Six flights in seven days and over 13,000 miles covered during our visit gives you some indication of the scale of the 2010 South Africa World Cup. The trip has been invaluable for the Candidate Host Cities, giving us all first-hand experience of just what will be expected of our cities and our football clubs if England 2018 becomes a reality. Make no mistake, this is not about simply hosting a few football matches, the scale of a FIFA World Cup is …

Our last day in South Africa began with a visit to a legacy project in Soweto. The impressive Nike football project is based in the heart of the famous township and opened just two days before the 2010 FIFA World Cup’s opening game. It’s a hugely impressive operation that aims to bring at least 25,000 young people aged between eight and 21 years old through its doors each year. But this is so much more than a football coaching centre; it is …

Cape Town’s magnificent Green Point Stadium, the venue for England v Algeria, is one of five arenas constructed specially for 2010. Over 40,000 England fans have flocked to the city and it’s a proper home from home. Everywhere you look there’s the cross of St George proudly flying and the strains of ‘Eng-er-land’ are ringing out at every turn. There’s a real carnival atmosphere and the friendliness and warmth of the South African people is a joy to experience. Everything is so …

The World Cup is much more than just a football tournament and today we witnessed how sport can change lives. Our day began with a visit to a pioneering community football scheme, operating in partnership with Charlton Athletic and Dutch giants Ajax. The project, which has been running for a number of years now, mirrors many of the successful community schemes that exist in English football. Like many of the schemes operated by our own SAFC Foundation, football is used as …

England’s unexpectedly poor 0-0 draw with Algeria is still naturally all everyone talks about. Our hotel concierge tells us not to despair as when Italy won the tournament in 2006 they drew their three opening games – this at least gives us hope and is another example of the warmth, friendliness and caring nature of our South African hosts. We spend our morning attending a presentation from Cape Town’s 2010 organising committee. They share with us their experiences right from being …

Cape Town is the second city of our visit. A two hour internal flight or eight hour journey by road is an indication of the vast geographical spread of venues in this tournament. Should England be fortunate enough to host 2018, then travelling between venues will be much less of an adventure! Our hotel nestles underneath the sunny Table Mountain; a truly awe-inspiring sight. Green Point Stadium, the 70,000 capacity arena where England will take on Algeria tonight, is only a …

Johannesburg Airport looked like a meeting of the United Nations – a melting pot of visitors from nations around the globe milled around arrivals and baggage reclaim, ready to start their South African 2010 World Cup adventure.

A bus journey to the city centre took around an hour, taking in the main routes and giving us ample opportunity to see how signage and branding for a World Cup worked. After checking into the hotel – our base for just …

Louise Wanless, Sunderland AFC, from Terminal 5, Heathrow: You can feel the excitement at Heathrow Airport. Throngs of people bedecked in football shirts mill around eagerly awaiting the flight to Johannesburg. In contrast, rather sober business dress is the order of the day for us – no football shirts or face paint, it’s suits and laptops, but the excitement among the party is no less tangible. Even the prospect of an 11 hour overnight flight can’t dampen our enthusiasm! Almost 40 representatives from …

Excitement is at fever pitch as the 2010 FIFA World Cup gets underway in South Africa. Hundreds of thousands of visitors are flocking to the tournament itself and millions of fans around the world will be tuning in to cheer on their respective teams. This summers’ tournament takes on extra significance for Sunderland, as members of the city’s World Cup Bid team including Bid Director Chris Alexander and Verity Dodd and Louise Wanless from Sunderland AFC have travelled to South Africa, …