Such a special place

Aug 24 2010 by Brian Aitken, The Journal

WELCOME to the third version of 100 Reasons Why It's Great Up North. It’s been more than five years since the last edition so you could say this supplement is long overdue.

However the timing is actually quite deliberate.

The men who will decide which country will host the 2018 World Cup are in England this week and their visit will take them to Sunderland’s Stadium of Light and St James Park in Newcastle.

The big decision is exactly 100 days away so what better time to remind ourselves – and hopefully, let them know of 100 more reasons why this part of the country is so special and why we would make fantastic World Cup hosts.

As always, the problem was not coming up with 100 reasons – it was deciding what had to be left out!

If you are interested in looking at the 2004 and 2005 lists, then log on to our website at www.journallive.co.uk.

If you do you will see that some reasons are repeated. That’s because they are so big, so famous or so amazing that you simply couldn’t leave them out.

I hope you enjoy reading the list and the articles that accompany them – and I hope this inspires you to tell us even more reasons that we can put in our next edition.

Brian Aitken - Editor