I'm currently writing the copy for the London 2012 Olympic bid website. (Don't look at the current site, it's crap and is being replaced in the next few weeks.) Today I am doing a section on our existing sporting life, and...
...I've managed to slip in a derogatory dismissal of Leyton Orient. Hurrah! Check out the fifth paragraph:
Prestigious and prominent, memorable and moving, London has hosted many of the world’s greatest sporting moments in some of the world’s greatest sporting venues.
It’s one of the few cities in the world whose venues embody a sport. Wimbledon. Wembley. Lords. Twickenham. Not many have a sporting heritage as noble and wide-ranging as London’s. It’s also one that includes two previous Olympics, in 1908 and 1948.
Our capacity to hold world-class international fixtures is considerable. And the additions planned for the Olympics would make it unbeatable. There are facilities and venues for almost every sport imaginable in and around the capital.
These are already part of life in London. Every day of every week, world class sport is being played, here and now.
Top of any list must come football. England is the game’s spiritual home, and London its centre. We have 14 professional teams, from Premier League clubs such as Arsenal and Chelsea down to local minnows like Leyton Orient. Thousands upon thousands flock to games across the city. Wembley, the most iconic stadium ever and site of the Euro 96 final, is currently being rebuilt into a 90,000-capacity venue. It’s due to be ready by 2006.
Second only in size is Twickenham, home of the reigning world rugby champions England, and a famous stage for international rugby. It hosted the 1999 World Cup final. Rugby, both union and league, is played across the city.
As is cricket, with Lords and the Oval hosting both national and international games. Tennis has Wimbledon, rowing the River Thames… The list is never-ending, through from greyhound racing to American Football.
And ringed around the capital, in most cases just an hour or two away, are countless more legendary venues. Horseracing at Ascot. Rowing at Henley. F1 at Silverstone. Horsejumping at Hickstead. Sailing in the Solent.
It's no wonder that the world comes to London to play sport. Because London truly has it all.
...I've managed to slip in a derogatory dismissal of Leyton Orient. Hurrah! Check out the fifth paragraph:
Prestigious and prominent, memorable and moving, London has hosted many of the world’s greatest sporting moments in some of the world’s greatest sporting venues.
It’s one of the few cities in the world whose venues embody a sport. Wimbledon. Wembley. Lords. Twickenham. Not many have a sporting heritage as noble and wide-ranging as London’s. It’s also one that includes two previous Olympics, in 1908 and 1948.
Our capacity to hold world-class international fixtures is considerable. And the additions planned for the Olympics would make it unbeatable. There are facilities and venues for almost every sport imaginable in and around the capital.
These are already part of life in London. Every day of every week, world class sport is being played, here and now.
Top of any list must come football. England is the game’s spiritual home, and London its centre. We have 14 professional teams, from Premier League clubs such as Arsenal and Chelsea down to local minnows like Leyton Orient. Thousands upon thousands flock to games across the city. Wembley, the most iconic stadium ever and site of the Euro 96 final, is currently being rebuilt into a 90,000-capacity venue. It’s due to be ready by 2006.
Second only in size is Twickenham, home of the reigning world rugby champions England, and a famous stage for international rugby. It hosted the 1999 World Cup final. Rugby, both union and league, is played across the city.
As is cricket, with Lords and the Oval hosting both national and international games. Tennis has Wimbledon, rowing the River Thames… The list is never-ending, through from greyhound racing to American Football.
And ringed around the capital, in most cases just an hour or two away, are countless more legendary venues. Horseracing at Ascot. Rowing at Henley. F1 at Silverstone. Horsejumping at Hickstead. Sailing in the Solent.
It's no wonder that the world comes to London to play sport. Because London truly has it all.
