What are the chances of a successful Milton Keynes host bid for 2018?
Whilst it’s fair to say Milton Keynes isn’t one of the most popular places in England, the large Buckinghamshire town nevertheless has a good chance of holding at least one World Cup game, providing England’s bid is successful.
The Style Council’s Paul Weller once sung that: “I liked the idea but now I’m not so Keyne”, mocking the town’s “new city” history (In the 1960’s the government decided a “new city” was needed to relieve congestion in London) but Milton Keynes went a long way in the late twentieth century as establishing itself as an important English location, especially for it’s culture. However that new found respect was lost in the world of sport, were the now infamous Peter Winkelman “stole” the league position and history of the previously illustrious Wimbledon F.C, to the outrage of the Wimbledon supporters. These aggrieved fans in turn went on the form AFC Wimbledon, whilst the actual club moved to Milton Keynes. The club were soon rechristened as MK Dons, and they began playing at the national hockey stadium, a 4000 all seater.
On the 29th of November, 2007, MK Dons’ new stadium, the imaginatively titled stadium:mk, was officially opened by the Queen. The stadium currently holds 22,000 people, but when all of the upgrades are complete (which could involve the introduction of a new tier) the stadium has the potential to seat 45,000 people. A new tier would also make stadium:mk a UEFA elite stadium.
The stadium has been used to hold England Under 21 games, including the recent drubbing over Azerbaijan. The young lions (who could be the senior team come the 2018/2022 World Cups) thrashed the opposition 7-0; let’s hope that the senior team have the same luck in the stadium. The ground has also staged a Guinness rugby premiership game: Saracens played Bristol at the ground when their stadium was being used by Watford FC for a Championship play off semi final.
stadium:mk is the only likely destination for a World Cup stadium in the town, with the national hockey stadium being massively undersized, boasting a capacity of only 4000. However many Milton Keynes officials feel that the one stadium is good enough for a successful world cup host city bid. Peter Winkelman (the chairman of MK Dons), Colin Fox (MK Economic and Learning Partnership), Geoff Snelson (of the local council) and John Lewis and Dr. Ann Limb (of the Milton Keynes partnership) have all backed the bid and earlier in the year submitted their bid to the England World Cup board.
“The FIFA World Cup Finals are the absolute pinnacle of football and the prospect of Milton Keynes playing host to an event of such magnitude is about as exciting as it gets.” said Winkelman. “Football’s taking off in Milton Keynes at the moment and the club are a big focal point of that community. From what I’ve seen the infrastructure is great” added the England U21 coach Stuart Pearce.
So whilst AFC Wimbledon fans may still be spitting fire at Milton Keynes for “stealing their club”, it seems that the rest of the country are slowly waking up to the exciting potential Milton Keynes can offer, and it seems like the FIFA World Cup may be the perfect showcase for MILTON Keynes’s to show off both stadium:mk and their town in general.
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If Winkelman gets involved in a successful bid the World Cup may end up getting moved to a totally different country.
i don’t think it’ll be involved due to the predjuices against it
Milton Keynes and the rest of the UK would do well with MK being a host city of the 2018 World Cup.
It will show the country how to live into the 21st century instead of dragging the past with you.
We (MK) have shown time and time again that we are a city of the future and not some by-gone town squabling about the past.
If you want to achieve something, then MK is the way.
mk and portsmouth should host it
very unlikely mkdons would host it, i say sheffield should host
Having lived all over the UK and Europe, I can honestly say from the benefit of my experience, that Milton Keynes is a wonderful place to live. The article ‘What are the chances of a successful Milton Keynes host bid for 2018?’ completely fails to touch on the blindingly obvious potential of the ‘New City’ as a cup venue at every stage.
If you’ve ever spent a reasonable amount of time here, you’d know that MK’s infrastructure is second to none. Our network of ‘redway’ paths means that you can easily cycle or walk throughout the city avoiding traffic and pollution. You can drive anywhere within 15 minutes thanks to a fantastic grid system of dual carriageways with NO roadworks. And because the place is flat and has been planned for future generations – access for buggies, wheelchairs and electric vehicles is quick and painless.
We have a world class shopping centre, which was one of the very first of its kind in the UK and has stood the test of time. We have a brand new, top-notch theatre, snow dome and several recently completed hotels, hubs for dining and entertainment centres. Every individual district has its own modern sports facilities and health centre.
We have amazing parks, huge lakes, several watersports centres and stunning scenery. There are also great sports teams including football and basketball amongst others, and a SUPERB up-to-the-minute stadium.
We have great rail links with journey times of around 30 minutes in and out of Euston, plus a super-speedy tilting train service through the Midlands up to Manchester. We are on junction 14 of the M1 with easy access from most parts of England, located as we are right in the centre – halfway between Oxford and Cambridge and halfway between London and Birmingham.
Because we are such a ‘New City’ and still enjoying huge investment despite the current economic climate, it means that we have a constant influx of businesses, jobs and people from all over the world. This makes us one of the most cosmopolitan places to be, despite our size.
Anyone who really knows Milton Keynes, knows they’d be daft not to use it as a host venue.
Prefer to sit in a crumbling stadium built in the Victorian era?
Rather be stuck in traffic for two hours on an ageing ring road?
Think it’s fair to choose somewhere with poor access for the less able-bodied?
Come on, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. (Or should that be ‘concrete cow’?) Choose Milton Keynes!