World Cup Bid to the Wire

Eighteen cities have been selected as the official host cities for the USA’s bid for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup. And Wire fans will be proud, and maybe slightly surprised, to learn that one of these great 18 cities is Baltimore. For non –Wire fans, the series is mainly based on Maryland's largest city.

The city has some football history. In the 1970’s it was home to NPSL charter team Baltimore Bays. Currently, Baltimore is home to the Baltimore Blast of the NISL, Maryland Tigers of the PASL, Charm City FC of the NPSL and Crystal Palace Baltimore. Chelsea sponsor Baltimore Bays youth programme and last year, they beat AC Milan in the first professional football match at the M&T Bank Stadium. The game was played in front of 71,000 fans.

The football and ‘The Wire’ connection continues as Spike Lee is on the bid committee. The Inter Milan fan directed the excellent ' Clockers [DVD] [1996] (why does this film only get 6.9 on imdb.com? Please watch and add at least one point). The screenplay was written by Lee and Richard Price, based on a book by Price. And yes, Richard Price is one of the great writers who have worked on the Wire. If you know any other connections between Baltimore and football, please let me know.