Two cities with one dream

Jun 28 2009 by Michael Kelly, Sunday Sun

The case for Sunderland

THE Stadium of Light can seat around 48,000 fans, easily meeting the FIFA minimum requirement of 40,000.

Its design means it could be increased in two stages over the close season to up to 60,000.

However, during the launch last week Niall Quinn said they had no immediate plans to do this.

It recently played host to 150,000 music fans who attended concerts by Oasis and Take That which proved enormously successful.

The Stadium has also been used for England international games, most notably against Turkey during the qualifying stage for Euro 2004.

Sunderland’s previous home, Roker Park, was used in the group stages of the 1966 World Cup as well as hosting the quarter final game between the Soviet Union and Hungary.

If based there teams can use the top class Sunderland Academy facilities, while the stadium itself is in the city centre, making it easily accessible.

It has excellent transport road and rail links and easy access to both Newcastle and Durham Tees Valley airports.

There are a number of hotels which could be used as training bases. The city has a rich sporting tradition while it, like NewcastleGateshead, is at the heart of the North East with its cultural tradition.

A key strength is that stadium, training facilities and infrastructure are already in place.

The case for Newcastle

IN St James’s Park, Newcastle has the stadium with the fourth biggest capacity in England behind Wembley, Old Trafford and Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium and easily meets the FIFA minimum requirement of being able to hold 40,000 fans.

The city has experience of hosting a large footballing event, being used for group games for Euro 96, as well as staging England internationals.

It also has the experience of hosting the Great North Run among other major events.

Possible training facilities for teams include the Newcastle United training ground, the Newcastle Academy, the Newcastle Falcons ground and Gateshead Stadium.

There are a number of 4 star plus hotels with at least 70 beds within 20 minutes of training grounds which could be used as bases for the teams.

Overall the city boasts thousands of hotel rooms to cater for fans while its transport links – road, rail and Newcastle International Airport – are well established.

The vast majority of the facilities required are already in place so, if it were chosen to be a Host City, there would be no fears of a last minute panic to get everything in place as has happened elsewhere.

The city and the surrounding region has much to offer visitors culturally, with its theatres, bars, restaurants, the internationally renowned Quayside and historic buildings as well as modern, iconic structures like the Sage, the bridges over the Tyne and the Angel of the North.