Everything you need to know about the Inverness Ice Centre Eurozone where you can watch Scotland in action at Euro 2024
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The countdown to Euro 2024 is on, with the opening match between hosts Germany and Scotland just days away.
Steve Clarke’s men have one more friendly to get through, against Finland at Hampden Park this Friday, before turning their full attention to their second consecutive European Championships.
In the Highland capital, that will mean hundreds of people descending on Inverness Ice Centre for their Eurozone.
They have worked with KBE Events to install what is believed to be the biggest screen north of Perth, standing at 6 metres wide and three metres tall, for fans to watch the matches.
Every group match will be shown, as well as some round of 16 matches, with the Eurozone set to run from June 14 to June 30.
Entry will cost £10 for days when Scotland or England are playing, and £7.50 the rest of the time.
Attendees will be given a wristband on entry which will give them access and freedom to come and go as they please on that day, with food vans due to be in position outside the ice centre as well as a bar and cafe inside for refreshments.
There will be seating available for up to 600 football fans each day, but with standing room at the back up to 700 tickets can be sold, open to people of all ages – with one west coast school even planning on bringing groups of 25 children to Inverness for each of the Scotland games.
On those evenings where Scotland are in action, there will also be pre-match entertainment in the form of Dylan Tierney for the opener, and the Folk Hero of the Highlands for the following group games against Switzerland and Hungary.
Inverness Ice Centre chief executive officer Gordon Barron says the intention was to give the Eurozone a festival feel, and says it will be as close to the experience of being at matches as you can get without actually heading over to Germany.
“There will be a real atmosphere, and there’s already a bit of excitement about it,” he said.
“I’m confident of filling the space for the Scotland matches, and it will probably be two-thirds full for England matches. Ticket sales are low for the other days at the moment, but we expected that. If low demand continues, we might have to make a call on those, but for the Scottish games we’re already at around 400 tickets sold.
“We’re a charity, so we’re always looking at ways to fundraise.
“Most people think it would be staffing, but our biggest cost is energy to keep the building going. Last year we turned off the ice for three months, and we’re doing the same this year, so we need to find a way of doing something while we’ve got the floor down.
“One of the ideas we had for the last Euros was a fan zone, but that was during Covid.
“I had been in Croatia during the World Cup, and there was something in the middle of town which was great fun. I had it in mind that we could do something similar.
“By pure coincidence, I was chatting with Kai at KBE Events the day he ordered the telly, and the idea was launched.
“It’s all taking shape now. It’s not quite the same as being at the match, but it’s the nearest thing you will get.
“Having a space like this with larger numbers makes it more of a tribal atmosphere like you would get at a match – there’s a reaction to everything within the group, so it’s very different.”
