Why Southampton should bid to be a 2018 World Cup host city (From Daily Echo)

Why Southampton should bid to be a 2018 World Cup host city

11:44am Tuesday 15th September 2009 in

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First published in The Pink on September 12, 2009

I’M NOT a cricket lover by any stretch of the imagination but I was at the Rose Bowl this week for the one-dayer.

It’s great to have a stadium that is on the cusp of hosting the biggest events – even if the stewarding may have been a bit heavy handed at times.

But looking at the plans for the redevelopment of the Rose Bowl, it just makes you wonder whether Saints missed the boat on being a venue for 2018, should England win the bid.

There is virtually no chance of Pompey redeveloping Fratton Park let alone building a 40,000 seater stadium at Horsea Island in time for the 2018, so instantly that rules out Portsmouth as a host city.

Plymouth have recently launched a late bid, although they will have to compete with Bristol, which certainly has better transport links and probably more to attract visitors.

So if places like these are going for it, why aren’t we?

St Mary’s would have to be extended to 40-45,000 seats (apparently the stadium was built to allow expansion to around 50,000), which I’m sorry to say is well above what we’d need for anything but a handful of Saints games, should we get back to the Premier League, so the financial cost may just put the dampeners on it straight away.

I also appreciate that the tendering process took place when we were on the cusp of oblivion.

But what better way for the council to finally do something to get the country to notice Southampton as a city and persuade the club to get involved in a bid?

You wouldn’t need lasers shooting from clock towers or city of culture bids with Portsmouth – this would have ten-fold the impact and benefit.

It would be a fantastic way to bring back the feel good factor to the city – the last time we saw anything like it was the FA Cup Final in 2003.

Southampton Football Club needs to be at the heart of the city – so why don’t the council and the club put their heads together and find a way to use Saints to drive the city forward?

No-one else in the South is going to be able to do it – so why not us?

On the march to South Africa?

THESE days I seem to be one of the few people who still loves international football.

So last weekend was a bit of a shock to realise that Saints were playing the same day as the World Cup Qualifiers.

More and more the realities of lower-league football become more apparent.

Now, not being English, I haven’t been able to bask in the comfort of qualifying already.

In fact it looks like Ireland will probably have to go through the Play-off route to do so. And we’ll probably get France or something, knowing our luck.

Provided we do, the problem will be deciding whether or not to go to South Africa next summer.

Worryingly, a South African salesman who came to my door told me recently quite bluntly – “don’t go, it’ll be crime central and you’ll be lucky to live.”

Not exactly the ringing endorsement that I was looking for.

Still, if that is the case, at least I won’t have to convince my better half that paying in the region of £1,000 to watch football in a different country is a good way to spend cash.