I think this is going to be a decade where interest in sport will never have been higher.

Gordon Brown
Quotes of the week

Gordon Brown spoke exclusively to Sky Sports News about his vision for the future of sport in the UK.

You can see the Prime Minister's thoughts below and don't forget to tune in to Sky Sports News every day for up-to the minute sports news and big-name interviews.

Brown on 2018 World Cup bid

It's a great idea and great for football, for sport and for our country.

We published a study showing all the benefits that would come for every region because we would have some of the World Cup matches in all the different parts of the country - so it's got great benefits right across the country.

I believe, even more so than when we started this project to get the World Cup here, that we've got a lot of support.

I believe that it's the right time because by 2018 we'll have waited 52 years and I think there is increasing support around the world that the home of football should have the World Cup soon and that should be 2018, which is the first time that we can now have it.

Brown on foreign influence in football

The fact that you had two English teams competing in the Champions League final and the fact there was one British team in the Uefa Cup final shows the quality of our sport.

It's a decision for the football authorities themselves, but I think we benefit from having people from abroad as well as wanting to encourage our home-grown players.

Brown on supporter costs

I'd love more people from all backgrounds to be able to watch our football matches.

I did see the prices of the season tickets for the Premier League - and they do vary very tremendously between some clubs that charge far less than these top figures.

But obviously you want more and more people to be able to have the chance to watch Premier League matches.

The Championship is very good, the Scottish League as well. My own club Raith Rovers is a bit cheaper!

Brown on free swimming

We're on the way to doing more. Britain is a great sporting nation and we want the facilities that match us being a great sporting nation. Where there are facilities that need to be built, in time we'll be able to do that.

We're looking at quite innovative ways of doing that; private public projects, working with clubs and local authorities taking a new interest in this.

I want sporting facilities and opportunity for people to use these facilities and I want to see over time a great change in the physical fitness of our country. I think a healthy nation is a successful nation.

Brown on Britain's love of sport

Now that people see the Olympics coming in 2012 and we've got this great sporting calendar going right through perhaps over 10 years to the Rugby World Cup and potentially the football World Cup, this new interest in sport can be built upon.

I think it is true to say that when you start something [such as free swimming], the question is 'Will it continue and be sustained?'

Just look at the events that are going to come in Britain that will rekindle people's interest in sport every year; the School's Sports Olympics are happening; the training for the Olympic Games after this summer's Olympics; the other sports tournaments that are coming.

I think this is going to be a decade where interest in sport will never have been higher.

Brown on improving facilities

We will continue to expand the number of playing fields in our schools. It's really important that we use the playing fields well.

I think a lot of people know that they're not being used enough so we've got to get the playing fields used better, and the sports dressings room - sometimes they've fallen into disrepair, so we've got to find a way of getting them modernised.

In The Football Foundation, we've got a sports foundation to try and bring public and private sectors together - we need clubs to come together to do so and local authorities working with other people to make sure the sports facilities in our areas are a lot better.

I do think there's an image of some of our sports facilities as drab or '60s or out-of-date. But I think that impression will change over time as people see the quality of facilities that many areas are now developing.