Former Rovers boss wants World Cup football in Bristol
The former Bristol Rovers player and manager from Kingswood, who recently took charge of Blackpool, has added his name to Bristol's 2018 World Cup bid.
And Holloway, 46, who played top-flight football with QPR before going on to manage them, Plymouth, Rovers and Leicester City, believes Bristol has been "shortchanged for years".
When quizzed on Bristol's chances of being selected for England's 2018 bid, he told the Evening Post: "It's about time if you ask me.
"The people in this area deserve to see fantastic things on their doorstep."
"I can't believe what it would bring to the town. I was only three years old but I can remember my dad very proudly talking about how we won the World Cup in England in 1966.
"It seems so long ago that we had that sort of euphoria sweep the nation."
Never short of words, Holloway confessed he was rendered speechless by the style of Spain's play when they won the 2008 European Championships and that the men from Madrid would be his choice of team to watch in Bristol – aside from England, of course.
"Spain were simply irresistible," he said.
"That Torres is unbelievable. I would sign him like a shot but I couldn't even afford his big toenail."
The Liverpool hotshot would be 34 come 2018 and his hamstrings are unlikely to stretch that far but the prospect of seeing his successor in action is a tantalising prospect.
Bristol's twin town Hanover hit the jackpot in the 2006 World Cup, hosting a quarter final between Spain and France, proving our city could see the top international teams in the world heading out West.
Holloway is busy recruiting for his first season in the hot seat at Blackpool, a fair lick up the motorway from his native Bristol, but his passion for his birthplace, and Bristol Rovers, still burns strongly.
The site of the new stadium, which would facilitate Bristol's bid to be a host city, and the means of its financing, is the source of much debate. And Holloway is not shy of an opinion.
"Well done to (Bristol City chairman) Steve Lansdown," he said. "But I don't understand why (a new stadium) can't benefit the whole community and share it between the clubs. Put red lights on it one week, blue lights the next.
"Why can't we, in the West Country, have the same things that everybody else around the country has? We pay the same council tax.
"Put it on the edge of town where the shops are. The missus can go one way and you can go the other.
"Good luck to Mr Lansdown, but why should it have to fall to him to pay for it. It shouldn't be left to football chairmen."
The council have revealed there is no money for a municipal stadium, leaving Bristol City's plans as the only option to build a stadium big enough to host World Cup football.
The club have put forward plans for a 30,000 seater with the possibility for a temporary increase to 40,000 should the city win the right to host games in 2018.
Bristol Rovers have had planning permission granted for a new stadium of their own, but with 18,500 seats, it is some way short of FIFA's stadia criteria – and it is still awaiting finance.
Bristol City's stadium is being funded by their chairman Steve Lansdown and from the proposed sale of the club's current football stadium, Ashton Gate, to Tesco.
This is the subject of an independent planning decision expected in October before the council submit their final bid to the FA on November 6.
If successful, Bristol stands to reap the rewards of more than £100m in investment. Each match is estimated to bring in £20m and then there are the benefits of eight years of build-up and a World Cup legacy to cash in on.
"I went down to Cabot Circus the other day and loved it," said Holloway, who knows what World Cup football could do for his city. "It's fantastic, and it has regenerated the area. Why can't Bristol have one fantastic stadium as well?"
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