England 2018 FIFA World Cup bid

[4] The non-executive and subsidiary Advisory Group to the bid consisted of Karren Brady, former managing director of Birmingham City; Martin Sorrell, chief executive of WPP; David Gill, chief executive of Manchester United; the former Minister for Sport, Gerry Sutcliffe and Sir Keith Mills, deputy chairman of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG).

[6] The England World Cup bid also received the assistance of Ronnie Flanagan as an advisor on safety and security.

[9] England's bid was officially presented for the first time on 18 May 2009 by Adrian Chiles in the Bobby Moore Room at Wembley Stadium.

[10] England players from past and present including Wayne Rooney and Sir Bobby Charlton gave their support with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, along with the support of Conservative Party leader David Cameron and Liberal Democrats leader Nick Clegg.

The presentation also received an endorsement from West Ham United's Italian manager Gianfranco Zola and he believed that England 'would be a great place to play a World Cup'.

In the case of Liverpool, the bid committee determined that the current Anfield stadium would have been, with minor improvements, acceptable for World Cup matches; however, because of Liverpool FC's plans to build a new ground, the committee specified that the new stadium would take the place of Anfield if it were ready in time.

The grounds in Leeds, Sheffield, Milton Keynes and Plymouth in particular were all set for an increase in capacity, whilst new stadiums proposed in Nottingham and Bristol were a part of the bid.

At a conference in Qatar in March 2012, Premier League chairman and deputy chairman of the 2018 bid, Dave Richards, said FIFA allowed the FA to waste money on their 2018 World Cup bid when, he claimed, they had little chance of winning it, stating "Why couldn't FIFA have said we want to take it to the Gulf?

"[23] The Football Association and the Premier League distanced themselves from Richards' remarks, stressing that he was attending the conference in a personal capacity.