Birmingham: a city in the heart of England, offers a hearty welcome to football’s family when it makes its overdue pilgrimage home. Yet is this a city capable of helping the nation showcase the greatest tournament of them all?

The success of any venue in a World Cup will be judged by the warmth of the reception, the quality of facilities on offer and the infrastructure that allows visitors to access those facilities. One can point to Germany in 2006 as a blueprint of a successful championship on all fronts.

In Sweden, during 1992’s  European Championships, logistical problems made for disgruntled fans spending long periods on the road travelling to matches. Poor organisation by the FA meant ordinary fans were often overlooked and treated to sub-standard facilities. Yet the warmth of the Swedish people went some way to alleviating the anger that many fans felt.

England has the benefit of these two examples and others between and will host the greatest show on earth like no other country could.

Despite the media’s overplayed lyrics on a rising racist element in England, we are and always have been overwhelmingly an intelligent, tolerant and liberal nation. We accept and respect visitors readily and show cordiality and friendliness naturally. Football is our game.

Birmingham appears on examination to be uniquely placed to benefit from the carnival, having as it does all the necessary ingredients to be a successful host city. A look at the main criteria mentioned above explains why.

On the subject of warm welcomes, ask anyone who visited Villa Park for Euro ‘96 matches or the last Uefa Cup Winners’ Cup final in 1999. Ask the hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions who have been to Villa Park for cup semi-finals over the years.

If you prefer, speak to the millions who have watched any number of events at the National Exhibition Centre, the National Indoor Arena or visited Birmingham for clubs, theatres or any of the top class eateries around the city centre. From the jewellery quarter to the world class shopping facilities to the world’s most famous hotel chains, Birmingham will happily accommodate those fans who need stimulation between vital matches. Birmingham’s welcome will be friendly, multicultural and unforgettable.

So the welcome and facilities are there but how will the average visitor get to them? Easily is the answer.

Birmingham International Airport may greet the majority of fans and then effortlessly transport them via integrated rail links or bus services to the heart of the heart of England. Rail travellers from Europe will alight at New Street station, bus passengers at any point within the city. Those who prefer to travel by road will use the famous hub of the British motorway network, Spaghetti Junction – or the Midland Motorway Link System to give it its proper title – direct to the centre and one of two fine football stadia.

This is where first-time visitors will perhaps find their ‘Eureka’ moment. Birmingham is football crazy.

A city that supports two Premiership football teams and can boast Championship West Bromwich Albion on its periphery, is only several miles from another famous Premiership club - Wolverhampton Wanderers. Look the other way and Championship Coventry City welcome you, not to mention Walsall just up the M6. This is an area steeped in football history, with fierce rivalries and fanatical support.

Former European Champions Aston Villa boast a world class venue already, as has been mentioned. Rivals Birmingham City’s revamped St Andrew’s stadium could be easily upgraded to host matches, as could West Brom’s Hawthorns.

Some might question the area’s claim to be a ‘hotbed’ of football but consider that Aston Villa, founder members of the Football League, hold the record crowd for a second tier match, when over 68,000 watched them play Coventry City in 1937. Over 48,000 watched them win the third division in 1972.

Across the city, Birmingham City took around 48,000 fans to Wembley for the marginal Leyland DAF cup final in 1991, when they themselves occupied the third tier of English football. Not a hotbed of English football? Don’t kid yerself ah kid.

As an indication of the City administration’s view of football, consider this fact from the 1980’s:

The city council offered to build an all-seater stadium at the NEC and give it to both clubs to share for a peppercorn rent. After much intense debate, both sets of supporters and both boards rejected the offer. Yet it highlights the esteem in which the beautiful game is held in Birmingham, as well as how important both clubs are to the respective sets of fans.

The city even tendered to house a new national stadium when the future of Wembley was up for discussion in the 1990’s. For many in England it was the most obvious logistical choice. Instead Wembley was upgraded at an astronomical cost.

The infrastructure and organisation will satisfy the Fifa ’suits’, but the passion of its citizens, the warmth of the welcome and the will to impress the world will satisfy the most important people – the fans. Being a World Cup city will leave a lasting legacy that will do Birmingham and England’s reputation no harm at all.

Birmingham needs the World Cup almost as much as a successful World Cup needs a progressive city like Birmingham at its centre. Like the motto emblazoned on the city’s crest, Birmingham only knows how to move one way – “Forward”.