The ambassador for both next summer's World Cup and England's 2018 World Cup bid believes Bristol's football fans could help them seal a spot as a host city in England's bid.

Lucas Radebe, the former Premier League star and South Africa captain, has played in Bristol only once. He lost but has never forgot the impression the crowd made on him.

Bristol City toppled a Leeds United side that went on to finish fifth in the top flight in 1997-98. They won 2-1 at Ashton Gate in the second round second leg, three days after Leeds beat Manchester United 1-0.

It was not enough, though, to outweigh their 3-1 first-leg defeat at Elland Road but it did serve notice on the South African that folk from the West Country like their football.

The Leeds United favourite, who retired in 2005 after a decade at the club, is now working to promote the 2010 World Cup in his home country of South Africa and is one of 50 notable football figures officially backing England's 2018 bid.

The charismatic defender was full of praise for Bristol's bid to become a host city when he spoke to the Evening Post at a tourism fair in London earlier this week, unable to shake the memory of City's vocal supporters.

He said: "They are really passionate. They sleep and eat it. It's a religion. I remember coming down to (Bristol) and it is always going to be hard. But I'm telling you, the football, it is absolutely fantastic. It's tough.

"Sometimes when we go down there they play better than us. And they did that time. But at the end of the day we got the result.

"It is always amazing to see the support. Hopefully they will build a new stadium. Surely this would be a great place and will play a part if the stadium is there."

Bristol's ambition of having a new World Cup-worthy venue took a big step forward last week when the council planning committee agreed it was minded to approve an application for a 30,000-seat stadium with the possibility of expanding to the magic number of 45,000 seats required by FIFA.

It moved Bristol one step closer to achieving the goal of hosting the most-watched sporting event in the world; an event that will take South Africa by storm on June 11 next year.

"To be able to be responsible for such a great tournament is a dream come true," said Radebe, who played in the 1998 and 2002 World Cups in France and Korea and Japan and clocked up 70 caps for his country.

"It's not only about football. It's about the passion of the country and welcoming in the tourists.

"We can make a difference in our communities and this time it is going to unite the whole continent.

"It's an African World Cup. We just want people to come and explore the beauty, festivities, the food and the culture."

On the subject of England, his enthusiasm was tempered by a belief that manager Fabio Capello has yet to get the full potential out of his charges.

"I think they are still yet to find their best team," said Radebe. "There is quality in individuals but as a force, as a team, they've got work to do.

"They've been building up though and they've got a great coach, and I can't see why they will not reach the semis."

● More women than ever before – around six out of ten – plan to tune in to see Capello's team bid to lift the trophy as part of a record 35 million British TV viewers, according to a survey from OnePoll commissioned by the Bristol 2018 World Cup bid team.

Stephen Wray, from the Bristol 2018 team revealed: ''We polled 4,600 people across the UK to understand their plans and how their interest will build as the tournament progresses as part of the work we are doing to support the England 2018 World Cup bid.

"The combination of the match times and the fact that we believe England have a genuine chance is really driving interest like never before. 'We know major tournaments capture the imagination of people even if they are not regular fans."