Manchester successful in World Cup host city bid

17th December 2009

Manchester will be one of the World Cup host cities if England is successful in its bid to hold the competition in 2018, with both Manchester United and Manchester City’s stadia being used for matches.

The announcement was made earlier today by the Football Association in London.

It represents the culmination of a seven-month bidding process where the city had to demonstrate, in the face of competition from across England, why it deserved to be one of the host cities.

Councillor Mike Amesbury, Manchester City Council executive member for arts and leisure, said: “This is fantastic news for Manchester. We put together a very strong bid which showed why our great city is so well-placed to be a host city for the greatest football tournament in the world.

“Football is in this city’s soul. Anywhere you go in the world, everyone knows about Manchester’s footballing heritage.

“But this bidding process was tough. It wasn’t good enough for Manchester to take it for granted it would be successful because of our footballing history. We had to prove our world-class city was good enough to hold this world-class competition. Today’s announcement proves just that.

“If football comes home to England in 2018, it will represent a massive win for Manchester. Tens of millions of pounds will be pumped into the city and the eyes of the world will once again be turned to us.

“Analysis shows that when Munich hosted games in the 2006 World Cup some £80 million poured into its economy. We would expect the benefits here to be even greater, not least taking into account inflation and the fact that we would hope to host more games than Munich did.

“Central to our bid was the fact that Manchester has two of the best stadia in the world. Between the City of Manchester Stadium and Old Trafford, we will be in a position to hold the most games outside London – making our city the centre for much of the World Cup action.

 “Manchester has proved before that it can hold spectacular events, and the World Cup will give us another chance to show the city at its best. The beautiful game will come to its spiritual home.”

Andrew Stokes, chief executive of Marketing Manchester, the agency charged with promoting the city on a national and international stage, said: “Naturally, we’re delighted the FA has chosen Manchester as one of the host cities for its 2018/2022 World Cup bid.

“The City of Manchester Stadium and Old Trafford are world class stadia and the infrastructure that supports them is long proven.

“The World Cup is one of the greatest sporting spectacles on the planet and there’s a real opportunity here to generate long-term awareness of the city at a global level.

“Given that, I look forward to working closely with the FA to prepare a bid for FIFA that positions England as the best possible host for 2018.”

Garry Cook, chief executive, Manchester City Football Club: “This is fantastic news for the city. Manchester has two truly world class stadiums, which would be fitting stages for the 2018 World Cup.

“Everyone at Manchester City – players, staff and supporters, will be incredibly excited at the prospect of hosting games at City of Manchester Stadium, and we will be keeping our fingers crossed that the English bid is successful.”
 
David Gill, chief executive, Manchester United Football Club: “It is great news that Old Trafford is part of England’s bid.  It is the most historic of all the venues, celebrating its centenary in February 2010, and has hosted some major games in recent years; from the UEFA Champions League final in 2003 to England World Cup qualifiers, to UEFA Champions League semi final ties in the last two years against Barcelona and Arsenal.  

“I am confident that its inclusion makes England’s exceptional bid even stronger.” 

ENDS