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Plans to increase Windsor Park capacity to 23,750 part of Women’s World Cup bid
Plans to redevelop Windsor Park for the UK’s bid to host the 2035 Women’s World Cup include raising its capacity from 18,500 to 23,750. The upgrade would help Belfast’s stadium meet Fifa requirements to host matches through the quarter-final stage, making it Northern Ireland’s sole proposed venue in the bid.
A Fifa report also sets out plans for a hybrid-grass pitch with tournament-compliant dimensions and upgraded floodlighting, with the work expected by 2035. The joint bid from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales is the only one submitted and is due to be ratified at an Extraordinary Fifa Congress on 23 November. Windsor Park last underwent redevelopment in 2015, funded in part by a £28.75m grant from the Northern Ireland Executive.
In short
- Windsor Park could expand to 23,750 seats by 2035.
- The upgrade is part of the UK’s Women’s World Cup bid.
- Belfast’s ground is Northern Ireland’s only proposed venue.