Manchester Labour

It’s going to be a fan fest in Manchester this June with big screens showing World Cup matches around the city.

Manchester is hosting just one of fifteen Hyundai Fan Park sites around Europe so that fans can enjoy the spirit and atmosphere of the tournament in a safe and controlled environment.

The Hyundai Fan Park at Castlefield Arena will screen all 64 matches across the 31 days of the event. General capacity is up to 8,000 people with the area expanded to create a 17,500 capacity venue for England matches.

Councillor Mike Amesbury, Manchester City Council’s executive member for culture and leisure said: “We have an extremely experienced team delivering this event working closely with partners such as the police and Hyundai. There is high demand in the city for somewhere people can congregate to enjoy matches and soak up the atmosphere so the fan park gives us the opportunity to provide this in a safe and controlled way.”

Tony Whitehorn, managing director for Hyundai UK comments:  “We are thrilled to be working with Manchester City Council to host one of the UK’s two Hyundai Fan Parks in Manchester, the obvious choice as a City with such a strong footballing heritage.  We are committed to delivering the ultimate World Cup experience for fanatics and families alike to share the enjoyment of this the biggest sporting competition in the world.”

Access to the Hyundai Fan Park at Castlefield is free of charge but tickets are required to access screenings of England matches.

These are available from www.quaytickets.com and are limited to four tickets per household.

Tickets are free of charge but there will be a booking and postal fee of £1.50 per order to cover costs. Tickets will be posted first class.

As well as three big screens there will be music and an artificial beach recreated on the site with a 5-a-side beach football arena.  Although alcohol cannot be brought onto the site public food outlets and bars are available within the fan park. Hyundai will also run a ‘Fan of the Match’ celebrating and rewarding the most outstanding fans at each match shown.  The fan with the best costume will be presented to the crowd on the giant screen at half-time at all 38 matches.  All 38 ‘Fan of the Match’ winners will automatically be entered into the ‘Fan of the Tournament’ contest at FIFA.com where they will have the opportunity to win a selection of World Cup prizes including a Hyundai i10.

Councillor Mike Amesbury continued: “There’s no doubt that Mancunians love football and the World Cup so I think it’s really important that we have a public celebration of this. When you consider England’s World Cup bid for 2018, it’s something the city is really getting behind and the events we’re hosting this year to mark the occasion could just be the start. To think that World Cup matches could be played here in Manchester, a city synonymous with football, is very exciting and so it makes sense that we get behind the tournament in a big way.”

Screens will also be located in Spinningfields and Exchange Square but will only be showing group stage matches, and will not be screening any England games.