The 2019 Netball World Cup will be hosted in Liverpool, England Netball announced yesterday.
“England put in a strong bid and we are confident that they will deliver an outstanding event in an excellent venue in the city of Liverpool,” said the Hon. Molly Rhone, OJ, CD, president of the International Netball Federation (INF), which owns the rights to the tournament.
“It is an exciting time for netball right now, which is growing at an unprecedented rate throughout the world. We look forward to seeing this growth continue to soar and to working with the organising committee in bringing the INF’s most important event to England in 2019.”
This will be the third time that England has hosted the competition in its 56-year history. Previous locations include Birmingham in 1995 and the very first staging of the tournament in Eastbourne, 1963.
“Having worked with Liverpool to host major global tournaments previously, we have a proven track record of being able to stage such a prestigious event and we look forward to welcoming the netball world to the North-West, said Joanna Adams, CEO of England Netball.
“On behalf of England Netball, I would like to thank all parties who worked with us on securing this bid.
“This is a massive tribute to the wonderful army of volunteers who have helped us to grow the game in our country. Without their support we would never have been in a position to bid for, let alone win, the rights to host a Netball World Cup.”
The 2019 Netball World Cup forms part of UK Sport’s Gold Event Series, which is investing around £40million of National Lottery funding to attract events to Great Britain.
“Through the Gold Event Series the UK is building an international reputation for staging world class major sporting events with its compelling mix of state-of-the-art facilities, great infrastructure and technical know-how as well as its army of experienced volunteers,” said Liz Nicholl, chief executive of UK Sport and a former Chief Executive of England Netball.
“Netball is thriving with unprecedented growth in participation, support from sponsors and exposure in the media. Add to this the Government’s strong commitment to promoting women’s sport, and I really do believe that Liverpool offers the perfect platform to help the International Netball Federation develop and grow this fantastic sport, not just in England but globally."
The venue will be the ACC Liverpool, which hosted the World Netball Series in 2011. The World Heritage waterfront site includes the Echo Arena as the competition venue, the Exhibition Centre as the athlete training venue and the BT Convention Centre, which will host the INF Congress.
A new four-star Pullman hotel on the ACC Liverpool site, will be the official INF event hotel.
"The stunning ACC Liverpool will be the perfect stage for the event and we are looking forward to welcoming a global audience of competing nations and putting on a show the sport can be truly proud of," said Joe Anderson, mayor of Liverpool.
