There is nothing cunning about Bristol's plan to host World Cup football in 2018; just bold ambition from a heartland of football, according to Blackadder and Time Team's Tony Robinson.

England's sixth biggest city is on the verge of achieving something special with the prospect of staging up to five World Cup matches and revelling in the attention of the world's media for the next nine years, should the city be included in England's bid.

The England 2018 team must choose 12 venues for inclusion in their bid to FIFA next summer and Bristol has a further chance to impress on Thursday, when representatives tour the city for a second and final time.

Robinson, an ardent Bristol City fan who shot to fame as Baldrick alongside Rowan Atkinson's Blackadder in the world-renowned BBC comedy series, believes it is a no-brainer.

And he called the Evening Post from a dig in a Wiltshire field for Channel Four archaeology showTime Team to explain why.

"Bristol is one of the great British cities and as a footballing centre it is often overlooked because however good the teams might be, they are not Manchester United, Liverpool or Chelsea," he said.

"We could attract thousands of football fans to our city, who would be given a fantastic time.

"We've got every entertainment you could ask for around the docks, we've got magnificent architecture and, of course, we're the gateway to the South West of England.

"It is high time the international media come to our area so that hopefully they will understand that the real heart of football in the UK is in places like Bristol, where the support for unglamorous teams is as passionate as anything you might find at Old Trafford."

Bristol Rovers set a new Wembley record in May 2007 when they took 40,000 fans to the capital for their League Two play-off final win, and Bristol City comfortably sold out their 36,000 allocation for their Championship play-off final defeat to Hull a year later.

Such levels of support without the glamour of a Premier League club or the cash of the prawn sandwich brigade highlight one of the many reasons why Bristol will be one of the major contenders when it submits its bid to the England 2018 team in November.

Plans for a modern, state-of-the-art stadium are currently before Bristol City Council, and the city would be able to put on spectacular fan-fests in Ashton Court and Eastville Park, celebrating the diversity it has to offer.

Robinson said: "Let's hope that in 100 years time, when archeologists dig Bristol, they will find the long-discarded programmes from some of the legendary 2018 World Cup matches."