On Thursday 5 May 2011, 10pm, the poll for the local elections will close. The results and winner will be announced, within the next day, between 11pm and 3am.

Labour currently occupies 40 seats, whilst the Liberal Democrats has 41 seats. But that could change. Labour is now widely predicted to win the election, due to the unpopularity of the Lib Dem’s role in the government coalition.

Who will take office at Sheffield City Council, now? One factor that will affect the result did not take place a week ago, not even a year ago. Sheffield hosted the World Student Games in 1991, an event that influenced the credibility of the Labour Party in Sheffield.

Eugene Walker, a financial officer from the City Council, once said to ProperWeek.com in 2007 that the games are still being used, by all parties in Sheffield, as a political weapon during local elections.

Fast forwarding to 2011, though: will the event still haunt the Labour Party, during the election?

Initial blue print

The initial intention to hold the World Student Games was remarkable. Sheffield was trapped in the confusion of economic regeneration: the glory of the steel city faded out. The local government was working hard to find ways to promote the city and link it to an event, which could turn Sheffield into a household name across the world.

The chance was the World Student Games: which would ensure that Sheffield would have advanced facilities, be capable of holding top events and would gain an economic re-bounce.

Sheffield then defeated Edinburgh to become the United Kingdom’s official candidate and eventually became the final winner to host the tournament. The most important thing was forgotten, though: money.

Financial trauma

The games attracted over 3,000 athletes from over 100 nations from 14th to 25th July 1991. After the competitors arrived back to their countries with glories and awards, Sheffield was left in tatters – as they had a faced a huge bill.

Various newspapers at the time, such as the Independent and the Telegraph, discovered that building various facilities for the World student Games cost Sheffield £147 million. A further £21.4 million was spent on hosting the event and Sheffield overspent by £10.5 million, due to a lack of income from sponsorship – as well as poor ticket sales and an unsupportive central government.

Even in 2011, according to an article published in The Star in March, the final bill came to £650 million and it won’t be paid off for another waiting 13 years.

Paul Scriven, the Liberal Democrat Leader of Sheffield City Council, told the Star: “My job would have been much easier without having to hand over a huge amount of taxpayers’ money each year to cover Labour’s legacy of debt form the World Student Games.

“The economic benefit of events held at venues such as Ponds Forge and the Donvalley Stadium is £6m a year- dwarfed by the interest bill.”

Benefit as well

Whilst the World Student Games remains a controversial issue in Sheffield, it has benefited the city in other ways.

Clive Betts, the leader of City Council when the games on, once said that the Labour Party borrowed money to built facilities that are still well-used and are an asset for Sheffield.

The facilities have also benefited Sheffield, economically, to a certain degree. Ponds Forge, Don Valley Stadium and the Motorpoint Arena have all contributed to Sheffield’s reputation as a city of sport. These venues still host international, national and community events – as well as training several elite British athletes.

As London 2012 approaches, Sheffield may find that more overseas squads will train in the city. A number of them, ranging from the United States and Brazil to Serbia, have already chosen Sheffield for training camps and another eight have already visited various facilities in Sheffield. number of overseas squads who will train in the city. For instance, teams from America, Brazil and Serbia have chosen here for training camps and another 8 teams have checked the facilities and yet to confirm.

Compared with the long-time financial trauma, though, the benefit seems limited. Questions will always be asked on whether Sheffield becoming a city of sport was a price worth paying and in the short term, at least, it is unlikely that it will change.