First Action Of Olympics Likely To Be Outside London

The Manchester Evening News is crowing after finally realising that the Olympic football tournament kicks off two days before the opening ceremony, which means the 'start' of the Games will probably be outside London. "Despite the capital spending billions on hosting the world's biggest sporting event... Old Trafford has emerged as a frontrunner to host it" they jeer, always eager to get one over on 'that London'.

Well... yeah. Wembley's being reserved for the bigger games (oh, if we're going in for childishness - NYAH NYAH) so venues around the country were always in the running to host the first matches. Manchester's competitors for the opportunity are Hampden Park (also more likely to be held back for bigger games), an unsponsored-for-the-Games St James's Park and a venue in the Midlands which is so prestgious, it hasn't even been decided on yet. But this is a chance for we Londoners to show our magnanimous side to our Northern brethren, and sanctimoniously remind them the Games is for all the UK, not just for us hummus-eating southern softies.