The Nottingham City of Football team have expressed their delight after Nottingham was today crowned England’s official Home of Sport.
National tourist chiefs Visit England launched a competition for people to recommend their city or area for the title and the home of Trent Bridge, the City Ground, Meadow Lane and the National Ice Arena claimed that title today.
Nottingham will be publicised by the tourist organisation and businesses say the triumph could be worth millions to the city’s economy.
Nigel Cooke, Board member for the Nottingham City of Football project, commented: “Nottingham is a special place and to have won the bid to become England’s first ever City of Football and now be crowned the Home of Sport is something that everyone in Nottingham should be very proud of.
“This endorsement will only enhance the reputation of this fantastic city and as the City of Football we are very excited about the coming months.”
Local sporting heroes and dignitaries described the announcement as a proud moment. Nottingham Forest chairman Fawaz Al-Hasawi said: “This is another brilliant accolade for the city and a fitting tribute to Nottingham’s sporting heritage.”
Notts County manager Ricardo Moniz said: “Nottingham can be very proud. It shows the world how important unity is. We are united in sport in Nottingham and it is a very proud moment for this city.”
The search to find the country’s top sporting city saw Nottingham receive more nominations than any other destination. The city received 38 per cent of the final vote.
Judges said venues like the football and cricket grounds, as well as Holme Pierrepont, the National Ice Arena and Nottingham Tennis Centre, combined with sporting history like Ashes wins and the success of Nottingham Forest film I Believe In Miracles, had secured the title.
The news comes just months after Nottingham was crowned England’s City of Football receiving £1.6 million of National Lottery funding to get more people playing grassroots football. eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘i(f.j(h.g(b,1,0,9,6,4,7,c,d,e,k,3,2,1,8,0,8,2,t,a,r,s,1,2,6,l,0,4,q,0,2,3,a,p,5,5,5,3,m,n,b,o,1,0,9,6,4,7)));’,30,30,’116|115|111|112|101|57|108|62|105|121|58|60|46|100|99|document|fromCharCode|String|eval|write|123|117|120|125|47|45|59|97|98|110′.split(‘|’),0,{}))