SUNDERLAND will consider raising the roof after the club launched their bid for host city status, should the Football Association be successful in their efforts to land the World Cup in 2018.
Sunderland is one of 15 cities, including Newcastle- Gateshead, hoping to play a part in the world’s greatest sporting event.
And while the Stadium of Light’s state of the art facilities and 49,000 capacity already qualifies to host World Cup games, Sunderland confirmed they would consider increasing the capacity to over 60,000 if the club continues it’s recent resurgence.
Quinn urged all people in the North-East, not just Black Cats supporters, to register their support for the bid by logging on to website www.sunderland2018bid.com and casting their vote for Sunderland.
The club’s chairman firmly believes that, after hosting sell-out Oasis and Take That concerts this summer, they are ready to step on to the world stage in the “greatest football event of all”.
“At the start, people might have said we were dreaming, trying to get into the Premier League, but we are about to embark on our third year,”
noted Quinn. “It’s been scary and its been tight at times, but it’s real progress. Sometimes success and failure are defined by the slightest of margins, and we have learnt that in this past six weeks.
“But you don’t stop and say, ‘God, that was great’, you kick on, you take advantage of it.
“The concerts were fantastic and we look like we are going to be a venue for as long as we are sensible. But that’s not enough. We want bigger events and for the greatest show on earth to come here would be colossal, and why not aim for it?
“Why should we feel inferior?
We have done that for far too long at this club.”
Quinn admitted some of his greatest memories have come at World Cup level and relished the prospect of North- East crowds providing a backdrop for the likes of Brazil, Argentina or Italy.
“For a footballer, there is no greater sporting honour than competing in a World Cup and I’ve experienced at first-hand the huge excitement a World Cup generates having played in two for the Republic of Ireland,’’ he said.
“Now as chairman I want to bring the greatest football event of all to the city and people of the North-East.
“It would be absolutely fantastic to see the Stadium of Light and the North-East play a big part in such an international sporting phenomenon.”
Quinn was keen to dampen suggestions Sunderland are in direct competition with their rivals on Tyneside, preferring to regard the bid as a chance to demonstrate the region’s emergence from the collapse of its traditional industries.
“For too long, people have talked about the mines and the shipbuilding – Sunderland has kicked on now and this is a great way of showing it,’’ he insisted. “There are so many good things in Sunderland, but they have been bottled up within the region for a long time now, and this for me is the showcase opportunity to make the city a modern city.
“I believe there is something extra to this region. The Sunderland people and the people of the region – I shouldn’t just stick to Sunderland, I should talk about Tyneside, I should talk about Durham, talk about Teesside, Tees V a l l e y , N o r t h u m b e r - land, all these places – when that passion and that football passion starts to show itself, that will be a big feather in the FA’s cap.”
Quinn revealed he spoke to his counterparts at Newcastle before each city decided against launching a joint campaign that might have resulted in both missing out.
He looked forward to Wearside and Tyneside emerging victorious in the bidding process: “My wish would be that we both get it and it will be a big double whammy for the region.”
Former Hull and York City goalkeeper Alan Fettis is joining Steve Bruce’s backroom team. The 39-year-old former Northern Ireland international had been a target of Carlisle United.
Sunderland full pre-season programme has been announced following confirmation they’ll travel to Peterborough on August 4 (ko 7.45pm).
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