What do the following international football matches have in common: Brazil 0 Portugal 2 on 6 February 2007; Nigeria 1 Ghana 4 the same night; and Australia 3 Canada 0 on 15 October 2013?
Right, they were all played in London.
So was an extraordinary encounter last week pitting the Socceroos, once more, against Ecuador, France’s future World Cup opponents. While Roy Hodgson’s England were labouring to beat Denmark at Wembley, on the other side of town at The Den, Millwall’s home, the South American team were overturning a three-goal half-time deficit to take the match 4-3.
Over the past decade or so, such international friendlies involving countries from far-flung corners of the planet have become a not insignificant part of the UK capital’s thriving football economy.
With Western Europe ever more firmly entrenched as the centre of the elite club game, and therefore the base of most of the world’s best players, some countries have found it expedient to organise international matches there, rather than oblige their stars to fly half way around the globe.
In this environment, London’s football and hotel facilities, its transport links and its sports-loving multicultural population have put the city in pole position to stage such games.
On the night of that Brazil versus Portugal match in February 2007, London actually staged four games, featuring teams from five different continents at venues ranging from the Emirates Stadium to Brentford’s Griffin Park.
With the new Wembley then still a month away from completion, England themselves actually lost to Spain in Manchester the following night.
One can get an idea of these fixtures’ money-spinning potential from the near 60,000 crowd attracted by that Brazil-Portugal match and the £35 ticket price paid by some fans. If everyone had paid the same price, that would equate to receipts from ticket sales alone of around £2 million, and that was seven years ago.
Admittedly, few if any international sides have the pulling power of this year’s World Cup hosts. Tickets for that seven-goal Australia versus Ecuador encounter were being advertised before the game at £20 each, enough to generate proceeds of at most £400,000, even if the ground were full.
Even so, it makes me wonder if international friendlies might not turn out to be a potentially interesting niche market for another east London venue that is in the process of being transformed: the former London 2012 Olympic Stadium.
As things stand, the venue for the spectacular Olympic and Paralympic Ceremonies is being converted into a 54,000-capacity, UEFA category four stadium. Premier League West Ham United are expected to start playing their home matches there in 2016-17, having been awarded the anchor tenancy. Prior to that, the stadium will host games in the 2015 Rugby World Cup. It will also stage the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships in 2017. By the time work is finished, it seems likely that somewhere between £600 million and £700 million will have been spent on the site in both its guises.
Of course, there are only so many international friendly dates in the year. Furthermore, the list of international teams who could potentially fill a 54,000 venue on neutral territory is limited.
Nonetheless, when I asked the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), the body responsible for the so-called regeneration legacy from London 2012, last week, it confirmed there was “no reason why the stadium couldn’t potentially host international football”.
Asked if it had made any attempt to assess the market, LLDC replied: “The stadium operator will look at all possible options and their job will be to bring in as many high profile events as possible.”
So it sounds like the place that staged Danny Boyle’s breathtaking Olympic Opening Ceremony and gold medal-winning performances by British athletes such as Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis-Hill might well become an international football venue.
It is perhaps ironic, given the patriotic associations of the event the stadium was originally created for, that England themselves are unlikely to play there.
Even Scotland, nowadays, are not averse to popping down to London for the occasional match with international opponents. In March 2011, they lost 2-0 to Brazil at the Emirates Stadium. In May, they are due to take on World Cup-bound Nigeria at Fulham’s Craven Cottage.
David Owen worked for 20 years for the Financial Times in the United States, Canada, France and the UK. He ended his FT career as sports editor after the 2006 World Cup and is now freelancing, including covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 World Cup and London 2012. Owen’s Twitter feed can be accessed at www.twitter.com/dodo938.