Bristol City

Bristol City FC is a professional football club that was formed as Bristol South End FC in 1894, starting out life playing friendlies at their St John's Lane home before joining the Western League and finishing as runners-up in 1896-97.

The club changed names to their present title in 1897, as they also competed in the Southern League, finishing as runners-up in 1897-98 and 1898-99 as well as winning the Western League in the earlier of the two seasons.

In 1900 City merged with local rivals Bedminster and were elected to Division Two of the Football League after another second place Southern League finish, where they became the only club outside London south of Birmingham until 1920.

After moving into their new Ashton Gate home in 1904 City won the Division Two title in 1905-06, going on to end as Division One runners-up in 1906-07. The team went on to reach the FA Cup final in 1908-09, losing 1-0 to Manchester United at Crystal Palace under manager Harry Thickett.

The team was relegated in 1910-11 and wouldn't reach the top tier for another sixty-five years, spending much of that time yo-yoing between the divisions. City went out in the semi-final of the FA Cup to Huddersfield Town in 1919-20 before being relegated to Division Three South in 1921-22.

The team recovered under manager Alex Raisbeck to win their league twelve months later to return to Division Two but went back down in 1923-24. City once again won promotion as Division Three South champions in 1926-27.

‘The Robins’ dropped back down in 1931-32 before winning the Welsh Cup in 1933-34 after a replay against Tranmere Rovers under manager Bob Hewison. A runners-up place in the league in 1937-38 wasn’t good enough to secure promotion.

Another Division Three South Championship ensued in 1954-55 for the team led by Pat Beasley and containing star striker and England international John Atyeo. Once again City returned to Division Three in 1959-60 before Atyeo skippered the side to promotion as runners-up in 1964-65 for the team managed by Fred Ford.

The appointment of Alan Dicks as team boss in October 1967 would prove to be a pivotal moment in the history of the club as he initially took City to the League Cup semi-finals in 1970-71 before going out to Tottenham Hotspur.

Players such as Peter Cormack, Geoff Merrick, Tom Ritchie, Clive Whitehead, Gerry Gow, Trevor Tainton and Jimmy Mann helped City to promotion to Division One in 1975-76 to be joined by Norman Hunter.

City lasted four years in Division One with thirteenth position in 1978-79 their best finish before they were relegated in 1979-80. However, their problems were only just beginning. The highly rated Bobby Houghton replaced Dicks, but his time at the club saw the team relegated in 1980-81 before he was replaced by his assistant Roy Hodgson.

Hodgson couldn’t save City from relegation to Division Four at the end of the 1981-82 season. Terry Cooper returned after a previous short spell as full back to take over as player-manager to try and steady the ship.

Bristol City found themselves bankrupt as a hangover from paying big wages when in Division One and subsequent dwindling crowds and poor management. A new company was set up so the club could continue.

The club's survival was confirmed when eight highly-paid senior players, “The Ashton Gate Eight'” accepted redundancy. These players, who all agreed to half their contract if they left the club were, Julian Marshall, Chris Garland, Jimmy Mann, Peter Aitken, Geoff Merrick, David Rodgers, Gerry Sweeney and Trevor Tainton.

All became club legends, with a plaque being commissioned in their honour. To read all about it, click here.

Cooper restored pride taking the side to promotion in 1983-84 helped by the goals of Glyn Riley followed by the signing of striker Alan Walsh. The Football League Trophy was lifted with a 3-0 win against Bolton Wanderers at Wembley in 1985-86.

Defender Rob Newman became a stalwart as progress continued. City reached the play-offs in 1987-88, defeating Sheffield United before losing to Walsall in the final. Joe Jordan replaced Cooper as manager, taking he team to the League Cup semi-finals in 1988-89.

The team won promotion as Division Three runners-up in 1989-90 at which point Jimmy Lumsden took over team affairs after Jordan headed to Heart of Midlothian. Denis Smith and Russell Osman had spells in charge before Jordan returned, but he was unable to prevent relegation to the retitled third tier Division Two in 1994-95.

City lost in the semi-finals of the play-offs to Brentford in 1996-97 before the side finished as league runners-up twelve months later to seal promotion under manager John Ward as defender Shaun Taylor starred while Shaun Goater put away the goals.

The team was relegated in 1998-99 after Ward was replaced by Benny Lennartsson and then Tony Pulis. Danny Wilson was appointed as manager in June 2000, with the 2002-03 season seeing his team defeat Carlisle United 2-0 in the final of the Football League Trophy at the Millennium Stadium.

However, City fell short in the play-offs a few weeks later when defeated by Cardiff City in the semi-finals. The team defeated Hartlepool United in the play-off semi-finals in 2003-04 but lost the final to Brighton & Hove Albion as Wilson was replaced by popular former midfielder Brian Tinnion.

Gary Johnson arrived as manager at Ashton Gate in 2005, leading his side to promotion from the third tier League On in 2006-07 with Jamie McCombe and Phil Jevons playing vital roles in the success.

Another pay-off appearance arrived in 2007-08. After defeating Crystal Palace, the team lost 1-0 at Wembley to Hull City to be denied a place in the Premier League. In 2009 the club were desperately trying to convince the local council to allow Tesco to build a superstore on the site occupying Ashton Gate.

The club would move to a new nearby site as part of the campaign to see World Cup football in the city if England succeed with their bid to stage the 2018 tournament. Although the tournament bid failed, City were still intent on the move.

Johnson was succeeded by short spells under Steve Coppell and Keith Millen before the arrival of Derek McInnes in October 2011. His reign lasted until January 2013 with Sean O'Driscoll the new appointment.

He could not stem the tide as City were relegated in April 2013. He remained in charge with the task of restoring their previous status, but he departed in November 2013. Former Cheltenham Town boss Steve Cotterill came in as the new man in the managers chair and he led the side to a mid table finish before starting the 2014-15 campaign in fine style.

Meanwhile the redevelopment of Ashton Gate began under the auspice of owner Stephen Lansdown who moved Bristol Rugby Club and purchased basketball club Bristol Flyers in an attempt to create a sporting club similar to those to the continent.

City went on to win promotion as League One champions to return to the second tier in 2014-15 as well as lifting the Football League Trophy for a third time after defeating Walsall 2-0. Aaron Wilbraham led the scoring backed up by the defensive qualities of Aden Flint.

Former City player, Lee Johnson, the son of former boss Gary, was given the manager’s job in February 2016 as he put together an exciting young side who went out in the semi-finals of the League Cup to Manchester City in 2017-18.

City finished eighth place in the Championship season of 2018-19 before slipping to mid-table in the Coronavirus disrupted 2019-20 campaign, which led to Johnson being replaced by Dean Holden who was sacked in February 2021 leading to the appointment of Nigel Pearson.

Pearson stabilised things and introduced several young players, leading the side to fourteenth place in 2022-23, before he was replaced by Liam Manning in November 2023.

Bristol City FC will play in the EFL Championship in the 2024-25 season.

My visit

Bristol City 2 Blackpool 0 (Tuesday 29 September 2009) The Championship (att: 13,673)

I was on early shifts for the week and I'd booked my travel and match ticket in advance for what I was hoping would be an open game between two progressive sides. I went to the West Country by Megabus for just £1! arriving an hour before kick off. 

I soon found the bus stop to the ground in an impressive and picturesque city centre. After a short walk I was outside the aging Ashton Gate, which looked bright with its lashings of red paintwork. I was directed to the ticket office collection point and I was soon inside to take some photos and work out where my seat was.

Ashton Gate's age was soon very apparent. It had been adapted for the needs of all seater stadiums rather awkwardly at times. I was in the Dolman Stand down the side. This was once one seating deck with a brick wall at the front with steps leading up to the seats. 

In recent years a lower deck has been added which means it can be very congested and lacking facilities for the numbers it caters to. My seat was on the front row of the upper tier, meaning my view was often blocked by people trying to reach their seats as the access was right in front of me. 

To my right was the Atyeo Stand, named after club legend John Atyeo. It is one large tier with the players tunnel towards the far side. Opposite stood the Williams Stand. This once had a decent sized covered seated block above an open terrace. It has since been converted with a huge roof covering the whole area. 

It joined up with the Wedlock Stand which caters for the away fans in the corner. This was once the home end and was terraced. Younger elements had tried to restore the atmosphere at this end once again.

Facilities were sparse. I couldn't get a beer unless I was a season ticket holder which gave access into a bar under the stand. The toilets had massive queues and stewards allowed people out of the gates to the forecourt to buy food and drink. I willingly filled in one of the pre paid addressed postcards urging Bristol City Council to give the Tesco proposal its go ahead. I am a traditionalist but City did need better facilities.

Visiting manager, Ian Holloway, got a lot of stick, which was never really nasty, for his connections with Bristol Rovers. He responded by applauding the home fans on his way to the bench from the tunnel. 

His team had most chances throughout an entertaining first half but they drew a blank while City went one up through a spectacular Nicky Maynard goal. Holloway was damming about his forwards in his usual way after the match.

Both sides played the ball on the floor and were pleasing on the eye. Loanee from Ajax, Evander Sno stood out with some outrageous skill for The Robins. City doubled their lead after the break with a beauty from jet heeled sub, Danny Haynes. The whole of the ground seemed to take great delight in asking Holloway the score!

It was an excellent game of football. I predicted both sides would not be far from the play off places at the seasons end to the locals I spoke to. They were not convinced.

After the game I took a special bus that dropped off at various points before taking me to Temple Meads railway station. It gave me a further brief look at the city. It is certainly somewhere I will look to spend time in sometimes in the future, with its mixture of modern and historic attractions. My £10 train ticket got me back to Paddington at 12.30am.