GLASGOW has bid successfully to stage the annual congress of the European College of Sport Science in 2021 - an event expected to attract about 3,000 delegates and provide a near-£5 million boost to the city’s economy.

The event will be held at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) between July 7 and 10, 2021, and was attracted to the city through a bid involving a raft of partners.

Glasgow Convention Bureau, part of Glasgow City Council, noted the conference would follow several major sporting events due to take place in the city in coming years. These include the inaugural European Championships, which will be co-hosted with Berlin in 2018, the European Indoor Athletics Championships in 2019, and the UEFA EURO 2020 football championships, which are being staged across 13 cities.

Craig Mahoney, principal and vice-chancellor of the University of the West of Scotland (UWS), led the city’s bid for the European College of Sport Science’s (ECSS’s) annual congress.

The pitch was supported by VisitScotland’s national conference bid fund. And it involved close collaboration between UWS, Glasgow Convention Bureau, the SEC, VisitScotland and VisitBritain.

Glasgow, which hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2014, climbed three places to finish fifth in the world at the 2016 SportBusiness Ultimate Sports Cities Awards.

Aileen Crawford, head of conventions at Glasgow Convention Bureau, said: “Glasgow is recognised as one of the world’s top five sporting cities, and we’re preparing to host a number of major sporting events over the next few years. It is fitting that ECSS, the leading association of sports scientists in Europe, has chosen Glasgow for its first-ever visit to Scotland.”

Neil Brownlee, head of business events at VisitScotland, said: “The decision by the ECSS to hold its annual congress in Glasgow is a reflection of both Scotland and the city’s academic credentials and our world-class conferencing facilities.”

Kathleen Warden, SEC director of conferences, said: “Our collaborative team approach was key to securing the ECSS annual congress in 2021, and follows a very positive period of conference wins.”