LUCY FRAZER: Let’s chase the dream… Euro 2028 would leave a legacy across the UK and Ireland

The summer of Euro 96 was unforgettable. It was one of those occasions – like the Olympic Games in 2012 and the European Women’s Championship last year – that made the whole country buzz.

England’s first major football tournament since our World Cup victory in 1966, with a team the country believed could win it all.

While we haven’t always achieved perfect results on the pitch, we have shown the world year after year that we can host exceptional tournaments and create memories that will last a lifetime.

Think of the sporting magic we’ve seen on home soil in the last three years alone. Multiple inspiring international football tournaments for the men’s and women’s games. Twelve Euro 2020 matches in England and Scotland. Almost all of England’s epic run to the final. And to top it off, the record-breaking UEFA Women’s European Championship was crowned in England last summer with the Lionesses’ famous victory.

In 2028, we want to create new memories for a new generation and we want to do that in the UK and Ireland. So on Wednesday we made our bid to host Euro 2028.

If we succeed, it will be the biggest sporting event our islands have ever organized together – with millions of people watching Europe’s best players in our towns and cities during the month-long tournament.

Like any great team, our offer includes the whole package. Iconic stadiums from the Aviva in Ireland to the Etihad in the North West, Hampden Park in Scotland and the Principality in Wales. And of course the venue where Leah Williamson lifted the Women’s Euros trophy last year, Wembley Stadium.

The public transport links were supposed to make it easy for fans to get around, with more than 80 percent of ticket holders expected to come to matches on public transport and traveling an average of just two hours between host cities.

And, our most important ingredient, you, the fans. Fans of our national teams have all been in quite a bit of pain. But what makes you so special is your unfailing passion – not only for your team, but also for the game itself.

Euro 2028 will be a new and defining moment for football in the UK and Ireland. One that benefits the whole country.

Every country in our bid will want to build an inspiring legacy for this tournament and for the communities they serve. That’s why they’ve already committed over £500 million between 2019 and 2025 to upgrade facilities in their area – including over £300 million from the UK government between 2021 and 2025, to ensure high-quality facilities are not just in the usual places , they exist throughout the country.

Ian Wright said this week that a football pitch is ‘somewhere you go when you start chasing your dream’. There is no doubt that this tournament could inspire the next crop of youngsters in towns from Crewe and Inverness to Bangor, Londonderry-Derry and Dublin to take to their local pitch and start their own journey from Saturday football to international stardom.

And then we haven’t even mentioned the countless benefits for tourism. It will be a bull’s-eye for all our countries. Pubs and B&Bs are packed to the brim. Bunting sold out in stores. Boosting our economies by the billions and creating a feel-good factor that you can’t put a price on.

These are the moments that people enjoy. Flags in the car windows. Wall charts in the tea rooms. Fans fill pubs in cities and towns across our countries. A tournament for all of the UK and Ireland. A tournament for all of Europe.

That is why I support the UK and Ireland bid for Euro 2028.