Plymouth & Milton Keynes named among 2018 World Cup host cities

Ollie Irish

16th, December 2009

8 Comments

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England’s 2018 World Cup bid team have revealed the names of the 12 cities that will be part of their campaign:

Birmingham (Villa Park), Bristol (New Ashton Vale), Leeds (Elland Road), Liverpool (Anfield or New Anfield), London (Wembley, Emirates Stadium, New White Hart Lane/Olympic Stadium*), Manchester (Eastlands, Old Trafford), Milton Keynes (Stadium MK), Newcastle (St James’ Park), Nottingham (New stadium), Plymouth (New Home Park), Sheffield (Hillsborough), Sunderland (Stadium of Light)

*Fifa rules state one city can have a maximum of three stadia – in London either a new White Hart Lane or the 2010 Olympic Stadium will get the nod

As someone who grew up in Plymouth, I’m delighted that it has made the final list. The south-west is often overlooked, with Bristol thought of as a cut-off point – well, Cornwall is a long way from Bristol, so Plymouth deserves its place, and Argyle get the new stadium they badly need.

Derby, Hull and Leicester missed out, but the Midlands is well represented, while supporters in Hull have several options in the north.

It looks like a strong set of stadia to me; increasingly I get the feeling that England has a very, very good chance of landing the 2018 tournament.

What do you make of the list?

Posted in International football, World Cup

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8 Comments

  1. Keith says:

    If it’s on stadia alone, The US bid will flatten all comers. 20 grounds above 70,000, ready with almost zero investment, and no new stadiums built.

  2. Ollie says:

    Ah, but Keith – the US had it in 1994, so no chance of getting it in 2018.

    It’s England’s time again, no question.

  3. Keith says:

    USA 94 is still the highest-attended and highest-earning World Cup ever. You realize how much Sepp Blatter likes money, right?

    Anyway, I think Jack Warner’s traded England 2018 for USA 2022. which is fine by me. But our stadiums are still better.

  4. Hirsty says:

    The World Cup back at Hillsborough! Can’t wait!

  5. Ben says:

    Milton Keynes? No!!! That’s gutting, to be honest.

  6. Danno says:

    Stadia, Keith, stadia…

    Part of me wishes that Portsmouth had gone through with their bid to be one of the cities, I think we’d have given Plymouth a run for their money to be the need-a-new-stadium-based-in-the-South one. Then again, we have other things to worry about, like existing as a club.

    Great to see Sheffield get in there, too.

  7. Chris says:

    And how did Nottingham get it ? They haven’t even got planning permission for their Stadium.

    Leicester isn’t the most fassionable of places but surley they should have been given it instead of Nottingham ?

  8. Tebo says:

    Looks like a big gap in the east…

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