Ian Rush backs the potential Welsh bid to host the Euro championships

The FAW have started speaking to their Scottish counterparts to consider a bid for the tournament that could also see the capacity of the Liberty increased as part of the process.   UEFA have always allowed joint bids for these tournaments but it is reported that there is some work to be done to convince them that two countries without a shared border could host a tournament of this magnitude.

As the current tournament draws to a close in Austria & Switzerland, the FAW will need to have their plans finalised by the start of the 2009-2010 season if the bid is to be made and former striker Ian Rush believes that hosting the tournament could inspire a generation.

Speaking in today's Western Mail, Rush said “It’s a bit of a pipe-dream at the moment, but you live for dreams and that shouldn’t stop us trying

“We’ve all seen these great tournaments on television and it would be unbelievable for it to be here in our backyard – imagine what a boost that would give us.

“Not just at the time of the event but even straight away; when people hear that we would host a major finals it would give huge incentive to these kids coming through .

“It would be an incentive for the ones involved now to push on, but it would also encourage all ages to get involved in the game.

“It would be great for the whole of Wales, not just the sporting side, the whole nation would get a boost.

“There would have to be a lot of work done but our stadiums are better than they’ve ever been. Look at Swansea’s new stadium which is fantastic, the new Cardiff ground, the Racecourse is going to be redeveloped and then, of course, there’s the Millennium which is up there with the best stadiums in Europe.

“If you don’t try you’ll never find out so good luck to them. I’d be fully behind it.

“Of course we are all looking to qualify for a tournament and hopefully we can give it a go in the next campaign

“But if we made it to a finals as hosts it wouldn’t matter one bit because the important thing is being there.

“Sure, we all want to qualify and break this run we’ve had. But the point of qualifying is getting to a finals and staging it would make it happen.

“In Austria the whole country was really up for it, you could see it had an impact everywhere you went and to think that happening to Wales would be amazing.”

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