Sunderland shows how it will welcome the world
Sunderland welcomed a delegation from England’s 2018 team today in what was the final inspection visit before a decision is made on which cities will form part of England’s bid to FIFA to host the 2018 football World Cup.
The delegates were met by the Sunderland bid team, headed up by Bid Champion Steve Cram, Sunderland AFC Chief Executive Steve Walton, Chairman of the Leighton Group Paul Callaghan and officials from Sunderland City Council and Sunderland Football Club.
After an early morning presentation outlining all aspects of the bid, the inspection team divided into three groups and spent the day visiting a variety of venues and locations across the North East.
Sunderland’s bid encompasses the very best facilities across the whole of the region and the England 2018 team saw how venues throughout the North East would be used for the tournament.
The group visited Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, which would host games and the Academy of Light which would be one of four of the training bases for visiting teams.
The group also viewed a wide range of hotels and accommodation throughout the city, catering for visiting teams, officials and supporters alike. They met with representatives from Middlesbrough Football Club who showcased Rockliffe Hall and Rockliffe Park as a potential team training and base camp, along with senior officials from Slaley Hall, which has previously been used as a training base for the England national side.
They enjoyed lunch with a regional flavour, sampling locally-produced food – from seafood from Seahouses, beef from Northumberland, cheese from Durham, organic fruit and vegetables from across the North East to ice cream and gourmet desserts from Darlington and soft drinks from Stockton – at a specially arranged indoor farmers market at the George Washington Hotel.
The delegation also visited sites earmarked for potential Fan Fests at Fulwell Quarry and Herrington Country Park, which will accommodate tens of thousands of supporters in a carnival atmosphere, with camping villages on-site. Further smaller festival sites were also highlighted in Sunderland city centre at Mowbray Gardens and Sunniside.
The Sunderland sites will be complemented with a range of proposed live sites across Stockton, Darlington, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Redcar, North and South Tyneside and Northumberland – giving a truly region-wide feel to the tournament.
A helicopter tour gave delegates an aerial view of the area and further cementing their backing for the Sunderland bid, car giant Nissan spelled out ‘2018’ using dozens of Nissan Note vehicles at their Washington site, which was viewed from the air by the bid team.
The visit concluded with a reception at the five-star Seaham Hall, attended by One North East Chairman Margaret Fay and a host of leading business people and key stakeholders from around North East England.
Before departing the delegates were entertained with a specially composed World Cup rap, written and performed by Sunderland-based anti-racism group, The Word.
Steve Cram, Sunderland 2018 Host City bid champion, said: “It is a tremendous privilege to be part of the bid to bring World Cup football to the North East. A huge amount of work went in to preparing for the England 2018 team’s visit and the Sunderland bid team did a brilliant job of demonstrating how we can play a significant role in 2018.
Our region not only has the technical ability to host World Cup games but the North East’s passion for sport and football in particular can be used to create a spectacle worthy of this global event. We want to play our part in helping England to secure the World Cup and I have no doubt that the North East will deliver.”
Members of the public can show support for the Sunderland 2018 bid by visiting www.sunderland2018-2022.com and following the links to the FA’s website.