Manchester

This page was the programme’s short answer to the question every visiting federation asks first: why this city, and not one of the larger candidates that can also put a roof over an arena.

The argument it made was density rather than size. The case set out here is that a single tram line reaches a velodrome, an aquatics centre, an athletics arena and a squash centre; that two of the country’s best-known football grounds sit inside the same travel zone; and that the hotel stock built for conference traffic absorbs a championship crowd without the city having to empty its student halls. That remains the backbone of how Manchester sells itself to an event, which is why the page is kept rather than replaced. The venues it leans on are listed in the venues index, and what the desk writes about the city on a crowd day is in Matchday.