FOR many people living in Glasgow football is not just a sport but a passion.

The city's teams are famous worldwide as is the enthusiasm of their loyal supporters.

But more and more, Glasgow is being seen as one of the top destinations on the planet when it comes to staging major sporting events.

Last year, the people of the city took the Commonwealth Games to their hearts and turned out in huge numbers to watch a wide array of sport.

It is in no small measure thanks to them that the Glasgow Games were voted the best ever.

Later this year, the city will build on that success when it hosts the World Gymnastics Championships which will see 10 days of top level competition bring together more than 500 gymnasts from 80 nations including the USA, China, Japan and Russia.

And the World Swimming Championships at Tollcross in July will attract more than 650 athletes from at least 60 countries.

Next year, Tollcross will host the Olympic trials for Team GB and in 2017 will be the base for the World Badminton Championships.

The city council and its partners could have sat on their hands and celebrated their success at attracting such prestigious events - if it is possible to celebrate while sitting on your hands.

But last week, council bosses announced Glasgow is to co-host a new event bringing together the European Championships of a number of top sports.

They will include swimming, the four cycling events of track, road race, mountain biking and BMX, rowing and the triathlon.

Athletics will go to Berlin as the city does not have a suitable venue.s

The championships which will be held for the first time in 2018 will attract a television of audience of 850 million with Scotland's largest city once again in the world spotlight.

Glasgow's Opening Ceremony will take place in George Square in front of the City Chambers ensuring the historic heart of the city gets the biggest possible audience.

It is expected around 2900 athletes will compete and that they will be accompanied by 5300 officials, media and others.

Landing such a massive sporting event takes months of behind the scenes work as cities around Europe would be only too happy to steal them from Glasgow.

But success breeds success and the city has shown it is more than capable of taking on the biggest events in the world.

Football may still be first choice for many city residents but Glasgow is increasingly first choice for sporting bodies around the world.