NEWS CHANNEL
Published: 09/06/2009 00:00 -
Updated: 23/02/2010 13:35
Stuart Pearce has backed Milton Keynes to be a host city if England win the 2018 World Cup bid.
Stuart Pearce backs MK's bid
The England Under-21 manager watched his side hammer Azerbaijan 7-0 at stadiummk on Monday night and only had positive words to say about the venue.
Pearce, a former England captain, told MK NEWS he believes Milton Keynes would be a good host for the biggest football competition and singled out chairman Pete Winkelman for praise, he said: "On what I've seen yes, the infrastructure's great.
"I picked up a league game there at the end of the season against Leicester and the one thing that impressed me was he (Winkelman) walked through the concourse with me and he seemed to know everybody in the ground by first name.
"There's not many chairman that can boast that."
He added: "It's a great model of a football club there, I think he's a good chairman and he's full of passion for the game, so credit to him.
"Football's taking of in Milton Keynes at the moment and the club are a big focal point of that community."
It was a community that embraced the Under-21s visit as 12,020 fans attended England's final warm-up game ahead of their European Championships.
Although putting seven unanswered goals past Azerbaijan showed the match was never much of a contest.
England dominated throughout with Michael Mancienne setting the standard of the evening as he lashed in the first goal after just 48 seconds.
West Ham's Mark Noble's then had a slice of luck when his shot rebounded off the post and hit the back of goalie Elchin Sadigov to make it 2-0.
Then England showed they were a class above their opponents when Craig Gardner struck a brilliant volley and Azerbajain scored another own goal.
Arsenal's Keiran Gibbs, having set up Gardner's goal, opened his account with England on the 64th minute and doubled his tally five minutes later.
The evening was capped off with a seventh strike in injury time from Jack Rodwell.
With their first game of the Euros on Monday Pearce was more than happy with his side's performance.
He said: "As a manager you can't ask for any more than that, we kept a clean sheet, scored seven goals.
"One or two of them have put great performances on especially the youngsters that have come in late."
Stuart Pearce backs MK's bid
The England Under-21 manager watched his side hammer Azerbaijan 7-0 at stadiummk on Monday night and only had positive words to say about the venue.
Pearce, a former England captain, told MK NEWS he believes Milton Keynes would be a good host for the biggest football competition and singled out chairman Pete Winkelman for praise, he said: "On what I've seen yes, the infrastructure's great.
"I picked up a league game there at the end of the season against Leicester and the one thing that impressed me was he (Winkelman) walked through the concourse with me and he seemed to know everybody in the ground by first name.
"There's not many chairman that can boast that."
He added: "It's a great model of a football club there, I think he's a good chairman and he's full of passion for the game, so credit to him.
"Football's taking of in Milton Keynes at the moment and the club are a big focal point of that community."
It was a community that embraced the Under-21s visit as 12,020 fans attended England's final warm-up game ahead of their European Championships.
Although putting seven unanswered goals past Azerbaijan showed the match was never much of a contest.
England dominated throughout with Michael Mancienne setting the standard of the evening as he lashed in the first goal after just 48 seconds.
West Ham's Mark Noble's then had a slice of luck when his shot rebounded off the post and hit the back of goalie Elchin Sadigov to make it 2-0.
Then England showed they were a class above their opponents when Craig Gardner struck a brilliant volley and Azerbajain scored another own goal.
Arsenal's Keiran Gibbs, having set up Gardner's goal, opened his account with England on the 64th minute and doubled his tally five minutes later.
The evening was capped off with a seventh strike in injury time from Jack Rodwell.
With their first game of the Euros on Monday Pearce was more than happy with his side's performance.
He said: "As a manager you can't ask for any more than that, we kept a clean sheet, scored seven goals.
"One or two of them have put great performances on especially the youngsters that have come in late."
