Blair was keen to relocate Wimbledon FC to Belfast in 90s
Dec 28, 2023 13:11:57 GMT
MrFurious likes this
Post by Carl LaFong on Dec 28, 2023 13:11:57 GMT
Newly released state papers show that the former prime minister Tony Blair backed proposals for Wimbledon FC to move to Belfast but his Northern Ireland secretary Mo Mowlam was more sceptical.
Previously confidential state papers include a note from 1997 described as “following up earlier informal discussions about the possibility of an English Premier League football club relocating to Belfast”.
It was described as something that would be a “significant breakthrough if Belfast had a football team playing in the English Premier League”, and “should be able to build up strong cross-community support and provide a positive unifying force in a divided city”.
It was also mooted that it would come with a principally private sector-funded modern 40,000-seater sports stadium, and potentially an academy for sport, located on Queen’s Island in east Belfast or the North Foreshore site in the north of the city.
At the time Wimbledon was groundsharing with Crystal Palace, which had an all-seater stadium, and was looking for a site to build one of its own. After the 1989 Hillsborough disaster in which 97 Liverpool fans lost their lives, the Taylor report had recommended that top-flight clubs remove standing areas from stadiums.
The state papers indicate that the possibility of the Dons moving to Belfast was discussed at the highest levels of government in 1997 as part of proposals for a national stadium in Northern Ireland.…
www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/dec/28/blair-was-keen-to-relocate-wimbledon-fc-to-belfast-in-late-1990s-papers-show
How bizarre!
Previously confidential state papers include a note from 1997 described as “following up earlier informal discussions about the possibility of an English Premier League football club relocating to Belfast”.
It was described as something that would be a “significant breakthrough if Belfast had a football team playing in the English Premier League”, and “should be able to build up strong cross-community support and provide a positive unifying force in a divided city”.
It was also mooted that it would come with a principally private sector-funded modern 40,000-seater sports stadium, and potentially an academy for sport, located on Queen’s Island in east Belfast or the North Foreshore site in the north of the city.
At the time Wimbledon was groundsharing with Crystal Palace, which had an all-seater stadium, and was looking for a site to build one of its own. After the 1989 Hillsborough disaster in which 97 Liverpool fans lost their lives, the Taylor report had recommended that top-flight clubs remove standing areas from stadiums.
The state papers indicate that the possibility of the Dons moving to Belfast was discussed at the highest levels of government in 1997 as part of proposals for a national stadium in Northern Ireland.…
www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/dec/28/blair-was-keen-to-relocate-wimbledon-fc-to-belfast-in-late-1990s-papers-show
How bizarre!
