Liverpool City Council will plough half a million pounds into its bid to bring the Commonwealth Games to the city, and has appointed former Football Association (FA) chief executive Brian Barwick to oversee the campaign.

The Liverpudlian chair of the Rugby Football League (RFL) will be the figurehead of the city’s efforts to win the 2022 or 2026 Games.

Barwick will lead a consortium – dubbed Team Liverpool – with expertise in bidding for and hosting international sporting events.

4 Global Consulting has been brought on board as strategic advisors for the bid, with many of its team members working on previous Commonwealth, Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as the football, cricket and rugby world cups.

London 2012 masterplanners Wilson Owens Owens and international audit firm Deloitte are also part of the bid team.

Everton FC director Denise Barrett-Baxendale will work alongside Barwick and mayor Joe Anderson on the bid.

Anderson said the appointments “send out a powerful message that we are deadly serious about bidding for the Games”.

“We already have a first-class reputation in putting on major events during and since our time as European Capital of Culture in 2008.”

He added: “The Commonwealth Games has the potential to be a game-changer in further driving forward the city’s regeneration and renaissance, reflecting our growing confidence and attracting jobs, investment and profile that money simply cannot buy, putting us on the world map.”

The consortium will spend the next six months “putting together the strongest possible case” for Liverpool to be the host city.

Local athletes such as Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Tony Bellew, Beth Tweddle and Jamie Carragher will lend their voice to the campaign.