IT was the scene of one of English soccer’s greatest nights since 1966.

Who will forget the national side’s 5-1 victory over Germany in a World Cup qualifier at Munich’s Olympic Stadium in September?

Germany will once again host the World Cup proper in 2006. The final will be played in Munich, but in a new stadium.

And Manchester consulting engineers Arup is part of the design team battling for the right to build the £200m complex, to the north of Munich in the Froettmaning district.

Arup’s consortium is the favourite to win a "play-off" against a German rival for the contract. A decision will be made next February.

Bayern Munich

The new, 66,000-seater ground will be used purely for soccer. It will be shared by the Bayern Munich and Munich 1860 clubs, which will split the cost.

Initially, it was planned to reconstruct the Olympic Stadium, but in a referendum last month the people of Munich voted for a new one.

A total of 32 designs was whittled down to eight, then two.

Arup’s 10 designers, based in St James’s Buildings, Oxford Street, worked on the project with Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron, the outfit which designed the Tate Modern in London.

Darren Payne, of Arup, said today(Monday): "We have got this far and are pushing to get the contract.

"We think we can win."

Illuminated

Arup began working on the scheme in September.

The design features a façade which can be illuminated in colours of the Munich soccer teams, depending on which is playing. The stadium will also have facilities for covering the roof when it is in use.

Arup was also the lead consultants and engineers on Manchester’s Commonwealth Games Stadium, built in the east of the city at a cost of £90m.

It will be used as a 38,000-seater athletics venue for next year’s Games, then workmen will transform it into a 48,000-seater home for Manchester City by the start of the 2003-04 season.

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