ST. HELENS will be bidding to host games during the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.
The international tournament is due to be hosted in England and Wales in between October and November.
And St. Helens Council, along with the Saints RFC, are hoping to secure St. Helens as a host destination to follow the 1995 tournament when New Zealand battled Papua New Guinea at the old Knowsley Rd Stadium.
The focus of the bid is to use the world cup to act as a catalyst from increasing physical activity levels in the community and in particular to increase the number of people playing Rugby League in St. Helens.
The bid has been set within the context of both Active St. Helens the Borough’s sport
and physical activity strategy, which aims to get more people, more active more often.
In addition to Active St. Helens if successful the bid will also contribute to the delivery of the boroughs Tourism Strategy.
Saints Chief Executive Tony Colquitt said: “By working together, the club, the Council and many community partners are extremely keen to host and present borough and our fantastic new stadium to the rest of the world, we also recognise that staging a game will also have economic benefit for a range of business in the in the area.”
Councillor Barrie Grunewald Deputy Leader of St. Helens Council and Cabinet Member for Culture, Communications and Town Centre, added: “St. Helens has a rich Rugby league history with Saints being at the heart of its community. Our warm, friendly welcome to visitors, along with our strong sporting heritage and vibrant amateur rugby league clubs puts us in a fantastic position to be successful in the bidding process.
“In these tough financial times the St. Helens bid has been developed to bring together a range of activities that can be delivered within existing budgets and we are aiming for the event to be cost neutral. I would urge all residents, whether they are rugby fans or not, to get behind this bid and help put St. Helens firmly on the map.”
