Region upbeat about England World Cup bid
Aug 24 2010 by Adam Jupp, The Journal
FOOTBALL legend Alan Shearer says the North East’s passion for football will win over a delegation of global soccer chiefs due in the region.
The former Newcastle United and England player is an ambassador for England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup, which comes under the spotlight this week.
A team of inspectors flew into the country yesterday and will spend the next few days touring locations where games would be played if the tournament came to these shores.
They will visit both Sunderland and Newcastle Gateshead tomorrow, when they will look at the Stadium of Light, St James’ Park and the other features of both cities’ bids.
Shearer has no doubt the delegation will be wowed by what they see in the region. He said: “I think what they will see is what everyone knows is up here.
“We have tremendous passion. We have fantastic stadiums that will be full, we have the sites around them that will be used for fan parks and we have a fantastic transport system that means there are no problems getting in and out of the area before and after games.”
He added: “We’ve got the best stadiums, the best fans and I was fortunate enough to play in Euro ’96 and the atmosphere was electric.”
The inspections come in Back the Bid Week, which will see a number of events staged to show our support for the World Cup 2018 campaign.
Today, hundreds of people across the region will wear their shirts to work to show their backing.
