The Championship club's chief executive Tom Glick said they would be contacting London 2012 officials to tell them about Pride Park Stadium's capability of hosting major sporting events.

 

 

The Rams' interest comes after Villa Park in Birmingham pulled out as a venue to stage preliminary matches because of planned construction work that they could not guarantee would be completed in time for 2012.

 

Derby is one of only five other grounds left in the Midlands that is capable is meeting the International Olympic Committee's criteria of having an all-seater capacity of 30,000.

 

The other four are St Andrew's, home of Premiership club Birmingham City; the Ricoh Arena, where Coventry City play; the City Ground, the ground of two-time European Cup winners Nottingham Forest; and Leicester City's Walkers Stadium.

 

All have contacted, or are planning to get in touch, with London 2012.

 

Glick said he was "optimistic" the Rams, who are also hoping to be part of England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup, could become part of the Olympic Games.

 

He said the club would actively pursue any opportunity to become involved.

 

Gillick said: "We won't wait for LOCOG to get in touch, we'll be going directly to them to put our case forward.

 

"Our bid to be part of the 2018 or 2022 World Cup shows how confident this club is in its ability to stage major sporting events.

 

"Hopefully if we're successful in being chosen for the Olympics, it will have a positive effect on our hopes of helping England host the World Cup, should it come to this country."

 

Pride Park, which was opened by the Queen in 1997, cost £28 million to build and has a capacity of 33,597.

 

It has staged a number of international matches, including in 2001 when the England senior team beat Mexico 4-0 in a friendly.

 

Marketing Derby director John Forkin, a key figure behind the city's World Cup bid, agreed that staging Olympic football matches would enhance the city's 2018 or 2022 bid.

 

He said: "It can only help.

 

"I'm delighted Derby County has thrown its hat in the ring because it would add to the stadium's experience in hosting major events.

 

"There's no stadium better than Pride Park to host this kind of event.

 

"If chosen, I think it would be better than Villa Park because Derby is a compact city with very good accessibility."