FOOTBALL Association of Wales chief executive Jonathan Ford has revealed that Newport played a big part in persuading UEFA to bring the Champions’ League final to Wales, writes Andrew Penman.

The world’s biggest club game will be staged at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium in June 2017 after years of wrangling with football’s European governing body.

And Ford says the closeness of world class hotels like the Celtic Manor in Newport played a key part in getting the capital’s bid over the line as he personally lobbied UEFA president Platini.

“We’ve had to put an awful lot of work in to make sure all the obstacles that have been perceived in the past have been overcome,” said Ford.

“One of the things I’ve always been keen to persuade UEFA of is that they shouldn’t just be looking at Cardiff, they should be looking at the wider region.

“Over the past six or seven months we’ve been working with hotels in Swansea, Newport and even Bristol to secure all the accommodation that UEFA need.

“I’ve often told Platini that Wembley isn’t in fact in London, it’s in Middlesex, and I said to him that I would get him from the Millennium Stadium to the Celtic Manor quicker than he could get from Wembley to Park Lane in London.”

The award of the Champions’ League final and women’s Champions’ League final is a boost for the FAW after they missed out on staging games at the European Championships in 2020.

“We were very hopeful for the Euro 2020 finals and UEFA made it very clear that we had put a good bid in,” said Ford.

“We wanted both but with three group games and a round of 16 tie you could end up with Greece v Romania, which would be fantastic but arguably wouldn’t necessarily fill the stadium.

“A lot of people would argue that on a profile basis this is bigger so I’m delighted that we’ve managed to secure the Champions’ League final.

“Demand for this will be phenomenal.”

There will be a ballot for people in Wales and beyond to purchase around 6,000 tickets for the final, with prices ranging from around £50 to £280 for this year’s match in Berlin.