‘Park Life’ Team delivers London’s bid on behalf of the Mayor
25 November 09
Five football-mad Londoners visited the Mayor of London Boris Johnson to collect London’s bid to become a host city venue for the England 2018/22 FIFA World Cup. The staff football team from London’s InterContinental London Hotel on Park Lane was led by Sous Chef Robert Prendergast.
Prendergast and his team mates will make their way for a once-in-a-lifetime journey to Wembley Stadium tomorrow morning to deliver the bid document to England 2018 representatives after winning Visit London’s competition to find an amateur team to represent the capital.
The competition to find a local London team was run to support London’s ‘Park Life’ theme which has been central to London’s bid. The theme emphasises the passion that Londoners have for football, with over 3,700 parks and open spaces becoming impromptu football pitches every day of the year. It is anticipated that the surge in interest in the sport, should England win the right to host the tournament, will lead to more Londoners than ever getting involved in sport and outdoor exercise.
Londoners and people throughout England share a love of “park football” or football in any urban space, be it grass or concrete. Where there is an open space and any kind of simple markers for goalposts, the area is inevitably turned into the hallowed pitch of Wembley.
Many of our great English football stars have started off their careers in London parks and Parklife celebrates this aspect of football.
England and Chelsea captain John Terry said
“I lived in Barking as a youngster and right at the back of my house, literally, just over the other side of the fence, was Newlands Park. That’s where I played all of my football growing up. It was always me and my brother against our two next door neighbours, Danny and Billy. We used to pretend we were in the World Cup, and would be different teams each time. There used to be steps going up to the maisonettes where we lived, and whoever won that day’s tournament used to go up to the top of the steps and would have to lift up the cup.”
Tottenham Hotspur star striker Jermain Defoe said:
“When I first started playing it was at the back of my Nan’s house in Canning Town, East London. There was a field I used to play on with a few of my cousins and my mates who lived round there. We would use anything as a goal. Sometimes it could just be trees if they weren’t too far apart or jackets. We would play 60 seconds with one goalkeeper to practice our crossing and finishing - I used to love that. We played Wembley as well, with 50 people all chasing one ball. You scored a goal and then you went through to the next round - that was a great game. Sometimes, when I was really young, I used to go on the field and play football on my own. I’d pretend I was Ian Wright and I would just do things like kicking the ball against a wall, shooting into a goal or just throwing the ball against a wall and volleying it.”
The team from the InterContinental Hotel Park Lane also encapsulates London’s underpinning themes of diversity and welcome to every one of FIFA’s 208 nations who all have a community in London. There are several nations in the team, Irish, Australian, Indian and English.
Winner Robert Prendergast said: “I’m thrilled to deliver the bid document on behalf of London. I’m lucky enough to play football every week in Hyde Park and I think London would make a brilliant host city for all the football fans from across the world. The team and I are very proud to represent all those thousands of local teams who make use of all the open spaces and parks in London and who feel passionately about football.”
If England wins the honour of hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2018 or 2022, Wembley will stage the opening game and final. But 16 cities, including London, are in the running to be given hosting rights for other matches and key events. England 2018 will make a final decision on the host cities on the 16th December 2009.
“The joy that Londoners derive from watching and playing football is evident in every corner of the capital. It is part of the city’s DNA,” said Mayor of London Boris Johnson. “From some of the world’s best teams at one end to the jumpers-for-goalposts kickabouts in the park at the other, we live and breathe the sport. That’s why I believe London’s bid to become a major host city venue in the 2018 World Cup is an incredibly strong one.”
Meanwhile, the head of the England 2018 bid CEO Andy Anson spoke this week about the potential boost to the country’s economy if it was awarded the tournament. It is expected to be in the region of $5 billion: “I am sure that once our technical plans are finalised next year, our final study will show an even bigger benefit to the economy.”
Notes to Editors
London United
London’s bid has been co-ordinated by London United. London United is the group of the capital’s stakeholders who are committed to delivering the most compelling, technically superior and imaginative application for London to be a host city for 2018/22. The group is chaired by Simon Greenberg. The Mayor of London is represented by David Ross.
Visit London
Visit London is the official visitor organisation for London. Our role is to promote London as the most exciting city on the planet, targeting domestic and overseas leisure and business visitors as well as Londoners. Visit London works in partnership with the Mayor, the London Development Agency and the tourism industry in London.
Contact
For further information please contact
Chloe Couchman- Business & Major Events PR Manager
Visit London
6th Floor,
2 More London Riverside, London SE1 2RR, UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7234 5727
Fax: +44 (0)20 7234 5751
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