Commonwealth Games: Aiming for a greater glory

The last time England hosted the Commonwealth Games, George V was on the Throne, Mao Zedong was about to begin his Long March north with 100,000 soldiers, and Adolf Hitler was Fuhrer of Germany.

London hosted the 1934 event - the third following the 1911 "Festival of the Empire" and the 1930 Empire Games - by default.

The original host city was to have been Johannesburg. But two years before black American track star Jesse Owens defied Hitler's white supremacist beliefs by winning four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Canada pushed for London to host the Games because of concerns about the way South Africa would treat black athletes.

Britain hosted the Games again in 1958, in the Welsh capital of Cardiff, and in Edinburgh in 1970 and 1986 - the year some countries boycotted the Games in protest at Britain's refusal to impose sanctions against South Africa.

England was thwarted in its attempts to hold the Games again when Leeds lost out to Edmonton in Canada (1978) and when Birmingham lost the 1982 bid to Brisbane.

England then turned its attention to the Olympics. But when Manchester lost the 2000 bid to Sydney, it again looked to host the Commonwealth Games.

The 2002 Games could not have come at a better time for England, which is surfing a wave of patriotism on the back of the soccer World Cup and the Queen's golden jubilee celebrations.

Its cricketers are winning, Tim Henman's tennis grass court season has gone well and red-and-white St George flags are flying from cars, buildings and bridges around the country.

England is also in need of a reputation-restoring major athletics event.

It was embarrassed at having to hand back the 2005 world championships after the Government reneged on a promise to build an athletics stadium at Picketts Lock, in North London, and after plans for an athletics track at the rebuilt Wembley Stadium were scrapped.

England's hopes of bidding for the 2012 Olympics rest on the Manchester Games, with Sports Minister Richard Caborn admitting that the country's credibility is at stake.

"Our international reputation has been tarnished by such things as the debacles over Wembley and Picketts Lock," Caborn said.

Success in Manchester would prove Britain could host an Olympics.

"Before we can think about announcing a bid, we have to be able to convince people that we are responsible enough to stage the Olympics."

But Sport England's new head, Australian David Moffett, believes the doomsayers are ignoring England's long history of staging sporting events.

"I don't think England needs its reputation saving at all," said Moffett, who was the chief executive officer for the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and the Australian Rugby League.

"Obviously, Wembley and Picketts Lock have been less than successful, but look at all the other successful things that happen in England, year in and year out.

"This whole idea that England needs to have its reputation somehow restored is garbage as far as I'm concerned.

"Every year in this country they put on events of the magnitude that most other countries can only dream of - Wimbledon, the London Marathon, the FA Cup final, test cricket series, the British Open golf - these are marquee events in world sport and they are run very successfully."

But Manchester has not been without its headaches.

Last July, the organisers needed a £105 million ($337 million) bailout from the Government, on top of the £135 million ($439 million) already given for the new venues.

The Government eventually agreed to provide £30 million ($98 million) more, with Manchester City Council giving an extra £45 million ($146 million) - with a £25 million ($81 million) contingency fund that proved vital when the Games' single biggest sponsor went bust after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York.

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