SO it takes sport to come to the city of Newport's rescue, to save it from oblivion, to enable it to crawl out of the mess it has become living in the shadow of its neighbours Cardiff, Bristol and even Swansea.

An under-developed city centre even if hit by the recession - though that didn't prevent Cardiff from progressing at full speed - has made Newport at best unattractive and at worst a monumental rubbish dump.

Whereas rivals have built marinas, waterfronts and attractive city centre shopping developments Newport has rows of empty shops and little more.

But thanks to three major sporting events/developments Newport might after all climb out of the abyss and gain some kind of reputation.

First we had the Ryder Cup at the Celtic Manor which put Newport on the map, though the owners preferred to describe the location as the Usk Valley, understandable really given the above description of the nearest city.

Americans and Europeans flocked here and even it if was almost washed away the Ryder Cup was saved by a nerve jangling final day which ended with a European triumph by the narrowest of margins.

Figures recently produced revealed that Newport made as much as £28m from staging the third biggest sporting event on the planet, with Wales benefiting to the tune of £82.4m, and that's before the benefits of tourism are taken into consideration.

Now come two major developments each costing in the region of £4m which will further help put the place on the map, even if not on the same worldwide front as the Ryder Cup did.

Work has already begun on the construction of a new stand and hospitality suite and boxes at Rodney Parade, upgrades which should prove the envy of many and make the place not just a better rugby centre but also provide a real facility.

The plan is to use the suite not just on the limited number of rugby days, but for conferences, seminars, meetings and dinners. Capable of holding 300 people it should provide a much needed middle range kind of amenity in the city.

And, most recently, comes the announcement of a new Football Association of Wales national football centre to be built at the Newport International Sports Village.

It will be the home of the Wales Under 21s team, all the age group squads and the women's football team, the big aim being to develop the next generation of players to follow in the footsteps of Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey.

Sport appears to have come riding in on a white charger, then. Now it's time for the rest to fall into place, and Newport might just become a place fit to live with its neighbours.