Burton has become embroiled in a row over alleged corruption in football as the full extent of England's failed attempt to stage the 2018 World Cup was made public in a leaked report.

The report has revealed how England’s football bosses tried to garner support for the failed 2018 bid, with emphasis reportedly placed on former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner.

Former vice-president Mr Warner of Trinidad and Tobago, who was also the Member of Parliament for Chaguanas West in the country, asked to have his hometown of Longdenville twinned with an English "village" it is claimed. The report claims that it was Burton which was suggested as a potential twin town.

The alleged requests of Mr Warner, then-president of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), to the England 2018 committee have been revealed in the report for the first time.

As well as asking that Longdenville be twinned with an English "village" in order to secure funding and publicity for the town, the Football Association (FA) also covered the costs of a stay in Sheffield for the Trinidad and Tobago Under-20 team and was asked to find jobs for Mr Warner’s "adopted son", it claims.

The English team's suggestion of Burton as a possible twinned town is said to have come in an email from Jane Bateman, the director of campaign operations for England 2018, to Mr Warner on June 29, 2009.

Burton is home to the English Football Association's national football centre, which has its headquarters at St George's Park, in Rangemore.

It claims that later, Mr Warner forwarded Ms Bateman a news article headlined, “Longdenville sportsmen appeal to Jack Warner.” The article, published by the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian, described a recent meeting in which “[s]everal cricketing clubs in the Longdenville area together with their members called on FIFA Vice President and MP for Chaguanas West (Warner) to assist them in getting much needed facilities for the district”. According to the report, “[t]he clubs complained that their aspirations for excellence in sport especially cricket have been drastically affected,” and “Warner agreed that he would assist them by soliciting assistance from outside the country,” including by “us[ing] his influence overseas to have Longdenville twinned with a foreign village where such assistance which is presently needed can be provided.”

Mr Warner is said to have informed Ms Bateman in his cover email forwarding the article that he planned to solicit assistance from England’s FIFA World Cup bid team: “I will be reverting to you on this tonight re (sic) twinning of Longdenville with an English village and assisting them in their quest for a recreation ground among other things.”

The email also added that the work to the recreation ground will put him in an “extremely favourable position to successfully lead my party in local elections”, the report says.

Ms Bateman responded later that “[w]e would be happy to look for a twinning partner for Longdenville, and will give it some thought prior to our visit, although it may be easier to do so once we have been there.”

She later asked whether England 2018 could “make a formal private presentation of our bid to you, taking about an hour”.

The FIFA report alleges: “England 2018 did its part to help Mr Warner generate the Longdenville related “media hype” he desired.”

However, the report added that “while these reports strongly suggest that the England 2018 delegation provided the political support Mr Warner expressly sought, they are insufficient to support a finding that the delegation in fact made any “commitment” to Longdenville residents, or that England 2018 or the FA ever donated or “planned to” donate $500,000 or any other amount to Longdenville.”

Claiming that the twinned "village" could be Burton, an email was later sent to Mr Warner from Ms Bateman which stated preliminary work was to start on the recreation ground “and that on the “related matter” of “look[ing] into a twinning partner for Longdenville,” Ms Bateman had the “pleasure in advising you that we have had interest from the town of Burton upon Trent, which may be familiar to you by name and it is to be the home of The FA's National Football Centre, St George’s Park.”

The report concluded: “Mr Warner had considerable influence as a FIFA executive committee member. The record shows he repeatedly used that power to exact personal benefits in violation of the FIFA Code of Ethics. Whether it was a “request’ for a job for an “adopted son,” for aid to his own football club, or for an all-expenses paid trip for a Trinidad team, Mr Warner’s conduct demonstrates an expectation that bidding teams would react favourably and seek to curry favour with a voting member. England 2018’s response shows an unfortunate willingness, time and again, to meet that expectation.”

The FA’s attempts at lobbying were unsuccessful, with England knocked out in the first round after receiving only two votes. The 2018 tournament went to Russia, while Qatar secured the 2022 finals with both decisions reached on December 2, 2010.