The World Cup in Milton Keynes

Spent an enjoyable hour or so taking a look around the MK Dons stadium and the Doubletree hotel attached to it. Not only is the structure interesting (large cantilevered roof and large beams supporting precast concrete units as terracing) the design and ambition of the whole campus is really impressive.

The pitch is 8m below the surrounding ground level, which means that the public enter the stadium at the top of the lowest tier (and only tier, at the moment) and can circulate the entire stadium at that level, where there are concessions and bars. It currently holds 22,000, but the middle tier will bring it up to 44,000 and if the FIFA World Cup comes to England in 2018, then the top tier can be installed bringing it up to 66,000 or so.

The ambition to host some matches in the World Cup did cause a bit of sniggering, but this is a UEFA Elite class stadium, with excellent infrastructure, so it is sure to attract some high profile matches in the future.

The website of MK Dons is www.mkdons.com