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MCR Bids To Be ‘City Of Football’
MCR vs Nottingham and Portsmouth to become first ever ‘City of Football’
FOOTBALL is always a strong topic in Manchester.
Whether you're a United fan or a City fan, no matter where your allegiance lies, it can be wholly agreed that the city loves a kickabout.
"Manchester's passion for football eclipses almost any other city in the world, so it seems right we have made the shortlist for the 'City of Football'"
So it's fitting that the city is bidding to be the country's first ever 'City of Football'.
Manchester is one of the shortlisted cities for the 'City of Football' title
The title, awarded by Sport England, comes with £1.6 million of National Lottery funding to run a two-year programme aimed at encouraging more people to play the game, particularly those aged 14 to 25.
22 cities applied for the funding, with Manchester facing off against Nottingham and Portsmouth to take the title.
The winning city is to be announced at the end of September.
Footballer Andy Cole backs the bidManchester's bid is being carefully managed by the newly formed Manchester Football Consortium, led by the City Council and including national and local football partners. Also part of the team are organisations from various sectors including marketing, PR, transport, media, culture, music, sport, business, digital and education.
The Manchester Football Consortium is seeking public support and backing for the city's bid, and to come forth with their opinions on how to transform the grass roots game in Manchester.
"Manchester's passion for football eclipses almost any other city in the world, so it seems right we have made the shortlist for the 'City of Football'," said Councillor Rosa Battle, the executive council member for culture and leisure.
"Our love for the beautiful game is evident in our two internationally renowned football clubs, the National Football Museum and the unparalleled enthusiasm of local fans.
"The 'City of Football' is about encouraging more people to actually get out and play, so I'd ask everyone to let us know what they think is needed and help us create an innovative and transformational plan."
Follow Manchester's bid on Twitter at @Manchester_COF or tweet using '#BackOurBid'
Follow Niamh Spence on Twitter at @missnspence
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We have to be in with a great chance of winning this. Fingers crossed. One of the things we lack as a nation is the number of qualified coaches we have.We are miles behind other European countries in terms of numbers, so why not pay for 200 people to do the course so they gain their UEFA License? I think it's around £5k per person so 20 people from each of the 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester for £1m?
Another stupid competition run by London based civil servants to provide something that should be a mainstream service across the whole country rather than a one-off provision in one part of the country. Another example of our over-centralised state. No doubt this will make a nice PR opportunity for some no-mark MP or minister come election time.
Sport England isn't run by civil servants and is based in Leicestershire. Other than that you're completely correct. Do the angry voices in your head bother you all the time or just when you're online?
Of course it's run by civil servants, it's a quango, headquartered in London and accountable to a remote government ministry in the DCMS. £1.6m is a pifflingly small amount of money that is probably exceeded by the amount it cost for the 22 competing cities to compile their bids. And for what? A programme to encourage more young people to play football - fine. But this should be a properly funded nationwide programme that includes capital improvements to facilities, accessible to all. As it is, this looks like a government PR stunt that will have no long term impact but will make it appear like they are taking sports participation seriously.