National stadium fiasco

Hi, my name's Dave Segment and in my regular column I'll try to point you in the right direction with regards to profitable sports betting. Please excuse me though if I occasionally use this column as a forum to vent my spleen on whatever happens to getting on my tits that week. Talking of tits you may think it's very pleasant being surrounded by these lovely ladies but they ain't half a distraction when you're trying to study the fixed odds! Hedge your bets...Ciao, Dave

The debate over where the new English national stadium for football should be built has raged long and hard since the initial Wembley bid collapsed following a catalogue of FA and government blunders and miss-management, which has so far mirrored very closely the Millennium Dome debacle.
Now a final decision on the new national stadium's location is imminent, the choice being between Birmingham, Coventry (both in Central England) and the Wembley site in London. Assuming the Government and the FA take a reasoned and logical approach the London bid would simply not succeed, yet I like many other football fans fear a disastrous decision is about to be made. So why I hear you ask would the sighting of a new national stadium at Wembley be such a disaster? Let me elaborate a little. Firstly when the Wembley consortium hit financial difficulties and some of it's private backers pulled out it approached the government for £200m of funding. The government replied by saying if it was to back Wembley's bid, it would have to be able to also stage international athletics (thus being a part of any future Olympic bids). This would however compromise its position as a dedicated football stadium. The huge cost of the Wembley bid coupled with real doubts over funding places big question marks over its viability, something the considerably less expensive Birmingham and Coventry bids do not suffer from. Secondly the site at Wembley has neither the transport infrastructure nor the centralised location of the Midland bids, meaning fans north of London remaining excluded from the national stadium. The London bid has consistently been short sighted by not purchasing more land in the Wembley vicinity to enable further complimentary development, thus meaning the surrounding land and infrastructure simply do not match the ambitions for the Stadium itself. The only real argument left to justify the London bid now seems to hinge upon the historical and traditional aspects of the stadium in relation to the English and World game. Whilst the special and emotional place Wembley holds within football cannot be denied, it is perhaps a good time to put that into some sort of realistic perspective. · It is often forgotten that the formation of the English Football League in 1889 included no London clubs and consisted of clubs exclusively from the Midlands and the North West of England. · No London club has ever won the European cup. A feat achieved by many Midland or Northern clubs. · The FA Cup was originally staged at the Kennington Oval (London) and has been staged at twelve different venues in all, including Goodison Park (Everton), Old Trafford (Manchester), Burnden Park (Bolton) and Millennium Stadium (Cardiff). · The tradition argument becomes more baffling when you realise that the plans for the new stadium pays little homage to the old Wembley (the famous twin towers would be sold off or destroyed!). · Recent trials of England Internationals at grounds around the country have proved hugely successful culminating in the recent qualification for the World Cup Finals. · The building of a Stadium elsewhere surely does not have to mean the end of Wembley and an alternative plan for its restoration can still be sought. The proposed "new" Wembley then, would consist of a modern stadium not dedicated to soccer, with inadequate road and rail links and remote from a large majority of true English football fans. Surely it is better to approach this as an opportunity to build a new, vibrant and above all accessible soccer stadium in the heart of the country. Providing a stadium to be proud of, built on time and on budget. Even 74% of Londoners thought so in a recent BBC online poll, along with the current England boss Sven Goran Eriksson who recently threw his weight behind the Birmingham bid. Let's hope a victory for common sense prevails and English football finds a new and fitting home.

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