Leonisco Posted 12 February 2007 Posted 12 February 2007 Ministers back World Cup 2018 bid An English bid to host the 2018 football World Cup would be backed by the government, ministers have pledged. An official study into the project has concluded that England is well-placed to stage the competition. Chancellor Gordon Brown said the tournament should return to "the nation which gave football to the world". The final decision on tabling a bid lies with the Football Association, which spent millions on an unsuccessful attempt to host the 2006 competition. FA chief executive Brian Barwick said in a statement: "Government backing is a central part of any successful World Cup bid and this study underlines this government's commitment to bringing the world's biggest sports events to these shores." Mr Brown said: "By 2018, it will be more than 50 years since England first hosted the World Cup. "With the Olympics in London in 2012, hosting the World Cup in 2018 would make the next decade the greatest in Britain's sporting history." The chancellor and Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell visited the new Wembley Stadium to launch the report of the government's feasibility study. Ms Jowell told BBC Radio Five Live: "The FA will, in due course, make their decision. "What Gordon Brown and I are showing today is that a World Cup bid would have unqualified government support." Unqualified The country has been weighing up a possible bid since late 2005. England would be among early favourites to clinch the 2018 tournament, having not hosted the World Cup since 1966. It would also be the natural turn of a European nation after South Africa in 2010 and, it is thought likely, a South American location in 2014. The Euro 96 tourney was superb - so imagine that on a bigger scale. 606 DEBATE: Backing the bid? The government's study considered England's stadiums - only six of which are big enough at present - and other infrastructure, as well as the legacy and economic benefits hosting the cup would bring. Researchers also canvassed public opinion, concluding that there would be widespread enthusiasm across Britain. But shadow sports minister Hugh Robertson accused the government of "a very silly publicity stunt". "Gordon Brown would be much better off sorting out the mess he has made of the Olympics budget, or actually delivering on the other pledges he has already made about sport but not kept," he added. Misjudged BBC sports news correspondent Gordon Farquhar said that during its last bid the FA misjudged the internal politics of Fifa, world football's governing body. Before it bid again, the association would want to ensure it had support at the highest level of the game, our correspondent said. STADIA MEETING FIFA REQUIREMENTS Wembley Old Trafford The Emirates Stadium St James' Park City of Manchester Stadium Villa Park Among the luminaries who support an English bid is German football legend Franz Beckenbauer, the brains behind Germany's bid for the 2006 tournament. And Ms Jowell insisted an English bid would be something people in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland would get behind too. "If any country in the UK were to host a global sporting event on this kind of scale, it becomes something that the whole of the UK becomes enthused by." Any FA bid would have to be submitted in 2010 before a decision late the following year. Link I think this is excellent news - we should definitely get it. Thanks to the Olympics, by that time we'll have all the right facilities to pull it off. Let's bring football back home and show 'em all how it's done. What does everyone think?
Webbo Posted 12 February 2007 Posted 12 February 2007 getting the world cup would be great. but gordon brown getting involved is just a pathetic publicity stunt designed to court popularity with the english.
Geo V Posted 12 February 2007 Posted 12 February 2007 It would be great and it will probably be our best chance of winning the thing. I cant see it happening with the Olympic Games being here and the Euros "just" a decade ago. I think they`ll give it to someone else but it would be great if they came to these shores.
lcfc_jme Posted 12 February 2007 Posted 12 February 2007 Great stuff I'd love us to host the World Cup. If it's the 2018 World Cup then fantastic, I should have a fair bit of money by then as I'll be 29, so I'll be off to as many games as I can possibly get to. Bring it on!!
Floating Fox Posted 12 February 2007 Posted 12 February 2007 Great stuff I'd love us to host the World Cup. If it's the 2018 World Cup then fantastic, I should have a fair bit of money by then as I'll be 29, so I'll be off to as many games as I can possibly get to. Bring it on!! Rent boys is minimum wage
Alexikokopops Posted 13 February 2007 Posted 13 February 2007 How many grounds do we need? We need to have 10 meeting FIFA requirements. There's a good article here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6355075.stm
Sods Posted 14 February 2007 Posted 14 February 2007 why not the walkers its not really big enough compared to the others. Unless mandaric decides to build more on to it (which is very unlikely) than theirs no chance of it being at the walkers
Manwell Pablo Posted 14 February 2007 Posted 14 February 2007 How many grounds do we need? between 10-12, most over 55,000 seaters we'd get away with having a few around 45,000 for the smaller games I suppouse, we'd have to have a couple of huge ones as well though. At the moment we have Wembley 90 odd thousand. Old Trafford 77 odd thousand. Emirates 60 odd thousand. By then Liverpool will have their new ground and we can use that. Thats it really, I suppouse we'd get away with 2 of either St James at 52,500, Stadium of light at 48,500 and maybe the Eastlands at 48,000. We'd need to show we have plans for some bigger grounds like Ze Germans did. If we launched a bid as GB we'd get it easy, unfortuantely we're not allowed to do that <_< EDIT: STADIA MEETING FIFA REQUIREMENTS Wembley Old Trafford The Emirates Stadium St James' Park City of Manchester Stadium Villa Park Whoops missed that Still not enough to make a succesfull bid.
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