The shirt signing sessions will take place on Friday August 21 in Midsummer Place shopping centre in Central Milton Keynes from 12 noon to 3pm and then at Bletchley Leisure Centre from 4.30-6.30pm.

“We’re appealing for as many people as possible to sign the shirt to show their support,” said Pete Winkelman, Chairman of MK Dons, “Our aim is to have hundreds of signatures with not a single bit of white space left.”

The shirt already has some signatures as it has been taken to Leon School, and was on display at the England U21 match at stadium:mk and at the MK Dons supporters day.

Cllr Sam Crooks, Leader of Milton Keynes Council added: “Our plan is to show the signed shirt to inspectors from the Football Association when they next visit the city in September. The signatures will demonstrate that we have a lot of support from local people for bringing the World Cup to Milton Keynes.”

John Lewis of Milton Keynes Partnership said that hosting world cup football in Milton Keynes would create enormous economic benefits and a lot of excitement for the city. “To be in with a chance of winning our Bid we need to show that local people are behind it. Signing the shirt is a great way of demonstrating the fantastic level of support we have.”

For those who cannot get along to one of the signing sessions, there’s the opportunity to vote on line at www.england2018bid.co.uk/hostcity/miltonkeynes