MK

[Iffy's Onion Bhaji]

I know people are going about MK being chosen etc which is fair enough but why the fuck was Plymouth selected? For a start why give Bristol and Plymouth games? It just seems daft. Plymouth is a crappy naval city in the middle of nowhere. They actually have to double their capacity to enable it. For a club like Plymouth (although a big catchment area) that's going to be a killer if they're in the lower league come post 2018. They won't even get that stadium half full. It's further for fans to travel, it's not a major city in this country. Just makes no sense.

[Spencer_White]

One of either Bristol or Plymouth will definately loose out.

[DiV]

I'm very cynical as alot of those selected depend on new/extending/re-developing their grounds.

If other teams trying to get planning permission is anything like ours has been over the years they wont even get built.

I cant see Plymouth finding the cash or the need to double their capacity.

[jonny72]

Don't forget that in a lot of countries that have recently hosted the World Cup, a lot of new stadium or re-development has been necessary - pretty much all the SA stadium are new aren't they?

If Plymouth and Bristol get their arses in gear I reckon they've both got a real chance of hosting games. Plymouth is probably the dodgy one, but if they can show they've got everything in place I reckon they'd get it ahead of existing stadium. FIFA love the whole legacy thing, which will count in their favour.

[Freddies Ferret]

none of this matters, im with reg!

[Sippo]

Forget the Franchise, think of the football just up the road from us! Mk, Bristol and London.

Thats got to be good surely? For fans and the town in general?

[chalkies_shorts]

The FA and NK deserve each other - two bunches of cunts having a love in. MK should have been told to FRO as should the egg chasers of Hull. Leicester or Derby should have been picked before MK. The Slave Traders have a much better argument than Plymouth and the thought of them getting 10k in a 40k stadium is quite appealing as they drop down the league. 

[pauld]

The FA and NK deserve each other - two bunches of cunts having a love in. MK should have been told to FRO as should the egg chasers of Hull. Leicester or Derby should have been picked before MK. The Slave Traders have a much better argument than Plymouth and the thought of them getting 10k in a 40k stadium is quite appealing as they drop down the league. 

True dat. The man speaks right

[Rich Pullen]

Rivalries aside the city of Bristol will be great for World Cup football.

Plymouth? It's good for that neck of the woods to get a game or two but I'm not sure that I'd have selected Devon.

Milton Keynes is a disappointing... They let them have a football club and now they're going to make people actually fill that stadium with the honour of World Cup football. That's rubbish.

[Summer of Noughtie Nine]

Totally agree with this.

Although having recently had dealings with the FA regarding their thought processes around awarding funding I'm not at all surprised !

What is a 'process'? I keep hearing it. Is it what people say when they can't think of another word - like thingymejig?

[Anteater]

What is a 'process'? I keep hearing it. Is it what people say when they can't think of another word - like thingymejig?

Google up Football Foundation, apply for a grant and speak to the FA and you will see what they mean by 'processes'.
Clearly they suit the crappy MK Doughnuts !

[donkey]

Fuck Milton Keynes and fuck the World Cup bid.  It's bad enough that proper football cities like Leicester (where I live, to declare the interest) and Derby lose out, but to Milton Keynes?  Fucking plastic twats.  And what's more, Nottingam represents the East Midlands again...using a stadium that hasn't even got a site yet as it's bid.  Twats.

[Doore]

. Imagine being a visiting fan from another country, and your team got drawn to play 2 group games at Stadium MK, when you were dreaming of Old Trafford, Anfield and Wembley? Its a disgrace.

Leicester isnt that far from MK and would have been a better choice.

I'm not sure many would be dreaming of "the Walkers Stadium" either. 

I may be in the minority here, but I don't really see the problem.  If we are worried about the heart, passion and soul (I like clichés) being lost from the top end of our national game - too late.  That went years ago.  A lot of grounds mentioned have little more history than Stadium:MK - Walkers, Pride Park, yet-to-be-built Ashton Vale, - and as the bid is about grounds, not clubs, I don't really see the difference.

It all smacks a bit, if I may say so, of a knee jerk reaction to change.


Remember, Oxford United didn't exist until the 60s - we don't dismiss them as a club.  We (rightly) hate them.  The point is clubs die, clubs are created - the game of football continues. 

All in all, I think the venue selection is reasonable.

[BANGKOK RED]

Oxford came up through the ranks, properly, and so deserve their place in the league. MK don't, MK's position should be held by AFC wimbledon or failing that another club who have earned their position.

And to say that stadiums like walkers and pride park have no history is simply wrong. They are new stadiums built on the basis that the club that they are a home for had homes that where very old, MK never had a stadium before because they were never a club before.

Would you say that the new Wembley has no history and therefore is a plastic stadium?

[Doore]

No I wouldn't - but I think a lot of this argument comes from an idea that things should stay the same just because that's the way it's always been, and that's just not realistic. - the demise of Wimbledon was very sad, and I as much as anyone was disappointed in the way it ended.  However, although they have all the history and tradition, in a different way do Old Trafford and Anfield not represent the same "plastic" era of football?  What ideal are we trying to put forward with the WC bid?  If its history and tradition, then the owners at Old Trafford and Anfield hardly fit in.  If its progress, then they do - as does Stadium:MK.