Milton Keynes goes to Wembley for 2018 World Cup bid
'We will be taken seriously' - Paul Ince
'We will be taken seriously' was the message from city delegates who submitted Milton Keynes' bid to become a host city for the 2018 World Cup finals on Thursday.
The MK 2018 consortium travelled to Wembley to hand over its document to Lord Brian Mawhinney, Lord David Triesman and Andy Anson, a member of the England bid team.
Team Milton Keynes, led by MK Dons chairman Pete Winkelman, Paul Ince, council leader Sam Crooks and Dr Ann Limb, were the first to hand in their bid, attracting a lot of media interest who view the city as one of the more unique and interesting candidates.
We are up against 14 cities including London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds, Derby and Sheffield.
Dons boss Ince said while Milton Keynes didn't have the football history of some other candidates it had a bright a future.
The former England captain said: "As soon as I set 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 we are serious about this campaign, I wouldn't have gone if I didn't think it was worthwhile."
He added the city's location and forward thinking also made it a strong contender.
"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.
"In the last few years we have created some history and speaking to people today our name seemed to be on their lips all the time which is great."
Milton Keynes will find out its fate on December 16 and Mr Winkelman is confident the team behind the bid has done a tremendous job.
He said: "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."
Dr Ann Limb, who headed up the MK 2018 consortium, said:"We are very excited and optimistic.
"It has been fantastic to be around all the other cities that are bidding and to know we can hold our head up high and genuinely compete with the premier cities of England."
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Weather for Milton Keynes
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -1 C to 2 C
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