December 26 – Plymouth Argyle being chosen as a potential venue for the 2018 World Cup if England’s bid is successful will act as the springboard for the club to get into the Premier League within five years, the Board claimed today.
December 26 – A stadium in Melbourne that has been at the centre of a row between Australia’s bid to host the World Cup and rival football codes is to be opened next year with a week-long festival of sport featuring matches in football, rugby league and rugby union.
December 26 – Qatar’s 2022 World Cup bid has been further boosted by the support of the Arab Soccer Federation (ASF) which claimed that the country had the credentials to host sport’s biggest showpiece.
December 26 - Sheffield’s succesful World Cup city bid has been celebrated at Hillsborough today with a performance by Eliot Kennedy (pictured).
By Duncan Mackay
December 24 – Major League Soccer (MLS) players have been told to prepare to fr a lockout in February, it has been claimed by Kasey Keller (pictured), the former Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper, who now plays for Seattle Sounders.
By Duncan Mackay
December 24 – Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola (pictured) has been approached to be an ambassador for Qatar’s campaign to host the 2022 World Cup after giving the bid a ringing endorsement during a visit to the Middle East country, where he begun to wind down his playing career.
By Duncan Mackay
December 24 – The Australian Government has set-up a special taskforce to try to resolve the bitter row between the rival football codes that is threatening to undermine the country’s bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 23 – Tottenham Hotspur are convinced they can persuade FIFA to choose their new ground over the Olympic stadium if England wins the right to stage the 2018 World Cup.
December 23 – A players’ survey published today has criticised the standard of some A-League pitches, including venues proposed for World Cup matches if Australia wins the right to host either of the 2018 or 2022 events.
By Duncan Mackay
December 21 – England will launch their World Cup preparations on March 3 when they take on Egypt at Wembley, a match that will also give the country’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup an opportunity to promote their campaign to to Hany Abou Rida, a member of FIFA’s Executive Committee.
December 21 – Opponents of Nottingham’s new 45,000-capacity stadium earmarked to host World Cup matches if England’s bid to host stage the 2018 World Cup is successful have promised that they will not stop their campaign.
By Duncan Mackay
December 19 – England’s 2018 World Cup bid received a massive boost tonight as Gordon Brown’s Government confirmed it is backing the campaign with a £2.5 million loan.
December 19 – Australia’s rival football codes are scared of the country staging the World Cup in 2018 or 2022 because it could sideline them, one of the ambassadors for England’s bid has claimed.
By Duncan Mackay
December 19 – A major doubt has been cast over Bristol City’s planned new £92 million 44,000 stadium at Ashton Vale only two days after it was chosen to be part of England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup.
December 18 - Sheffield United and Everton, overlooked to be part of England’s 2018 World Cup bid, have complained about being snubbed.