Tale of two cities in final heat for the Commonwealth Games
dozens of greats including Denise Lewis, Mark Lewis-Francis, Ashia Hansen, Katharine Merry and in 1908 Britain’s first ever Olympic Gold Medallist Archie Robertson.
Athletics is a central part of the Games and Birmingham is its natural home. Liverpool has no such legacy.
Birmingham already has a world-class athletics track at the 12,700-seater Alexander Stadium, and we are used to holding international competitions like the Diamond League. It is also the home of the sport’s governing body, UK Athletics.
An upgrade will see it expanded to a 40,000 to 50,000-seat arena for the Games, then scaled back to a permanent 25,000 seats, putting it in pole position to become the future home of British athletics especially as sharing the 2012 Olympic stadium with West Ham is proving costly and problematic.
In contrast Liverpool is proposing to re-run the London Stadium fiasco by giving a taxpayer-funded leg-up to an already cash-rich football club.
Despite benefiting from Sky TV’s riches, the billionaire owners of West Ham (and before that Manchester City) got cut-price stadiums out of Games.
The proposal is that Everton becomes the next club to benefit. Football does not need taxpayers help and Everton’s fans do not want their new pitch circled by a running track.
And, given the short timescale, a stadium built from scratch is more likely to hit snags, risk missing the deadline and run massively over budget.
Liverpool is also proposing a separate venue for the field events – a plan designed to short-change spectators and leave taxpayers with the expense of an extra new venue. Both cities are lacking an international competition standard pool and need to build from scratch.
The Birmingham bid is looking carefully at sites for a facility which would, after the Games, become an asset for the community. The city has rebuilt six community swimming pools and refurbished others during this era of austerity. They now cover their own running costs. This experience will be valuable in creating a new competition standard pool which will provide a genuine legacy for the region.
We saw no need for gimmicks. If we were building a flashy floating pool – like Liverpool are near the Albert Dock – there would rightly be concerns it was likely to be a white elephant.
It is indeed an ambitious plan but given there will be little over two years to build the thing, how likely is it that the construction firm will encounter problems and demand extra money to get it finished on time? They will still be plugging leaks as the swimmers arrive. And the only way to secure any legacy would be to tow it by sea to the next host city. Both cities boast major arenas and are used to hosting global pop superstars one day and political party conferences the next. Our Barclaycard Arena is already a regular host for indoor athletics and international gymnastics and the NEC is equipped for major sports events. But we have other major venues too – the University of Birmingham is equipped to host world-class hockey and squash tournaments and the Edgbaston Priory tennis centre is hosting the Aegon classic Wimbledon warm up competition.
We also have Edgbaston cricket ground – ideal for the women’s T20 tournament which is now part of the Commmonwealth Games. Liverpudlians will have to trudge up the M62 to borrow Manchester’s Old Trafford. Birmingham’s diverse population makes it a natural fit for the Commonwealth Games – an incredible 314,000 West Midlanders were born in other Commonwealth Countries. Alongside the thousands of Welsh, Scots and Irish, this is truly a Commonwealth city and will embrace the competition with enthusiasm. It will be a party.
Birmingham is also one of Europe’s youngest cities with 40 per cent of Brummies aged under 25 - they will greet the Games with enthusiasm and be inspired by the sport taking place on their doorstep.
We don’t need floating swimming pools or fancy dock-side developments – we have a greater asset in our people. Liverpool sees this bid as a chance to invest in and gentrify its dock-side areas. Birmingham’s Games will be centred on the upgraded stadium at Perry Barr. Just as the London Olympics did at Stratford, the athletes’ village will create muchneeded new homes as well as providing jobs and new transport infrastructure. It could be transformative for one of the most deprived parts of the country.