England Bid for World Cup 2018

[Edmund]

To be fair BlueSi is speaking a lot of sense but maybe taking it a little far in regards to calling Leicester a shithole. But lets be honest were no Cambridge.

[CosbehFox]

In a way im delighted Leicester wasn't chosen, as someone who lives in Munich i came back for Christmas and truly realised that along with Luton, Leicester is the foulest looking place in the UK, i said it before in this thread, one look around for anybody not living in the City would rather see the World Cup on the Falklands rather than Leicester, its a horrific place.

Just a lot of bitterness in this thread, people need to take of their blue tinted spectacles and accept the facts. We are from a poor POOR shithole, we are a big city with precious little importance very much like Bradford and live in the shadow of the bigger and MUCH prettier boys on that list, we always will be.

Plymouth is in a very beautiful area and Milton Keynes has more potential in its little finger than we do as a city. The rest of the cities chosen just take a steamy great shit all over us. The Highcross just isnt good enough im afraid.

Our bid being based on the fact that we have fewer "White British" citizens percentage wise than the rest of the UK was just desperate and lets be honest, sadly not everybody listening to that message when the council was making its presentation was going to see that as a good thing.

I still support the bid 100% lets get behind it instead of throwing our toys out of the pram!

Over-egging the pudding. We're hardly the Mona Lisa but we are certainly not up in there in the Shithole stakes. Luton, Bradford, Grays, Corby, Coventry, Hull, Grimsby, massive parts of Brum, Middlesbrough, Blackpool, Stoke...

[Rich Fox]

In a way im delighted Leicester wasn't chosen, as someone who lives in Munich i came back for Christmas and truly realised that along with Luton, Leicester is the foulest looking place in the UK, i said it before in this thread, one look around for anybody not living in the City would rather see the World Cup on the Falklands rather than Leicester, its a horrific place.

Just a lot of bitterness in this thread, people need to take of their blue tinted spectacles and accept the facts. We are from a poor POOR shithole, we are a big city with precious little importance very much like Bradford and live in the shadow of the bigger and MUCH prettier boys on that list, we always will be.

Plymouth is in a very beautiful area and Milton Keynes has more potential in its little finger than we do as a city. The rest of the cities chosen just take a steamy great shit all over us. The Highcross just isnt good enough im afraid.

Our bid being based on the fact that we have fewer "White British" citizens percentage wise than the rest of the UK was just desperate and lets be honest, sadly not everybody listening to that message when the council was making its presentation was going to see that as a good thing.

I still support the bid 100% lets get behind it instead of throwing our toys out of the pram!

You are a complete arsehole and the only good thing is you no longer live in Leicester, it is a much better City without miserable negative prats like you living here and dragging it down.

[Radovan's Caravan]

That's sorted - the FA and the local authorities have seen to that. FIFA demanded financial commitments before the bid could even be tabled.

Unfortunately, this statement is completely untrue. There would be shedloads available through regional development funding. That's why the likes of Plymouth and MK were so desperate to jump on the bandwagon - and why Bates and whoever's running the owls this week wanted to stay on it.

But whatever our resident scummy brummie may tell us, most folk in Leicester (or Derby for that matter) would NOT be happy to see their taxes being used to fund Forest's white elephant of a stadium.

Those areas wouldn't do anything to jeopardise their place on the bandwagon. Planning permission wouldn't be an issue.

Presumably the stadium would be expanded again so it wouldn't be a problem.

That may indeed be significant - or it may tell us what Uncle Rupert thinks about a tournament that (as yet) he is not allowed to screen.

But for what it's worth last night's BBC 10 o'clock news didn't give the bid much prominence either.

They seem fairly committed to me. But their ineptitude will ultimately be exposed. Not that Russia (your predicted hosts) are likely to benefit from this.

Ultra, you are a romancer, speculator and all round conjecturite (pardon my coinage). Let me put you straight on your wonky misrepresentations:

1) The £5.5m gap in the 2018 bid finances has not been plugged. The 15 host cities will be asked to come up with £250K each to partly cover that hole (whether they will or not is another matter entirely) which will still leave £2.5 million outstanding. Significantly both your government and the EPL have both refused to come up with the readies to make up the difference (your government are only prepared to consider a loan with some rather inconvenient strings attached). Given that the 2018 bid team is a subsidiary of the FA it's telling indeed that minor official bodies like HMG and the EPL seem reluctant to play ball.

2) I am sure that Liverpool FC would be delighted if you could refer them to the body to which they should apply for 'regional funding' as they have already stated they would have to go cap in hand to their own shareholders for the £15 million or so it would take to upgrade their stadium for 2018 (a doubly telling remark firstly because one would have thought that the refurbishment of a shit heap like Anusfield would cost at least three time this figure and secondly because it shows what Hicks and Gillett really think about THEIR new stadium).

Spurs too would be keen no doubt (although they have been coy about how the new Shite Fart Lane would be funded; perhaps the 2018 bid team's either/or WHL/Olympic Stadium option provides us with a clue - Bernie Madoff?).

It goes without saying that willy puller Bates would be only too happy to get his hands on public funding for his breakers yard so beloved by footie ******. Whether or not a regional fund manager would be able to hand over £50 million+ to a brass plaque in the British Virgin Islands is another matter...

3) The costs associated with recommissioning and then decommissioning the Olympic Stadium would be prohibitive because they would have to be met by Whitehall - not a cat in hell's chance.

4) Fabio Capello told the FA that he did not want Beckham to be 'distracted' by the 2018 bid in the run up to 2010 (knowing that afterwards he would be heading back to LA and would be out of reach for promotional opportunities).

5) Your point about the lack of coverage of the 2018 bid cities on the main BBC new bulletin further re enforces my argument -another tentacle of the British establishment flailing and fumbling about with a propaganda gift. In fact there doesn't seem to be any substantial public or private body wholeheartedly behind 2018 (except the FA who seem to be doing their level best to sabotage it from within).

And here's the latest on the 'Not the 2018 Bid': http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/worldcup2...-step-down.html

[weluv]

personally hope the bid fails, I don't want the Gelderd to be redeveloped as two tiers.

As for some of the stuff re:leicester, hate to break it to you guys but Leicester city centre is a shithole. Compared to Bradford, yes, most of Bradford is the pits. The city centre, however, is actuall quite nice.

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1471439779079525094OnyCwn

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1424/558160422_2a5dd61243.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3092/261223...a7cf0541a_b.jpg

[CosbehFox]

personally hope the bid fails, I don't want the Gelderd to be redeveloped as two tiers.

As for some of the stuff re:leicester, hate to break it to you guys but Leicester city centre is a shithole. Compared to Bradford, yes, most of Bradford is the pits. The city centre, however, is actuall quite nice.

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1471439779079525094OnyCwn

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1424/558160422_2a5dd61243.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3092/261223...a7cf0541a_b.jpg

Not too dis-similar to the Lanes and top half of Granby Street then.

[lavrentis]

personally hope the bid fails, I don't want the Gelderd to be redeveloped as two tiers.

As for some of the stuff re:leicester, hate to break it to you guys but Leicester city centre is a shithole. Compared to Bradford, yes, most of Bradford is the pits. The city centre, however, is actuall quite nice.

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1471439779079525094OnyCwn

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1424/558160422_2a5dd61243.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3092/261223...a7cf0541a_b.jpg

Yuu actually been to Leicester, apart from visiting on an away day ?

[davieG]

personally hope the bid fails, I don't want the Gelderd to be redeveloped as two tiers.

As for some of the stuff re:leicester, hate to break it to you guys but Leicester city centre is a shithole. Compared to Bradford, yes, most of Bradford is the pits. The city centre, however, is actuall quite nice.

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1471439779079525094OnyCwn

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1424/558160422_2a5dd61243.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3092/261223...a7cf0541a_b.jpg

We have a few decent buildings left

http://www.foxestalk.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=63498

[Maybes]

Plymouth is well used to hosting international events, and has direct ferry links to France and Spain. Phase one of the new Home Park is completed and phase two is going to be built anyway, planning permission all granted. The only difference is that there will now be a phase 3, taking the capacity from a planned 27,000 to 42,000. All we want now is a decent football team that can regularly bring in 25,000 plus.

Is that really going to happen though? 25k? Ambitious.

personally hope the bid fails, I don't want the Gelderd to be redeveloped as two tiers.

As for some of the stuff re:leicester, hate to break it to you guys but Leicester city centre is a shithole. Compared to Bradford, yes, most of Bradford is the pits. The city centre, however, is actuall quite nice.

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1471439779079525094OnyCwn

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1424/558160422_2a5dd61243.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3092/261223...a7cf0541a_b.jpg

When was the last time you visited leicester city centre?

[Dr The Singh]

Is that really going to happen though? 25k? Ambitious.

When was the last time you visited leicester city centre?

I was there last night and it wasn't too bad, were no cov etc but we are still behind many other cities!! Fact is, Leicester is 2nd to Notts in many area's and have lost out. The council need to buck up there ideas!! The mrs is from brum and as neutral says it's a shit city centre and shit city in general, and prefers to go notts if given the choice!!

[weluv]

last time i went to Leicester was last year for our game with you. Arrived 10ish, walked right out the station, up what seemed to be your main shopping street, then round the back and down to the ground. It didn't strike me as a particularly pleasant place.

[Guest Bilo]

They should have just showed this video really.

[Chrysalis]

No, you miss the point. I know people with mobility problems, and being able to move at your own pace without the fear of being run over is very welcoming. As is the ability to have your wheelchair pushed about more easily, or riding your mobility truck, for example. Your argument is that you can't park in the centre of town any more, and you don't like it. Like all your arguments, it's about what you can't do, and not really philanthropic at all.

Trust me, its better to cross a road which only has slow moving buses and the odd taxi than to have to struggle long distances over pedestranised areas, pedestranising an area does not benefit people with mobility problems, you assuming they all have wheelchairs and are not struggling with a stick etc.

But I am not even limiting to immobile people, people who have no health issues walking also probably like to have a decent transport system in place so they dont have to carry bags or walk long distance in rain etc.

[davieG]

The UK government is to give a £2.5m loan to back England's bid for the 2018 World Cup.

Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe said the money would "help the campaign team make the case for a fantastic World Cup in England in 2018".

The money will be paid back along with a share of the profits from the tournament if the Football Association's (FA) bid wins.

This week, the government also signed off on £300m of financial guarantees.

England 2018 chief executive Andy Anson said earlier this month that £15.5m as a "base budget" had been earmarked for the bid, which included FA and commercial money.

Countries will find out who won with their bid to host the World Cup in December 2010.

In October, Brazil was confirmed as the host nation of the 2014 World Cup.

[lou]

last time i went to Leicester was last year for our game with you. Arrived 10ish, walked right out the station, up what seemed to be your main shopping street, then round the back and down to the ground. It didn't strike me as a particularly pleasant place.

If thats the way you walked then you were no where near our main shopping street.

No doubt you live in a far superior city to us.

[Guest]

last time i went to Leicester was last year for our game with you. Arrived 10ish, walked right out the station, up what seemed to be your main shopping street, then round the back and down to the ground. It didn't strike me as a particularly pleasant place.

So you walked up Granby Street a bit? Wow.

Trust me, its better to cross a road which only has slow moving buses and the odd taxi than to have to struggle long distances over pedestranised areas, pedestranising an area does not benefit people with mobility problems, you assuming they all have wheelchairs and are not struggling with a stick etc.

But I am not even limiting to immobile people, people who have no health issues walking also probably like to have a decent transport system in place so they dont have to carry bags or walk long distance in rain etc.

I don't know if you've noticed, but since pedestrianising areas, there is now more room to place benches and seats. Those who suffer from mobility problems, or who get tired by walking for a whole 10 minutes across our city centre, can rest and have a sit down, or at the very least have somewhere safe to stop and put down their shopping for a few moments. If there were buses and trams along these routes, there would be no room for such facilities. But hey ho, according to your logic, people would pay to use a tram system for 20 yards, or just dump their car where they feel like it. I know which option I prefer.

[Guest]

Trust me, its better to cross a road which only has slow moving buses and the odd taxi than to have to struggle long distances over pedestranised areas, pedestranising an area does not benefit people with mobility problems, you assuming they all have wheelchairs and are not struggling with a stick etc.

But I am not even limiting to immobile people, people who have no health issues walking also probably like to have a decent transport system in place so they dont have to carry bags or walk long distance in rain etc.

I also forgot to mention that I used to have to catch a bus from High Street. Slow moving buses and considerate bus drivers are a figment of your imagination. If you ever bothered to get out of your car, you would have realised that.

[Babylon]

So you walked up Granby Street a bit? Wow.

That's the point I made earlier in the thread though, a large percentage of people visiting the city will arrive via bus or train. Which probably means the first impression they get of the city is Granby Street or probably Charles Street / Church Gate.

As the old saying goes, first impressions count. Well the first impression most are left with is that the place is a dump. We all know there are some good and a few great bits of the city, most of them are so hidden away though people never see them.

If the city wants to change the perception people have of us, they need to improve the first impressions and spend money on those areas.

[Edmund]

Your welcoming guide to the city was legendary Babylon. Top work.

[Guest]

That's the point I made earlier in the thread though, a large percentage of people visiting the city will arrive via bus or train. Which probably means the first impression they get of the city is Granby Street or probably Charles Street / Church Gate.

As the old saying goes, first impressions count. Well the first impression most are left with is that the place is a dump. We all know there are some good and a few great bits of the city, most of them are so hidden away though people never see them.

If the city wants to change the perception people have of us, they need to improve the first impressions and spend money on those areas.

This is why I think a free bus from the station to the Highcross is critical.

Come on Councillor Colin, sort it out.

[Edmund]

This is why I think a free bus from the station to the Highcross is critical.

Come on Councillor Colin, sort it out.

Hang on are we talking about the ten minute walk down granby street? That's just plain lazy..

Surely the last thing we want to be doing is polluting the city further and adding to the congestion.

[Guest]

Hang on are we talking about the ten minute walk down granby street? That's just plain lazy..

Surely the last thing we want to be doing is polluting the city further and adding to the congestion.

Nottingham has a free bus from the Broadmarsh to the Victoria centres, and they are very popular. People are inherently lazy. Seriously.

I am mocked for not using the tram to uni, for example.

[Guest Bilo]

Nottingham has a free bus from the Broadmarsh to the Victoria centres, and they are very popular. People are inherently lazy. Seriously.

I am mocked for not using the tram to uni, for example.

Yeah if it's there and it's free, people will use it.

[Edmund]

Nottingham has a free bus from the Broadmarsh to the Victoria centres, and they are very popular. People are inherently lazy. Seriously.

I am mocked for not using the tram to uni, for example.

Fair enough but I'm not sure it would work as well in Leicester. As Gallowtree gate is pedestranised the bus would have to take the route around the city which is hell during rush hour.

And probably going on buss tardiness in general, by time the buss arrives for pick up, you could've already been in the Highcross getting your eyebrows threaded at the brow bar.

[Guest]

Fair enough but I'm not sure it would work as well in Leicester. As Gallowtree gate is pedestranised the bus would have to take the route around the city which is hell during rush hour.

And probably going on buss tardiness in general, by time the buss arrives for pick up, you could've already been in the Highcross getting your eyebrows threaded at the brow bar.

You would be surprised. A bus that started at the station, stopped at the Haymarket, then St Maggies, then the Highcross, and back again would be quite popular.

Remember what Chrysalis has said, he doesn't want to walk about our fair city.