Council hopeful of Bristol World Cup victory

Bristol's bid for 2018 World Cup games is consuming both football and non-football fans alike at the council, as the FA's visit draws closer.

The city is in the running to host four games and possibly a quarter-final during the 2018 World Cup, if included in the list of 16 stadiums which will form the backbone of the FA's bid to FIFA next year.

And while the Lord Mayor of Bristol, Christopher Davies, continues to thump the drum for the city's cause as the "capital of the West", councillor Simon Cook and council leader Barbara Janke are getting on with making the dream a reality.

Mr Cook and Mrs Janke are deep in the detail of how to best impress the visiting FA dignitaries on July 13 and what "host city" status could grant to Bristol in terms of an anticipated £100 million of investment.

Mr Cook, who is leading the bid at Bristol City Council, told the Evening Post: "If we won it would be fantastic, so we are putting a lot into it.

"It's a huge challenge but a very exciting one. The development of Ashton Vale will be well placed in terms of helping the regeneration of south Bristol and acting as a regional stadium.

"We've dedicated resources to helping the city itself to look as good as it can and we are getting a taste of the sort of global attention we can attract with the current Banksy exhibition."

As a football fan, Mr Cook has clocked the surge in interest in the city since Bristol City's Coca-Cola Championship play-off final defeat to Hull last year.

Bristol was, and is, close to having a Premier League team and the next step is to draw in international competition to feed the region's appetite for the sport.

"The sheer excitement of seeing some of the top international teams here in Bristol, or watching matches in one of the fan parks is starting to take hold," said Mr Cook. "You can imagine that whole kind of buzz of the World Cup taking over the city."

Mrs Janke is a prime example of the pulling power of World Cup football.

"I don't normally watch any football," she told the Evening Post, while stepping forward to be pictured with our World Cup billboard.

"But I have been known to stay up in the small hours and watch World Cups.

"It's testament to the power (the competition) has to draw people into the excitement and that's what we want to bring to Bristol.

"The council are fully behind this project and will do everything they can to bring World Cup football to Bristol and all that comes with it – the investment, the tourism and the promotion opportunities for our many and diverse businesses and communities.

"It will be very exciting."

The Lord Mayor of Bristol was born and bred in Bedminster, not far from Ashton Gate and the site of the proposed new stadium in Ashton Vale, near the Long Ashton park and ride.

And the prospect of Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo or Argentina's Lionel Messi gracing the city in what could be the final bow of glittering careers does not phase him in the slightest.

"I'm sure any person, living in any part of Bristol, recognises it is great for the World Cup to come to Bristol," he said.

"It's a marvellous thing for everyone. The whole prestige of the tournament and everything it brings is huge.

"I keep saying it, but Bristol is the capital of the West.

"We've got first-rate hotels that can accommodate the great stars that will come here and they won't be disappointed with what they find in Bristol."

Got a World Cup story? Are you doing anything to promote Bristol's bid for a bit of the 2018 World Cup? Call 0117 934 3335.