Bidders for England 2018 have last chance to impress

By Duncan Mackay

December 14 – The cities and towns bidding to be part of England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup were today beginning to make their final presentations in the hope of convincing officials that they should be chosen.

Each of the 15 bidders will be travelling to the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster over the next three days to each give an hour long presentation to England 2018 on their bid.

It is their final opportunity to impress before up to 12 cities and towns are announced at a press conference in London on Wednesday.

Each presentation will showcase the bidder’s ability to deliver major events and include information on things like fan-fests, hotel accommodation and training venues.

While some cities, like London with Wembley Stadium and Manchester with Old Trafford, are considered to be certainty’s to be included in the final bid for others like Derby, Leeds, Leicester, Milton Keynes, Nottingham and Sunderland the final presentation could be vital.

Sunderland, whose delegation is led by former Arsenal and Ireland striker Niall Quinn and includes former world mile record holder Steve Cram, hope to gain an advantage by unveiling a new DVD today.

Quinn, now the chairman of Sunderland, said: ”Although the bid process is drawing to a close, we’re certainly not taking our foot off the gas and I know every member of the bid team will be working hard right up until the successful candidate host cities are announced.”

Iconic regional locations such as Durham Cathedral, Penshaw Monument, Carlisle Castle, Hartlepool’s historic Quay and Sunderland’s beautiful coastline form a stunning backdrop to the DVD.

Bid director Chris Alexander added: “Our bid encapsulates all that is great about this unique part of the country and we will certainly be doing everything we can to demonstrate that to the England 2018 representatives.”

Derby will unveil plans, created by Latham Architects, of how the city will look like in 2018 if they are chosen.

Marketing Derby director John Forkin said: “We feel really confident we’ve done our best.

“We’ve been trying to stress how much we believe we would make a great player in England’s bid team and we’re looking forward to showing that again in today’s presentation.

“The visuals will really help us to give the FA a glimpse of the future and show them just what a great experience we can offer visitors coming to see World Cup matches.”

During the last seven months, each city has received two visits from the bid’s technical team and has been assessed on a total of 67 criteria and 82 sub-criteria including contractual commitment, stadium suitability, fan parks, security and legacy plans.

The other cities bidding are Birmingham, Bristol Hull, Liverpool, Plymouth, Newcastle and Sheffield.

England 2018 Board member, Lord Brian Mawhinney, who is chairing the selection panel said: ”Each city involved has worked hard to put their bid together and it is right that they have a final opportunity to present their case.

“The enthusiasm shown by the cities throughout the process has been incredible and the support from around the country shows that the country is firmly behind England’s bid to host the FIFA World Cup tournament.

“The selection panel’s job over the next three days is a tough one.”

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