Cup bid boosted by rival's withdrawal

PLYMOUTH'S bid to become a host city for the 2018 World Cup has received an unexpected boost when it emerged fellow applicant Portsmouth had withdrawn its submission at the 11th hour, writes WMN sports editor Mark Stevens.

The south coast city, which was one of 16 around the country bidding to be part of England's final bid application, has pulled out after Portsmouth City Council refused to provide the necessary financial guarantees, fearing it was too much of a risk.

Portsmouth Football Club had put forward a plan to redevelop its ground, Fratton Park, into a 37,000-seater stadium, with additional temporary seats to bring it up to FIFA's required capacity of more than 40,000.

This latest development, however, is somewhat timely as today is the deadline for all competing cities to make their official submissions for inclusion.

This morning leading officials from Plymouth's World Cup Bid team will officially hand over their 18-chapter bid proposal which, they claim, could not only bring the world's biggest footballing competition to the Westcountry, but at the same time generate a possible £400 million into the local economy.

Among those heading for Wembley today is bid director and Plymouth Argyle Football Club executive director, Keith Todd, who believes bringing the World Cup to Plymouth in 2018 would be "a wonderful chance for us to show off our region to a global audience".

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He said: "Thursday is a big day for the submission – but the message I want to get out is that it is not over yet. Our whole bid is based on the principal of location, it's a peoples' bid. We need to be very vocal right the way across Plymouth, Devon and Cornwall to say 'We want it'."

Late last night the Plymouth team were still putting the finishing touches to their official documentation which will be lined up alongside other cities such as London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Nottingham.

Mr Todd, though, was confident that months of detailed work has ensured the city now has a strong case to put before Football Association chiefs.

"We're in line to put the region on the world stage," he said. "It sends out a very powerful message about our beautiful venue for the beautiful game and about how much the people of Devon and Cornwall want this.

"We want to use it as a catalyst to leave a massive legacy – not just in footballing terms, but economically and also socially. We would be mad not to grasp this with both hands."

Helping to add further weight to the Plymouth cause today will be Olympic diver Tom Daley and Argyle striker Rory Fallon, whose goal recently helped book New Zealand's spot in next year's World Cup finals in South Africa.

The late withdrawal of Portsmouth has proved a major talking point in terms of Plymouth's bid.

FIFA – football's world governing body – is keen to spread the finals as widely as possible within the chosen country.

With Portsmouth withdrawing, it means Plymouth is now one of only three southern cities bidding for selection – the others are London and Bristol.

Following today's official handing over of all documentation, the Plymouth team will then have to deliver a short presentation to FA chiefs, before a decision is made by December 16.

Should Plymouth be selected, it will join forces with the FA and the other selected host cities to submit England's official bid by May 2010. The winning country will be named on December 2.