Stars turn out as region bids for share of 2018 World Cup glory (From The Northern Echo)

Stars turn out as region bids for share of 2018 World Cup glory

8:05am Friday 27th November 2009

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THE North-East is in line to host up to a dozen World Cup matches if England wins the right to host the tournament in 2018.

Representatives of NewcastleGateshead and Sunderland were at Wembley Stadium yesterday to submit their formal bid documents to the Football Association, and initial indications suggest that both cities are in a strong position to make it onto the final shortlist.

Fifteen cities are bidding for the right to be included in England’s World Cup plans, and about ten are expected to be successful when the FA announces its verdict on Wednesday, December 16.

Both NewcastleGateshead and Sunderland are bidding for the right to host four group games, a second-round match and a quarter-final, and if both receive the go-ahead, the North-East could host nearly a fifth of the World Cup.

Interviews with Paul Gascoigne and Niall Quinn

It is estimated that the regional economy would benefit by about £58m if one of the bidding cities was successful, and while there is a geographical overlap between the bids, the financial boost if both were to make the shortlist would be significantly greater.

Sunderland’s bid delegation was the first of the region’s groupings to formally submit its documentation yesterday, with chairman Niall Quinn and striker Kenwyne Jones joining forces with schoolchildren from Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Darlington, Hartlepool and Carlisle to underline the regional support for the proposal.

While games would take place at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, a successful Sunderland bid would see training camps established at Middlesbrough’s Rockliffe Park training ground, in Hurworth, as well as at the grounds of Darlington, Hartlepool, Carlisle and Durham Cricket Club.

The FA has previously spoken of the desire to spread the benefits of the World Cup to as many parts of England as possible, and leading figures within the organisation are known to be impressed by Sunderland’s desire to engage a broad regional base.

“To be honest, I think from a national perspective, Sunderland have been the surprise package of the whole bidding process,” said Sunderland FC chief executive Steve Walton.

“I think people from the various FA committees were aware of the Stadium of Light nd the strength of the footballing facilities we could offer. But I think they have been bowled over by the warmth and passion that our bid has generated.

“We’ve had people from all over the North-East supporting us, and many of them haven’t even been football fans. They’ve just been proud North-Easterners who want a world event like this on their doorstep. We’ve tried to get that message across to the football authorities and, hopefully, they have got it loud and clear.”

The NewcastleGateshead delegation included former Newcastle United stars Alan Shearer, Paul Gascoigne, Peter Beardsley, Rob Lee, John Beresford and David Ginola, as well as World Cup winner Jack Charlton.

The celebrity line-up clearly impressed FA officials, and successfully underlined Newcastle’s claim to be a football city.

“If you want to watch a football match, go to Newcastle and the North-East,” said Charlton.

“You might not get in – especially if Newcastle get back to the Premier League this season – but you’ll have a fantastic experience.

“I know there has to be a bidding process but, if I’m being honest, I don’t really know why we are having to make our case. It should be automatic that Newcastle is in there.”

St James’ Park, with a capacity of more than 52,000, forms the centrepiece of NewcastleGateshead’s bid, but officials have also been keen to highlight the environmental sustainability of their plan.

“One of the big selling points of NewcastleGateshead is that you can walk anywhere,”

said Andrew Dixon, chief executive of the NewcastleGateshead Initiative.

“You can leave St James’ Park and walk to 3,000 hotel rooms in the space of ten minutes.

You can be at three different Metro stations even quicker.

“We think we are probably the greenest and most sustainable city in the UK and that is something that will, hopefully, make us very appealing to the World Cup organising committee.”

Yesterday’s events will be largely irrelevant if Fifa do not award England the 2018 tournament when they meet to finalise their plans in December next year.

England’s bid team has run into a number of difficulties recently – Premier League chairman Sir Dave Richards became the latest high-profile figure to leave his post on Tuesday – but Shearer feels there is still time to turn things around.

“There have been changes at the top, people have looked at how they can improve things, and I think it was only right that happened,” said the former Newcastle captain.

“But I still think we have an excellent bid overall. I was fortunate to play in a World Cup and play in a European Championships here on home soil in Euro 96. It was a fantastic atmosphere to play in then, but I’m sure it will be an awful lot better in 2018.”

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