NIALL Quinn believes Sunderlands bid to become a host city for the 2018 World Cup is just part of his ongoing drive to take the club on to a higher level.
Quinn helped officially launch the quest to be part of the FAs 2018 bid yesterday as he urged everyone in the region to back the separate bids being made by Sunderland and Newcastle in the hope that both would make the cut.
A total of 15 English cities have expressed an interest in hosting games should the FA win the bidding process and Quinn is as determined to help Sunderland become one of them as he is to ensure the football club continues to progress in the Premier League.
A successful bid would help the direction of the football club for sure, said Quinn, who insisted there is no reason why both North East cities can not become hosts.
There would be an obvious spin-off if were part of it because it will bring expectancy and vibrancy. It would put a bounce in our step. Its about growing as a football club and this 2018 bid is part of that, absolutely.
Its all part of the process. It will drive us on, it will give the whole city a lift.
Sunderland isnt about coal
mines and shipyards any more and the rest of the world will get to see that.
We are slowly growing in confidence.
Quinn added: Youve got to have belief, plans and achievable targets. We are about to embark on our third season in the Premier League and people wouldnt have dreamed of that when we first took over.
You dont stop and think thats great, thats not enough, you keep going.
Weve just had two concerts here which were fantastic and now we want the greatest show on earth which would be incredible.
Why not aim for it? Why feel inferior?
Ive had nothing but good times in this city.
There are 15 cities interested and were all trying to convince he FA that we should be the ones who stage the game.
They will all have a good infrastructure and stadiums, although perhaps not as good as ours, but I think there is something special about this region and the FA can tuck that into their brief to Fifa, that the people of the North East have that football passion.
Quinns unbridled ambition means the Irishman also discussed for the first time the possibility that the club may consider expanding the Stadium of Lights capacity in the future.
Even if he is no longer chairman by the time World Cup football hopefully returns to Sunderland following its role in the 1966 World Cup, Quinn is totally committed to improving the football club in every possible way he can think of.
Will I still be here in 2018? I dont I know, my wife would probably kill me if I said yes, he joked.
You never know. 18 weeks ago I didnt know if I was still going to be here. We were in a tight spot but we got out of it.
Thats the beauty of football. I hope Im still here in 2018, but it would be wrong of me to look that far ahead in my role, particularly after the last few weeks.
Weve just got to keep driving and keep believing.
We dont need to expand the stadium for the World Cup bid because we meet all the requirements.
We are more than adequate in that respect as 40,000 is the guideline.
But there is a little bit of me that knows, if we are getting a 44,000 average for a team in the bottom five, what would we get for a team in the top half of the table?
The structure of the Stadium of Light was built so we could expand it in two more stages, up to 55,000 and then 60,000.
You have to have it in your mind that you could do that at some stage, even it doesnt mean we are going to start doing it now.
Back the bid at www.england2018bid.com.
