The Evening Express has launched a campaign to persuade football bosses to choose Aberdeen as a venue for matches in football’s European Championships in 2008, if Scotland hosts the event.

The paper believes the honour would bring the biggest economic boost since the discovery of oil.

It is urging its readers to sign up for its More Than a Match campaign – the fight for Euro 2008, and has opened a special voteline for readers to register their support.

Scotland already has four of the six 30,000-plus stadia needed to have a chance of securing the event, and it would be a fight between Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh to get the two remaining stadia needed.

The Evening Express says the case for choosing Aberdeen is strong, giving fans living outside the Central Belt a chance to see quality football – and it also has a major airport.

If Aberdeen was chosen, the region could gain a:

• construction boom as it builds a new 30,000-seater stadium on the outskirts of the city and an £80m bypass to serve it;
• hefty share of a possible £50m of extra spending the Scottish Football Association predicts for the championship;
• place on the world tourism map as billions tune in to watch the matches

UEFA will announce the host country in 2003.

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