Whether England’s bid to stage the 2018 World Cup will succeed is doubtful, but the choice of potential venues has already provoked controversy. 15 stadiums were chosen, supposedly on the basis of a stringent list of criteria which focused on the host city as much as the stadium itself. Each bid faced one hour of questioning from the panel. However, there are suspicions that geographical balance came into play, although eight of the 15 chosen stadiums are in London, the North West and the North East.
Whether England’s bid to stage the 2018 World Cup will succeed is doubtful, but the choice of potential venues has already provoked controversy. 15 stadiums were chosen, supposedly on the basis of a stringent list of criteria which focused on the host city as much as the stadium itself. Each bid faced one hour of questioning from the panel. However, there are suspicions that geographical balance came into play, although eight of the 15 chosen stadiums are in London, the North West and the North East. If anything it was the Midlands that lost out with bids from Derby and Leicester, both with modern stadiums, being turned down. In any case, even if Fifa do choose England, it will whittle down the number of stadiums to a dozen, some of which may stage only two or three matches, so the pot of gold may be illusory.
What has annoyed many fans is the choice of Milton Keynes because of its association with the MK Dons which many of them regard as Franchise FC, the franchise having been in effect transferred there from Wimbledon whose last home was Selhurst Park. Ann Limb, the chair of MK 2018, said that she expected the decision would spark sufficient interest in MK Dons (who have faded on the pitch recently) to increase attendances at the League 1 club which have been averaging around 9,000 this season. The MK Dons redevelopment which will create a 45,000 seater stadium at a cost of £24m is not linked to a successful England bid.
Another city to hit the jackpot is Plymouth where Argyle are currently bottom of the Championship and banned from transferring players, a punishment imposed because of unpiad debts, although the club claims they will be cleared in time for the January transfer window. Last summer, Yasuki Kagami, a Japanese businessman, became the club’s majority shareholder. He owns a combined 51 per cent with executive director Keith Dodd and chairman Sir Roy Gardner who used to chair Manchester United. In Septemebr, Gardner said that ‘balancing the cashflow’ was a problem. However, to the delight of Plymouth mad Radio Scilly presenter Steve Watt (where we contribute to the Friday evening sports programme), Home Park has been chosen as a potential venue. The ground is being redeveloped from a 20,000 to 44,000 seater stadium at a cost of £50m.