Jeremy Hunt MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, on England's bid to host the World Cup in 2018.
FIFA, football’s global governing body, arrived in England yesterday for a four day visit to hear why we should be picked to host the biggest football show on earth.
After the highs and lows of South Africa, you might have thought Wembley would have been dead for the friendly against Hungary. But over 70,000 turned out with the vast majority right behind our team, comfortably drowning out the boo boys.
But it isn't just what happens at the top of the game - over a million people watch or play football every week. So FIFA can be sure that a World Cup in England would be embraced by the whole nation with sold-out grounds for every game and fans from around the globe welcomed with open arms.
We have world class stadiums - the likes of Wembley, the Emirates, Anfield and St James Park to name but a few - and the transport infrastructure to cope with putting on a tournament the size of this.
England is easy to get to and easy to get around. Our transport system gets hundreds of thousands of fans to games every weekend of the season and all of our proposed host stadiums are no more than three hours by train from London.
A World Cup here would also be an economic winner for both FIFA and the country’s coffers. Estimates from accountants PriceWaterHouse Coopers put the windfall to the nation at £3 billion. This would help us build a lasting legacy from the tournament - using football as a force for good around the world that would build on the work the FA does on international development.
It would also, of course, boost football on the home front, inspiring a new generation of players and coaches to help unearth the new talent we need. And who knows what that could lead to, half a century on from that magic moment in 1966?
