Stansted to steal England FC from Luton?

[Buster the Bear]

Stansted Airport has kicked off a bid to persuade England’s soccer team to use the Essex hub for the Euro 2004 Championships in Portugal this summer.

Europe’s fastest-growing airport is setting up talks with the FA after hearing chief executive Mark Palios tell Business Weekly’s recent East of England Business Awards dinner that the rules of Association Football were drawn up in the region.

Stansted finance director Andy Mears said: “It would be fitting for England to come home, as winners of Euro 2004, to the region where the roots of Association Football were first put down.

“It would also be handy for Becks to get home to ‘Beckingham Palace,’ which is just around the corner from the airport.”

Mears said many teams, including Arsenal, Spurs, Newcastle, West Ham, Ipswich and the Dutch national squad, already flew from Stansted

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[LTNman]

England use Luton because of the airports superb location. It says much about Stansted’s locality that the only way England would consider using an airport that’s location is only convenient to Essex cereal farmers is to be paid big dosh to use it.

[Buster the Bear]

And Suffolk stud farm workers!http://community.the-underdogs.org/smiley/misc/abducted.gif

[IB4138]

And it's close to Beckingham Palace.
It would save David having to drive down the M1 and M25 to get there!

[OLNEY 1 BRAVO]

Since when have Arsenal flew from Stansted ... they've used Luton for many years.

Are Stansted getting desperate for traffic all of a sudden ... and presumably they will suddenly make slots available in the middle of the night when the team returns?:mad:

[Powerjet1]

England team arriving back in Luton (on BA) at 18.40 I believe & the flight continuing onto MAN, unless of course it's changed.

[LTNman]

Final score Luton 1 Stansted 0

[vintage ATCO]

They tried to hide it on the cargo apron though :D

[Navy_Adversary]

I think they use Luton because their HQ before matches etc is Sopwell House hotel at St Albans, I guess they leave their 4x4s etc at the hotel whilst away at a match.
I believe Arsenal also use the same Hotel.