Host city outsiders Milton Keynes have insisted that they should be taken seriously in their quest to stage football at the 2018 World Cup if England win the rights to the tournament.

The MK consortium, including MK Dons chairman Peter Winkelmam and MK Dons manager Paul Ince, were the first city to present their campaign to Lord Mawhinney, Lord Triesman and Andy Anson at Wembley.

The campaign, which will find out it’s fate on December 16th 2009,  was met with high interest by the media as the MK bid represents one of the more interesting and unique proposals.

Paul Ince, current MK Dons manager, said: “As soon as I stepped foot in Milton Keynes I could see a growing place, an ambitious place and we have got to take that forward. We want people to realise that we are serious about this campaign, I wouldn’t go if I didn’t think it was worthwhile. You have to look at the fact that it is a new city, geographically it is between London and Birmingham and it is easy to get in and out of. Then you just have to look at the stadium. We have had England under-21 games that we have sold out and if we can get it and build the third tier then the attendance goes up to 44,000 and that is a Premiership stadium. People look at tradition and places like Birmingham and Manchester, but the game is changing, it is evolving and there are exciting times ahead for Milton Keynes.”

Peter Winkelman, MK Dons chairman, added: “I thought we had a really professional looking bid and the information in the bid is really good as well so we might have started out as outsiders but as the situation has moved on I think we have got a serious chance. The FA have given us good direction and we have got a really special city where we can do things that you just can’t do anywhere else.”