At a press conference last month, I publicly stated that 2018 is the first obvious opportunity for a European country to host the competition. We are clearly giving some serious consideration to putting together a bid for the tournament. The prospect of England hosting World Cup 2018 was recently welcomed by FIFA President Sepp Blatter.

I have said nothing further on the matter since those original comments and certainly feel that the World Cup in 2018 is the one to target - not 2014 as erroneously suggested in reports today.

Obviously, a World Cup in this country would be a fantastic occasion and every English football fan would love to see the World's best players gracing our stadia. But at this stage the deadline for a 2018 bid is still several years away.

Brian Barwick
Chief Executive