Fifa President Sepp Blatter has given words of encouragement to Bristol's bid, emphasising the positive and lasting changes host venue status can bring to a city.

Mr Blatter was a short hop across the Severn Bridge from Bristol yesterday when he opened a new training facility for the Football Association of Wales in the Vale of Glamorgan.

After completing his formalities he took time to outline the benefits of World Cup football to a prospective host city such as Bristol.

"In the World Cup you have different cities and all these cities, not only will they have a new or adapted stadium, they have also all the system of transport, the system of accommodation, the parking, the environment, the telecommunications system," he told the Evening Post.

"All is renewed and this is the legacy of the World Cup.

"I have been in so many cities I cannot say whether I have been to Bristol," added the Swiss head of FIFA.

"I know you have two clubs though, right? Bristol City and Bristol Rovers."

Bristol already has advanced plans for a new stadium which are now before the city council's planning department and the Bristol bid team has been working hard to demonstrate that the demands on transport, the environment and telecommunications asked of them by the England bid team, can be met and leave a lasting improvement on the city.

Mr Blatter drew on the host cities for the 2014 World Cup, which will be staged in Brazil, to further illustrate his point.

He said: "In Brazil there are 12 cities and all these 12 cities will have a new approach for the next two generations. And if this is Bristol… it would be wonderful, really.

"You will have (make improvements to) communications, trains, cars, aeroplanes, hotels, telecommunications, environment. That's what the World Cup is."

Although the FIFA President was unable to recall a trip to Bristol, with a lot of hard work from the Bristol 2018 team, the city's new ambassador Gary Mabbutt MBE and the support of the football-loving public, he might be making an official visit to further acquaint himself to Bristol's many virtues come 2018.