Noel Gallagher and Fatboy Slim back world cup bid

The FA and England team sponsor, Umbro, this week announced they are an Official Partner of England 2018 with the launch of a video viral campaign called 'I'm In,' encouraging everyone to back the bid.

A host of celebrities from across sport, music and the world of entertainment, including Noel Gallagher, Norman Cook (aka Fatboy Slim), Trevor Nelson, Pete Tong, Michael Owen and Alan Shearer all showed their support by creating an 18 second video to tell the world why they are backing England's bid.

Former Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher says, "England should have the World Cup in 2018 because it would bring the country together and the final will be just round the corner from my house!"

Manchester United and England striker Michael Owen added, "Playing in the World Cup is a special moment for any footballer. The country is perfectly set up to cater for a World Cup and it would be very special if we hosted it in 2018."

The videos, which focus on why they think England should host the World Cup in 2018, aim to inspire members of the public to post their own 18 seconds of support for the England 2018 campaign through www.umbro.com .

The campaign, which starts on May 20th at 18.00 hours, will run until the decision is made by FIFA in December on who will host the 2018 World Cup.

Umbro hopes with the "I'm In" campaign that it demonstrates to FIFA how passionate this country is to stage the World Cup in 2018. To encourage people to post their videos Umbro will be offering the chance to win a VIP trip to watch a Euro Qualifying match at Wembley, the competition will run until the end of September.

Further celebrities and public figures will be adding their video messages to those of the public as the campaign progresses over the next few months.