Bristol has a second chance to show off its credentials as a potential venue for the 2018 World Cup today as inspectors from the England 2018 bid team make a final visit.

The sixth biggest city in England will be directing a visiting party of around seven delegates to its iconic landmarks, the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the ss Great Britain, taking them on a tour of the waterways around the Harbourside and highlighting the first class facilities available to visiting teams and tourists.

It is at the grass roots level of the sport, though, where Bristol can best display its passion for football.

Every week more than 800 players pack out the vast open reaches of the Downs on the edge of the mighty Avon Gorge in the country's biggest Saturday league to be played in a single location.

And across South Gloucestershire and North Somerset more than 3,000 teams take to the field each week.

Adrian Bold, 57, from Bristol Barcelona, last year's runners up in the Bristol Downs League, told the Evening Post: "It's the feeling of anticipation as you come up to the Downs from all directions which makes it so special.

"You come up on to a plateau and there in front of you is a sea of players. It's brilliant."

Jim Ball, 39, of Sneyd Park, the oldest team in the league which dates back more than 100 years, described it as "the best league in the country, with camaraderie to match".

A team of referees officiate as many matches as they can and enjoy the unique privilege of sharing a changing room, a change from a solitary afternoon at many other venues and a plus which encourages more referees into the sport, such as father and son Neil and Tom Seymour.

Bob Sampson, chairman of the Downs league, described it as "a sight to behold".

He said: "It's an institution and generations of footballers have played up there and continue to visit to see old friends."

Elsewhere in Bristol there are numerous leagues such as the Bristol Churches League, the Bristol & Suburban League and of course the women's and youth leagues among many others all the way up to the city's two professional sides of Bristol City and Bristol Rovers.

With its unique geographical location, excellent transport links at the junction of the M4 and M5 and served by two major railway stations and an international airport, Bristol is well positioned to punch above its weight.

The history, the accent, the icons and the cider would all make Bristol a tasty venue indeed.