JULIE Kirkbride (pictured), a keen supporter of the "Brumbley" national football stadium bid, could barely disguise her rage this week.
Like every other MP, she had been led to believe Birmingham would be allowed to pick up the pieces if - as seems increasingly likely - the project to rebuild Wembley finally collapses.
However, it has now emerged this cannot happen - owing to an obscure "staging" agreement which means that, if Wembley cannot be rebuilt, it must instead be revamped.
The agreement, it turns out, was reached in 1999 and gives Wembley the right to hold cup finals for the next 20 years - even though it is now virtually derelict.
Julie, a member of the Commons Culture Select Committee, raged: "I am furious that the Birmingham bid has been so scandalously led up the garden path by the FA and, most particularly, by the secretary of state, Tessa Jowell".
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