Latest: Thursday 17th December
We did it!
Leeds has been announced as a host city at the 2018 FIFA World Cup should England be named as the host country.
The Football Association made the announcement on 16th December that Leeds will join 11 other cities across the country to stage matches in 2018. Leeds will now work with the Football Association and the 11 other successful cities to help ensure Englands bid to FIFA is as strong as possible.
Reacting to the news, Councillor Andrew Carter, the leader of Leeds City Council, said:
'This is fantastic news. Leeds would make an ideal World Cup host city and we are now a step closer to making it a reality. A very strong bid was submitted to the FA, outlining why Leeds and the Leeds City Region should be part of the World Cup if England is named as the host country. Our proud football heritage, passion for sport and vision to leave a lasting legacy after the tournament makes us a perfect venue to be a host city for the worlds biggest sporting event. Hosting matches would put Leeds firmly on the world map and give a multi-million pound boost to the local economy. I would like to thank everybody who has been involved in preparing and submitting the bid and everyone who has voted and given their support. We will now work closely with the FA to ensure Englands bid to be the 2018 World Cup host is as good as it can possibly be'.
Latest: Friday 27th November
The Leeds City Region submitted its final Host City World Cup bid
Local football fans and players from Carr Manor School with Leeds United legend Peter Lorimer and Councillor John Procter from Leeds City Council delivered the final bid to the Football Association at Wembley Stadium on November 26th 2009.
Football legends - including Norman Hunter, Peter Lorimer, Gordon McQueen and Nigel Martyn - have worked alongside school children, poets, The 'Ladyboys of Bangkok', local knitters and Olympic delegations to raise awareness of the bid and encourage people to vote for Leeds to be part of the biggest sporting event in the world.
The region’s bid has received support from around the world and included former and future World Cup host cities – Dortmund in Germany and Durban in South Africa - as well as Lille in France and Brasov in Romania after both countries’ national teams played group matches in Leeds during Euro 96.
Leeds will find out on Wednesday 16 December if it will be named as one of the successful host cities and will then work with the FA in developing their bid to FIFA for England to host the World Cup.
Councillor Andrew Carter, joint leader of Leeds City Council, said:
“Leeds would be a perfect host city for the 2018 World Cup. We have the facilities and support to ensure the matches would be a huge success and with four professional football clubs - Leeds United, Barnsley, Huddersfield Town and Bradford City – and thousands of passionate sports fans, we would ensure a warm Yorkshire welcome to football fans around the world. Hosting World Cup matches would put the Leeds City region on the world map as well as providing a huge economic boost to local businesses. Both Yorkshire and Leeds have a proud sporting heritage and it would be an honour for both to be part of the biggest sporting event in the world.”
Thursday 15th October
Leeds United manager Simon Grayson and his players visited Adel Primary School to celebrate the launch of a new DVD aimed at promoting the Leeds City Region’s World Cup bid to local schoolchildren. Leeds United have teamed up with Leeds City Council to produce a Back The Bid Leeds DVD and copies have been distributed to all schools in Leeds.
The 15-minute DVD, presented by World Cup TV commentator John Helm, describes the City Region’s bid to be a host city for the 2018 World Cup finals should England be successful, and highlights the importance of bringing football’s greatest competition to the area.
The Leeds United squad arrived on a specially branded Backthebidleeds.com bus and after a short presentation joined the children in watching the DVD before signing autographs and meeting the youngsters. 1966 World Cup winner Norman Hunter joined the team to show his continued support for the World Cup 2018 bid.
Monday 1st June
Leeds City Council is leading a bid group from the Leeds City Region with the ambition of bringing the 2018 World Cup tournament to the region.
The region’s sporting heritage is well known through the top 4 football clubs: Leeds United, Barnsley, Huddersfield Town and Bradford City. But the region also hosts top class events in other sports like Cricket and Rugby at Headingley, golf tournaments, tennis and athletics.
If Leeds is successful in its Applicant Host City bid the games would be played at Leeds United’s Elland Road Stadium and with improvements to the Stadium it will be capable of hosting not only group and ‘round-of-16-matches’, but also a quarter final.
A Project Board has been set up and is chaired by the Leeds City Council Chief Executive, Paul Rogerson, comprising key stakeholders in the region
- Yorkshire Forward
- Welcome to Yorkshire
- Leeds United FC
- Metro
- Marketing Leeds
- West Yorkshire Police
- Leeds Metropolitan University
- The University of Leeds
- The Leeds, North Yorkshire and York Chamber of Commerce
- Leeds City Region representative.
The bid project team has been collating material from across the council and Leeds City Region with material also supplied from around 30 of the city’s stakeholder partners. The range on offer to potential World Cup visitors demonstrates that the Leeds City Region can provide a football, entertainment, accommodation and transport experience for visitors which will be second to none.