Brunel's battle to build the Clifton Suspension Bridge should be Bristol City Council's motivation for pushing through their 2018 World Cup bid, according to Somerset CCC's chief executive.

Bristol has a chance to host World Cup football for the first time after being overlooked in 1966 when the competition last came to England.

It is in the mix with 15 other cities from around the country to be part of England's 2018 and 2022 World Cup bid – but the city currently lacks one major criteria, a 40,000-capacity stadium.

Bristolian Richard Gould, chief executive of Somerset County Cricket Club since 2005, believes the council should learn from engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel's landmark attraction in their bid to win over the England 2018 team and create a lasting World Cup legacy.

"Hosting the (football) World Cup in Bristol would be of huge benefit to the entire South West which doesn't really get its fair share of top level international sport," Mr Gould told the Evening Post.

"International football would get such a huge welcome in Bristol and across the South West. That is a unique selling point for a bid."

Bristol City Football Club has submitted plans to the council for a 30,000-seat stadium with the potential to be upgraded to host 40,000 fans, which would satisfy Fifa's criteria, and be predominantly funded by Steve Lansdown, the club's chairman.

"There isn't another city in England where you have got a chairman who is willing to invest so much of his own money," said Mr Gould. "So therefore the council must take the opportunity and provide whatever support it can.

"There are always hitches, whether it is with the Environment Agency, the Highways Agency, English Heritage; with all those huge numbers of agencies involved. But in the end it is all about context and strategic will, if you are going to get things done.

"I bet there were lots of people who weren't too fond of Brunel building the bridge across the gorge and look at the benefits we have had for the last 100 or so years from it.

"And a world-class sports stadium in Bristol would bring similar benefits."

Brunel's bridge over the gorge took 34 years to complete due to political objections and financial difficulties but it is now an integral part of the city's identity, pulling in visitors from all over the world.

Bristol City's new stadium plans are subject to planning permission and the sale of their current ground to Tesco which is also the subject of a planning permission application. A decision is expected in October.

The true extent of the financial benefits of hosting World Cup football in Bristol will be revealed in August when the England bid team hears back from consultants PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

However, Mr Gould believes more regard should be attached to the legacy the tournament would leave in the West.

He said: "When you bring these competitions in, yes the economic benefits are huge, but what's almost more important is what it leaves behind and what experiences the schools and the youth organisations can get out of it, to really inspire people into sport."

Somerset's home ground in Taunton hosted the Women's Cricket World Cup last month.

Mr Gould said: "If the Women's (cricket) World Cup was a taster of what international sport can do in the South West then the (football) World Cup would just be amazing.

"We've had huge feedback from the president of the International Cricket Committee and the chairman of the England & Wales Cricket Board and the sports minister and what they liked were our networks with the community and the fact that when the tournament was on it wasn't just played in the stadium, as it were.

"It was partnerships with schools and youth projects which really paid dividends and we ended up having a huge number of schemes which allowed schools to partner up with the teams playing and educational initiatives talking about the countries of all the teams."

Mr Gould said: "The political determination needs to be stronger than ever. It wouldn't have been easy for the ECB to give Cardiff the first Ashes Test when it did three years ago because the stadium wasn't built then.

"But the ECB were given confidence by the Welsh Assembly and Cardiff City Council that they were are going to make it happen. And they did and look at all the benefits that have accrued to Cardiff. You've either got to be in the game or you're not."