IPSWICH Town were partners in Milton Keynes' successful bid to be one of the venues if the 2018 football World Cup is allocated to England.

Elvin King

IPSWICH Town were partners in Milton Keynes' successful bid to be one of the venues if the 2018 football World Cup is allocated to England.

The East Anglian Daily Times can reveal this today and it could lead to some of the best players on the planet being based in the town.

The Blues' facilities are earmarked to be used by one of the teams allocated to play in the group stages at Milton Keynes.

The magnificent Samba Boys from Brazil or the aristocrats from Spain could be rubbing shoulders with the Ipswich public after it was revealed that Town had connections with the successful East of England bid.

Ipswich Town thoroughly investigated the possibility of making a bid for Portman Road to be used as one of the grounds. But with stadia having to hold at least 40,000 spectators this was not found to be a viable possibility.

They decided instead to back the Milton Keynes bid, and Town's training facilities at Playford Road could be the base for one of the qualifying teams.

Ipswich are one of Milton Keynes' official backers with the 80-mile distance between the towns not considered to be an obstacle.

The following stadia are to be included in England's 2018 World Cup bid: Sunderland (Stadium of Light), London (Wembley Stadium), Birmingham (Villa Park), Manchester (City of Manchester Stadium), Nottingham (new Nottingham Forest stadium), London (Emirates Stadium), Leeds (Elland Road), Sheffield (Hillsborough), Newcastle/ Gateshead (St James' Park), Bristol (new Ashton Vale stadium), London (new White Hart Lane or Olympic Stadium), Plymouth (Home Park), Manchester (Old Trafford), Liverpool (Anfield or new Anfield) and Milton Keynes (Stadium MK).