LINFIELD manager David Healy has weighed into the Casement Park debate by declaring that at a cost of £30m per game, the project 'isn't worth it'.
But the former Northern Ireland goalscoring hero reveals he personally would have had no problem playing in major tournament final games at the GAA venue in West Belfast.
The Irish FA will use Casement Park as one of ten host venues for the Euro 2028 finals, shared amongst the four countries of the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
The Andersonstown venue has been mired in debate amid delays to the rebuilding of the home of Antrim GAA, but is set to receive funding with estimates between £130-£170 for the rebuild.
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Twelve years ago, Stormont agreed to pay £62m to redevelop Casement, with the GAA chipping in £15m, but costs have spiralled since then.
The plan is to host five games but there is no guarantee that Northern Ireland will qualify for the finals, either on merit or as one of the host nations.
Current UEFA rules allow for only two host nations to qualify automatically and Healy says the worst case scenario is that Northern Ireland do not qualify for the finals and five mediocre fixtures will be played at a cost of £30m per game.
“The biggest concern around it all for me is, first and foremost, if Northern Ireland are not given automatic qualification and we fail to qualify”, said the successful Linfield boss.
“Then we will have spent £150-160m or more to host five games that Northern Ireland may not play in.
“People are talking about the possibility of home nations who don't qualify getting automatic qualification but there's no guarantee of that.
“There's no guarantee that Northern Ireland are going to qualify because it's going to be a challenge again.
“Worst case scenario, I'll give you three; we don't get a free pass, we don't qualify or we get five group games here, that's basically £30m a game and Northern Ireland may not be in it. “And you may have, say, Bulgaria v North Macedonia at Casement Park as one of the games.
“Let's call it straight, we're not going to get Germany at Casement Park. They're not going to send Germany and Spain to Casement Park, because their federations would question why England are getting there and we're getting here?
“Unfortunately, the glamour games that everybody has in their minds looking at it now....if Northern Ireland don't qualify we're going to end up with a mish mash of teams that people possibly don't want to see.
“And when you divide that into five games, £30m per game? It doesn't make sense.
“£160m in this day and age? Everybody's talking about the cost of living crisis, the daily challenges and everything else, so when you weigh it up, with the health system the way it is at the minute, the education system the way it is at the minute, is it fair?
“You sit down with a Head teacher, or a Board of Governors at some of the schools that are struggling at the minute. I believe – I know for a fact – some teachers are actually having to spend some of their own money to bring equipment into schools to help with our kids' education. It's a sad state.
“I have no doubt Casement Park will get built. In time for the Euros? I can't say, but as I said, if you sit down with people high up in health or education, they must be pulling their hair out wondering why £160m out of the government's kitty in this country goes to build a stadium that we may not participate in.”
“This isn't against Antrim or Casement Park ever being built, it probably should have been built before now, I don't know the ins and outs of why it hasn't been built.
“If Northern Ireland had to play international games at Ravenhill, I wouldn't be a big fan of that, because Windsor is our home and it's always been our home.
“If I was 26 to 30 and in the Northern Ireland team and there was an opportunity to play at the European Championships, something I never got to do, I’d have jumped at the chance to play anywhere.
“That would have been a personal decision because I'd never played in any finals so I would have played absolutely anywhere.
“My first preference would be to play at Windsor, either the old Windsor or the new Windsor.”
In the wake of the announcement about Casement Park, local football is hoping for funding on a similar level to the GAA venue from the government.
The Sub-Regional Stadia Funding programme promised £36m of funding in 2011 but it has yet to be released.
IFA CEO Patrick Nelson recently declared “We need in excess of £100m, I think we probably need £120m and that’s just for the NIFL clubs”, but again Healy has misgivings.
“If there is a spare £150m in the Northern Ireland government – that isn’t even sitting at the moment – to be put into football, I’d be surprised.
“The Sub Regional Stadia money was first talked about in 2011 so it’s basically 12 years since the promise of £36million was made yet it has not been delivered.
“There are so many clubs out there in Northern Ireland desperate, crying out for money to improve spectator facilities and playing facilities, and everything that goes into running a football club that includes boys and girls teams.
“Who is to say that after Casement Park is built for £160million, that five years down the line we’re still asking where the Sub Regional money is?”
