On December 16, 2009 England 2018 announced the 12 Candidate Host Cities selected for inclusion in their final World Cup Bid submission to FIFA in May 2010.
Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Newcastle/Gateshead, Nottingham, Plymouth, Sheffield and Sunderland were announced as the successful cities by Brian Mawhinney, chair of the England 2018 Technical Bid Panel which oversaw the selection process.
Between them the 12 cities have put forward 17 stadiums which will be included in England's Bid Book:
- Villa Park, Birmingham
- Ashton Vale (new build), Bristol
- Elland Road, Leeds
- Anfield Stadium (current or new build), Liverpool
- Wembley Stadium, London
- Emirates Stadium, London
- White Hart Lane (new build) or Olympic Stadium, London
- Old Trafford, Manchester
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- City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester
- StadiumMK, Milton Keynes
- St James' Park, NewcastleGateshead
- City Ground (new build), Nottingham
- Home Park, Plymouth
- Hillsborough, Sheffield
- Stadium of Light, Sunderland
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Each city was assessed on a total of 67 criteria and 82 sub-criteria with a team of industry-leading experts providing recommendations to the technical panel. During the process the cities received two inspection visits and also produced outline and preliminary bids before the final submission to England 2018 on 26 November, 2009.
Mawhinney said: "This is a tremendous day for the England 2018 World Cup Bid. The whole of football has worked in partnership throughout this process and it is significant that 8 Premier League clubs and 6 Football League clubs' stadiums will be named in our Bid book to FIFA. Additionally, many other clubs are under consideration as training venues.
Click here to watch the BBC's coverage of Brian Mawhinney's Host City announcement.
"We are committed to producing a technical bid that exceeds FIFA's requirements and we believe the outstanding work of the Candidate Host Cities we will now be putting forward gives us the best chance to do this and be successful at the vote in December 2010.
"Our Candidate Host Cities provide an exciting mix of iconic venues, stadiums that can be extended and brand new builds. Importantly this process ensures our cities are 100% compliant with FIFA's technical criteria and that crucial guarantees have been signed ahead of our submission to FIFA on 14th May 2010. We look forward to the hard work ahead with our new Candidate Host Cities in finalising a technical bid this country can be proud of."
A final decision on the hosts of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups will be made by FIFA in December 2010. Should England be successful, FIFA will make the final decision over Host Cities by 2013.