How Big Is The Anfield Pitch And Why Does It Fall Short of UEFA’s Requirements For Euro 2028 Matches | OneFootball

Liverpool supporters are fiercely loyal to the club, as you might expect, treating Anfield as an almost religious venue. As a result, many people wonder why it is that the football ground isn’t used to host the likes of the Champions League final or the final of the Europa League.

The answer, in short, is not that the overall stadium’s quality isn’t good enough, but rather that the pitch doesn’t meet the necessary requirements for it to be used for UEFA competitions. One of the obvious questions that follows is what those requirements actually are, as well as whether or not most supporters care very much.

What the UEFA Rules Say

In the October of 2023, UEFA confirmed that the host associations for the European Championship in 2028 would be a joint venture, seeing England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland welcome tens of thousands of football fans to their shores for the flagship event. Soon, a shortlist of ten stadiums was drawn up to host matches, which were as follows:

There were two notable omissions from the list, which were Anfield, home of the most successful club in English football, and Old Trafford, where the second-most successful club in English football play their games. It didn’t take long before Liverpool supporters began to question why it is that Anfield is not one of the places welcoming games during the competition, with the answer being that the stadium does not meet the requirements put in place for pitch dimensions that will be allowed to see Euro matches played on them.

The UEFA rules say that pitches need to be 105 metres long and 68 metres wide.

What Anfield’s Pitch Offers

The big issue for Liverpool when it comes to hosting UEFA tournaments is that the pitch simply isn’t long enough to tick that 105-metre box. Because of the location of the Anfield Road Stand at one end of the pitch and the Kop at the other, there is only enough space for a pitch of 101 metres in length to be installed. As a result, the Football Association was quick to inform Liverpool Football Club that Anfield would not be put forward as one of the venues for the Euros in 2028. The good news is that it doesn’t mean that there will be no football played in the city during the tournament, but the bad news is that it will be played at Everton’s ground.

Not that many Liverpool supporters will be all that bothered, of course. Whilst Evertonians are often quick to offer their support for the English national side as the only real hope of them being able to see a side actually win something, fans of the Reds are generally much slower to get caught up in the idea of cheering on the Three Lions, or any national team for that matter. That being said, Liverpool supporters are just as liable as anyone else to enjoy watching a bit of football, almost irrespective of who it is that is playing, so there will be a fair few disappointed at not being able to watch the Euros there.

What it Means for the Club

Although many fans might not be overly bothered about not being able to head along to Anfield in order to watch a game during the European Championship in 2028, to say nothing of seeing the Champions League final take place there at some point in the future, the owners are likely to be at least a little bit disappointed. That is because hosting major games such as the Euros or one of UEFA’s finals can be lucrative. Whilst the actual money made from hosting a game is small because of the fact that UEFA keeps the gate receipts, it does see money flow into the club via other means.

The commercial recognition that comes with being a host venue for a UEFA competition can be significant, even if the club only takes a small rental fee and UEFA manages to make money from the likes of catering and in-stadium advertising. For a club of Liverpool’s size and stature, being able to see the club’s name and the stadium broadcast around the world can only be seen as a good thing. There is also no question that there will be a sense of disappointment at the idea of the Hill Dickinson Stadium’s inclusion whilst Anfield is ignored, to say nothing of the boasting that will come from supporters.