• No games to be hosted north of Manchester and Rotherham • 16-team tournament will see final take place at Wembley

England has won the right to stage the 2021 Women’s European Championship finals but the Football Association’s choice of proposed host cities and stadiums is controversial as no games would be hosted north of Manchester and Rotherham.

That dictates a huge swath of the north, most notably the north-east, could be excluded from easy access to a tournament which England won unopposed. Uefa was impressed by the strength of the FA’s bid for a 16-team competition concluding in a Wembley final but the geographical spread and limited size of certain venues seems puzzling, particularly as Euro 2021 is regarded as integral to the development of the women’s domestic game.

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Matches are set to be staged at Brighton’s Amex Stadium, Wembley and Brentford Community Stadium in London, Milton Keynes’s Stadium MK, Manchester City’s Academy Stadium, Nottingham’s City Ground, Rotherham’s New York Stadium, Sheffield’s Bramall Lane and Southampton’s St Mary’s.

Baroness Sue Campbell, the FA’s director of women’s football, said: “This is fantastic news for the future development of girls’ and women’s football in England.

“Tournaments of the scale and profile of Euro 2021 have the power to inspire a new generation of young girls, and women of all ages, to get involved in the sport – as well as the opportunity to grow support for the women’s game at both a club and national level.

“A home Euro in 2021 has the potential to be a pivotal moment in the development of the women’s game in England.”

Accordingly it appears slightly unambitious that the north-west is currently represented merely by City’s Academy ground which has only a 7,000 capacity and is 145 miles by road from Newcastle, the north east’s regional capital.

Meanwhile Rotherham – on the same latitude as Manchester – and Sheffield fly the flag for South Yorkshire, leaving potentially decent venues further north including Blackburn, Burnley, Leeds, Hull, Middlesbrough, Sunderland and Newcastle excluded from a tournament to which Phil Neville’s England gain automatic qualification. The West Midlands and the south-west of the country do not fare overly well either with Bristol and Birmingham both omitted.

Martin Glenn, the FA’s chief executive, said: “Bringing Euro 2021 to England will be a tremendous opportunity to celebrate women’s football and will allow us to amplify our commitment to growing the game. In January we pledged an additional £50m investment over the next six years. We cannot underestimate the positive impact this tournament will have on inspiring the next generation. We are determined to put on a great showcase with Europe’s top talent playing in front of packed stadiums. To have Wembley for the showpiece final will be a fitting conclusion to what I am certain will be a wonderful tournament.”

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Venues for Euro 2021

Brighton: Amex Stadium

London: Wembley and the Brentford Community Stadium

Milton Keynes: Stadium MK

Manchester: Manchester City Academy Stadium

Nottingham: City Ground

Rotherham: New York Stadium

Sheffield: Bramall Lane

Southampton: St Mary’s Stadium