Search: ' Brisbane Road'
Stories
James McMahon explains why Leyton Orient chairman Barry Hearn is concerned about the fate of the Olympic Stadium
On January 28, the Olympic Park Legacy Company will meet to decide the future of the £500 million state-owned stadium centrepiece of the 2012 Olympic Games. Not permitting Acts Of God or natural disasters, by then we will know whether it is West Ham or late bidders Tottenham Hotspur who will be looking to relocate to a new home in Stratford post-2012.
Dear WSC
Howard Pattison (Sign of the times, WSC 286) wonders why there are so few official plaques to footballers in London, but goes on to answer his own question: most of the big names from the pre-war era were based in the north-west, and all the more recent players mentioned in the article died less than 20 years ago. The “20-year rule” – which applies to all suggestions made under the London-wide blue plaques scheme – is designed to ensure that the decision to commemorate an individual is a historical judgement, made with the benefit of hindsight. I could agree that Bobby Moore is as good a case as any for making an exception – but where, then, would you draw the line? The blue plaques scheme is run almost entirely on the basis of public suggestions. In recent years, considerable efforts have been made to increase the hitherto small number of nominations that have come in for sporting figures, including footballers. This has brought some success – Laurie Cunningham and Ebenezer Cobb Morley, the FA’s first secretary and author of the first football rulebook, are now on the shortlist for a blue plaque. As time goes on, more outstanding players and managers will become eligible for consideration, and surely join them. In view of this – and, among other projects, the involvement of English Heritage in the Played in Britain publications and website – the charge that “those who administer our heritage simply don’t see football as part of it” seems about as close to the target as a Geoff Thomas chip.
Howard Spencer, English Heritage
Australia's bid to host the World Cup in 2022 has encountered unprecedented problems, says Mike Ticher
If logic counts for anything on FIFA’s executive committee, Australia will host the 2022 World Cup. It is the obvious candidate on FIFA’s past form, if not its explicit criteria. It has only one serious rival, a fact so far obscured in most of the coverage of its bid. If it does win, it will reinforce the genuinely global nature of the competition; if not, there may be only half a dozen countries outside Europe that can host it in future.