Bristol shopping centre Cabot Circus touts its virtues with the line 'take centre stage' and is a fitting advert for the city's aspirations to become a host venue for the 2018 World Cup.

The £500-million shopping centre containing a million square feet of retail and leisure outlets has regenerated the Broadmead area and attracts an average of 400,000 shoppers a week to Bristol and created thousands of jobs.

It had its fair share of detractors when plans were first unveiled yet is now a shining example of the city's forward progress, pulling in punters from across the region.

The city's bid to bring World Cup football to the West Country in 2018 as one of 12 venues in England's bid to FIFA is similarly bold, similarly achievable and could create a far greater legacy, according to the general manager of Cabot Circus, James Bailey.

"This is an opportunity for Bristol to cement itself as a regional capital and, with a decent stadium, to put us on a par with Birmingham and Coventry," said the 32-year-old who moved to the city from Northampton just over a year ago. The dramatic architecture of the twisting steel and glass roof which covers Cabot Circus spans a space the size of one and half football pitches with enough cabling to stretch from here to South Africa, site of the next World Cup in 2010.

The proposed new stadium, which is currently awaiting planning permission, would be a similar technological marvel and could provide a fitting new facility for a city out to take centre stage in the mould of its new shopping centre which celebrates its first anniversary on Friday.

"The World Cup bid is another opportunity for Bristol to tackle some of the issues that the city has and find long-term solutions.

"I'm passionate about football," added Mr Bailey. "You have to be to be a Northampton Town fan. And I'm very confident of Bristol's chances for 2018."

Make it happen. Register your support at thisisbristol.co.uk/worldcup or bristol2018.net