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Host City: Liverpool

Liverpool: FAMOUS Football City Supports England’s WORLD CUP BID


"Having played in a World Cup I saw first hand exactly what it meant to the cities involved and I'd love to see that happen in my home town. Liverpool is a massive footballing city and a World Cup in England without Liverpool is unthinkable."  Steven Gerrard, Liverpool FC captain.

"Football really matters to people here; it’s something which is much more than a pastime – it is a genuine passion. It would be unthinkable for England to stage a World Cup without this city being a key player." David Moyes, Everton FC manager.

"Our clubs, their players and fans, have shaped and enriched the game for more than a century and involvement in the game at the grassroots is second to none. This bid is about building on that tradition, to promote the game to a new generation and help England secure and deliver a fantastic tournament." Councillor Warren Bradley, Leader of Liverpool City Council.

Liverpool – Football City

From the city which invented the goalnet and the Football Pools, Liverpool is world famous for its love of the beautiful game.

Liverpool FC is England’s most successful football club, winning more major trophies than any other team – including not one but five European Cup’s lifted by all-time greats from Kevin Keegan and Kenny Dalglish to Steven Gerrard.

As the original club of the city, Everton FC possesses a proud history in equal measure. It boasts more seasons in England’s top flight than any other and is home to a long line of legends from Dixie Dean and Alan Ball to Gary Lineker.

The Premiership giants – who have a record 27 league titles between them – also have plans to build two new stadia that will be ready in time for 2018.

Outside the professional game Liverpool has one of the UK’s largest network of amateur leagues with 1,500 Junior teams (23,000 registered players) and 700 Adult teams (11,500 registered players).  

Quite simply – football is the lifeblood of this city.

Liverpool – Sport City

Liverpool has a world of sporting successes and experiences to share with you.
The city’s passion and influence on sport of all forms can be felt everywhere – not least the success of the Liverpool Olympics in the 1860’s that heavily influenced Pierre De Coubertin to reviving the first modern Olympics in 1896.

The city has also been blessed to have produced many great Olympians down the ages from Austin Rawlinson to Stephen Parry, Beth Tweddle to Steve Smith, and Chris Boardman to Mary Peters. And Britain’s newest 50m pool at Wavertree now provides the city with a premier venue for watersports and will act as a training base for the 15 Oceanic nations in preparation for the 2012 Olympic Games.



There’s plenty more going on too outside the pitch and track. Liverpool hosts the International Tennis Tournament in June – now the biggest exhibition event in Europe -which is annually graced by legends from past and present such as Bjorn Borg, Martina Navratilova, Goran Ivanisevic and Marat Safin to Britain’s own Greg Rusedski and Jamie Murray.

Liverpool also boasts a new 10,500 seater Arena that can stage the best that indoor sports can offer. For example this September the venue for the 2008 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards, hosts the GB Davis Cup tie against Poland.

And if you visit Aintree Racecourse in April you can catch the world’s most famous race The John Smiths Grand National, first hand. And a new international equestrian centre has also opened at Aintree, providing the venue with a year-long programme of world class events.

Liverpool’s sporting landscape is a diverse one with cutting edge facilities provided by the city’s three universities which cater for a student population of over 50,000 and Liverpool residents alike.  Liverpool John Moore’s University’s Sport Science Department also plays a major research role in the development of sports technique and technology.  Not least in supporting Liverpool City Council’s pioneering Sportslinx Scheme – Europe’s largest programme in tackling youth obesity.

No visit to Liverpool is complete without sampling some of the finest golf courses Britain has to offer – be it the venue for the 2006 Open Golf Championships at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, to the 2008 venue at Royal Birkdale. With seven of world’s top 100 golf courses, its little wonder the region is dubbed England’s golf coast.

Liverpool – Culture City

In 2008 Liverpool demonstrated its arrival as a World Class city with its year as European Capital of Culture.

The city delivered more than 7,000 events, including 60 World and European Premieres in music, film theatre, art and also hosted blue riband awards ceremonies such as the MTV Europe Music Awards, The Turner Prize, The Stirling Prize and The BBC Sports Personality of the Year.



Its tenure has been hailed as the best ever and has led to the creation of a new UK City of Culture title, beginning in 2013.

Having attracted more than 3.5m new visitors last year, Liverpool is now one of the most popular destinations in the UK with a tourism economy worth £1.3bn a year.

Whether you’re a day tripper or a culture vulture the city has something to offer everyone from high art to the high street – be it the largest collection of national museums and galleries outside of London to a legendary nightlife and booming café culture.

Music fans can make a pilgrimage to The Cavern – the birthplace of The Beatles or sample live music in more than 200 venues or any one of a dozen free festivals such as the Mathew Street Music Festival, held every August bank Holiday and the biggest of its kind in Europe.

If its retail therapy you need Liverpool One – a new 42 acre shopping and leisure site in the heart of the city centre – can cater you’re every whim, while the city’s Georgian Quarter or World Heritage waterfront can transport you to a bygone age providing some of the best city views in the country. In fact you may find yourself on a film set as Liverpool is one of the most filmed in the UK and often doubles for other cities from Chicago to Moscow!

Liverpool's commitment to culture is more than just words. It has invested over £400 Million in new and improved cultural facilities in the last 10 years and with Britain’s newest museum to open in 2010 and plans to redevelop its two main theatres by 2013, the city’s renaissance shows no sign of stopping.

Liverpool – The City

Situated on the banks of the River Mersey, Liverpool was officially created in 1207 and grew from a small fishing village to one of the world’s major port cities and 2nd city of the British Empire. Its 802-year history is a fable of human achievement – a cradle of invention that resulted in the creation of the railway to the mastering of the tides with the world’s first wet dock.

This spirit of adventure inspired a litany of enlightening and light-hearted contributions to mankind from the x-ray to the crossword and the cure for Malaria to Meccano.

Today Liverpool is a major tourist destination and its port is busier than ever but the city continues to play in the advancement of knowledge most notably as a world leader in computer games software and the pharmaceutical industry.

It has a population of circa 450,000 and sits within a city region of over 1.5million and is just a 90-minute drive for over 12 million people.

And arriving in Liverpool has never been easier. John Lennon airport is one of the fastest growing in Europe with direct links to more than 70 destinations across Europe and hundreds internationally as a hub to Schippol International Airport in Amsterdam.

After a 40-year hiatus, the Mersey is once again a major cruise destination and since April 2009 you can now enter the city centre via canal boat after the Leeds-Liverpool canal was extended to flow into the world famous Albert Docks.

Liverpool is also the perfect base to explore England's North West being just 40 minutes drive from Manchester and the historic cities of Lancaster and Chester and less than 90 minutes from the beauty of no less than four national parks: the Lake District, Peak District, Yorkshire Dales and Snowdonia. 

For more information go to: www.visitliverpool.com 

You can pledge your support for England 2018 and Liverpool by backing the bid at: http://www.england2018bid.com/support/register.aspx



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