trafford — or Its Successor — Host a Major Tournament Again?
Almost certainly yes — just not as Old Trafford, and not anytime soon. If the new 100,000-seat stadium is completed around 2030–31, it would immediately become one of the most formidable tournament venues on the planet. A stadium that size, with modern infrastructure and a brand-new transport hub (Foster + Partners’ plans include a rebuilt Old Trafford station with a direct, walkable route to the ground), would be a compelling candidate for future World Cup bids, Euros, and major finals.
The UK is already being discussed as a potential host for the 2035 FIFA Women’s World Cup. And there’s a broader ambition — implicit in Ratcliffe’s “Wembley of the North” framing — to give Manchester a stadium that competes with Wembley for prestige event hosting on an ongoing basis. Euro 2028 is the tournament Manchester misses. But if the new stadium gets built on schedule, it might arrive just in time for the next one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Old Trafford hosting Euro 2028?
No. Old Trafford will not host a single match at Euro 2028. It was removed from the UK and Ireland’s bid in April 2023, and the decision was confirmed when UEFA announced the final nine host venues in November 2025.
Why was Old Trafford excluded from Euro 2028?
Manchester United could not guarantee that the stadium would be ready and suitable for the tournament, due to planned redevelopment works. Both the club and the FA agreed it was better to withdraw early rather than risk a forced late exit from the bid. The underlying issue was years of underinvestment that had left the stadium in need of major work.
Which stadiums are hosting Euro 2028?
Nine stadiums across England, Scotland, Wales, and the Republic of Ireland: Wembley Stadium, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Etihad Stadium, Hill Dickinson Stadium (Everton), Villa Park, St James’ Park, Hampden Park, Aviva Stadium in Dublin, and the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. The tournament opens in Cardiff on 9 June 2028 and ends with the final at Wembley on 9 July 2028.
Why is the Etihad Stadium hosting Euro 2028 instead of Old Trafford?
The Etihad is a modern, well-maintained stadium currently undergoing a £300 million expansion that will be complete before the tournament. Manchester City were able to commit to hosting, while Manchester United were not. The Etihad will host five matches including England’s group stage opener, should England qualify.
Did Old Trafford host Euro 1996?
Yes — and it played a significant role. Old Trafford hosted three group games, a quarter-final, and the semi-final between the Czech Republic and France at Euro 1996. A brand-new three-tiered North Stand had been built specifically in time for the tournament, raising the ground’s capacity to over 55,000.
Will Manchester United build a new stadium?
Yes. In March 2025, Manchester United officially confirmed plans to build a new 100,000-seat stadium adjacent to the current Old Trafford site. The project is designed by Foster + Partners and would become the largest football stadium in the UK. An Old Trafford Regeneration Mayoral Development Corporation was formally launched in January 2026 to oversee the wider project.
When will Manchester United’s new stadium be built?
The club is targeting the 2030–31 season for completion, with construction hoped to begin in 2026 once land acquisition and planning permission are finalised. A key obstacle remains a land dispute with rail logistics company Freightliner, though Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has indicated he would use compulsory purchase powers to resolve it if needed.
Why didn’t Anfield host Euro 2028?
Anfield was ruled ineligible — not simply excluded. UEFA requires a pitch of 105 metres by 68 metres for major tournament matches. Anfield’s pitch is only 101 metres long, and the proximity of the stands behind each goal makes it impossible to extend. Unlike Old Trafford’s situation, this is a permanent disqualification with no straightforward fix.
Who criticised Old Trafford’s exclusion from Euro 2028?
Most vocally, Manchester United legend and Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville. He described it as a “dereliction of duty” by the Glazer family and said the stadium had declined “from one of the best in the world to one that can’t even get into the top 10 in the UK and Ireland.” His comments reflected widespread frustration among supporters about years of underinvestment at the ground.
Will Old Trafford host any matches at Euro 2028 at all?
No — not one. Old Trafford has no role in Euro 2028 whatsoever, not even as a training venue or backup facility. The Manchester slot belongs entirely to the Etihad Stadium.
