SOUTHAMPTON should go for the World Cup – according to the leader of Portsmouth City Council.

Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson believes the Football Association would now welcome a bid from the city, despite previously saying it was too late.

Speaking to the Daily Echo, Cllr Vernon-Jackson said Portsmouth’s withdrawal left a massive geographic gap the FA would love to fill – with Southampton the only candidate to do so.

He said: “My understanding is that the FA are keen to hear from Southampton. Now we [Portsmouth] have pulled out the FA has a very big gap in their map. They are quite able to bend their own rules and let Southampton bid.

“I think they would be quite keen as they want somewhere in South and of course that is where a lot of the money in the country is.”

The Football Association are yet to comment on Southampton's situation, since Portsmouth pulled out of the race on Tuesday over fears the city council would be left with a net loss of £19m should the city be awarded host status.

According to Cllr Vernon- Jackson, as much as £12m of Portsmouth City Council’s total £24m expenditure would have gone on Fratton Park - things such as 6,000 temporary seats, a new scoreboard, and new media facilities.

They also had deals in place with Bournemouth and Aldershot to use training facilities, as Portsmouth FC do not have their own.

The council identified a potential of £5m revenue for city coffers from fan fests – including one that would have been held at Mayflower Park in Southampton.

While the huge outlay could cause problems should Southampton be invited to submit a late bid, much of the infrastructure needed for a World Cup host city is already present.

Southampton FC’s St Mary’s Stadium already meets UEFA’s Elite Stadium benchmark.

The only shortcoming is the 32,689 capacity, which would need to be boosted to more than 40,000. It is designed to be extended to around a maximum of 50,000.

Southampton’s Cllr Royston Smith said: “Despite the World Cup potentially bringing in £150m to hotels and businesses in the city, if the council has to pay out say £15m, then we can’t do it as we don’t have that sort of money.

“But, we weren’t given the chance to even look at the costings, as SEEDA didn’t originally choose us as a bidder – they just choose Portsmouth at the bottom of their area and Milton Keynes from the top.

“We’re still smarting from that a bit, but if we can we would certainly like the chance to show what we can do.”

SEEDA has since written to the FA to back Southampton’s previous attempts to join the World Cup race.

Cllr Vernon-Jackson, who was in favour of Portsmouth’s failed bid, claims the city’s projected expenditure of £24m was so high as they wanted to be on the cautious side and not have to turn around and ask for more money later on.

The FA had originally quoted them an expected cost of £15m, before any income.

What was the money for?

What Portsmouth had to spend money on, according to Cllr Vernon-Jackson:
■ Temporarily extending Fratton Park from the planned 37,000 to around 43,000
■ Free public transport for all ticket holders
■ Fan fests – which would generate income
■ City dressing (flags, etc)
■ Project Management fees
■ Contingency fund
■ New scoreboard and media centre
■ Training ground deals with nearby clubs.