Old Trafford bids for final

List of candidates
UEFA unveiled on Monday the list of candidates to host both the Champions League and the UEFA Cup finals for the 2002/03 season and Old Trafford is one of nine stadiums in the frame for the former occasion.

First time
The home of two-times European champions United has never hosted a European club competition final, and the same applies to FC Schalke 04's Arena Aufschalke and Hamburger SV's Volksparkstadion, which have also posted their candidature.

All hosted finals
The other candidates include the Feijenoord stadium in Rotterdam, Madrid's Santiago Bernabéu stadium, the Stade de France in Paris, the Amsterdam ArenA, and the Gottlieb-Daimler stadium in Stuttgart which have all hosted finals of either the European Champion Clubs' Cup or Champions League. The other venue in the running is the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow.

Madrid centenary
Real Madrid CF hope to host the final in their Bernabéu stadium to mark their centenary, which they are celebrating this season.

Eight names in the running
The Stade de France, Volksparkstadion and Gottlieb-Daimler stadium are also among the eight names in the running to host the UEFA Cup final. The five other stadiums are: Villa Park in Birmingham, Arnhem's Gelredome, the Philips Stadium in Eindhoven, Seville's Olympic Stadium and Gothenburg's Ullevi stadium.

Decision in December
These candidatures were submitted to UEFA through the national associations concerned who will be UEFA's main partner in the organisation of the events. The UEFA Executive Committee will decide on the venues at its meeting on 12 and 13 December.

'Analysing the bids'
Mike Lee, UEFA's director of communications and public affairs, said: "UEFA staff are now in the process of analysing the bids and carrying out site surveys of all the proposed stadia. The Executive Committee will then receive a detailed evaluation report in order to make the final decision at its December meeting."

This season
Hampden Park in Glasgow will host this season's Champions League final with the UEFA Cup final taking place in the Feijenoord stadium - the Dutch ground's tenth UEFA competition final.