Bristol City

History of Bristol City Football Club

The club was established in 1894, as Bristol South End and changed their name to Bristol City on adopting professionalism three years later, after they joined the Southern League. The club finished runners-up three of their first three seasons. Then, around the year 1900 the club merged with the local Southern League rivals Bedminster F.C. that was established in 1887 as Southville in 1887. Bristol City joined the Football League in 1901 . They became the only club that was south of Birmingham (following on the heels that of Woolwich Arsenal as well as Luton Town) to perform in the league. Their first match of the Football League was on 7 September 1901 at Bloomfield Road, when Blackpool were defeated in a 2-0 loss.

They won the Second Division Championship with a record number of points it became the only team to ever in Football League history to win 30 league games in one period of a season (out of 38 games played) and also equaling Manchester United's feat of the previous season by playing 14 straight games (a record that stood until the year 2018 as well as in the case of Preston North End in 1950-51). They were referred to as"the Bristol Babe at this time they were runners-up during their debut First Division campaign (1906-07) as the only Southern team to be in the top 2 spots prior the start of World War I.

In 1909, they made it through to their first FA Cup Final, though they were lucky that a spot-kick in the last minute prevented them from losing in the semi-finals against Derby County at Stamford Bridge. The final was played at the Crystal Palace (now the National Sports Centre) Bristol City were defeated by Manchester United 1-0. After a five-season stint in the top division despite a 1-0 win at Newcastle at the beginning of the 1910-11 season, the failure to defeat Everton in the season's final was the first time City experienced losing their place and it would be another 65 years before the top flight status was restored.

Bristol City would then go into Division 2 for 3 years following they were able to return three years after the First World War had ended during which time they reached the semi-finals in the 1919-20 FA Cup before being beaten by 2-1 Huddersfield Town and finished third in the Second Division in the 1920-21 season. But, the following season, they were moved into third division south. Third Division South.

It was an turbulent period for the team when City was bouncing from both the Second Division and the Southern Section of the Third Division. After City were demoted and then promoted in the Second Division, before being removed from the Southern Section of the Third Division and again in the next season. After a string of high-scoring seasons in the league they were promoted once more in 1926 and 27. But by the 1930s, they had slipped into the lower division . They continued to do so for over 10 years following they had entered the Second World War. In this time in the Third Division South, they took home the Welsh Cup in 1934, defeating Tranmere Rovers at the end of the competition.

But, that same year , they also lost their most infamous league loss in a 9-0 defeat against Coventry City The 1937-38 season was the best season for City after they were sent into the Third Division, coming second in the league, and making it to in the semifinals for the Third Division South Cup, but losing by 6-2 to Reading in the average. They were then ninth within the Third Division South in the final full season prior to the war, when they lost the Grandstand of Ashton Gate was destroyed by the bombing of a German air attack.

The 1946/47 season was when City had a world-record league victory by beating Aldershot 9-0. However, despite Don Clark scoring 36 goals in the League, City failed to be promoted in the following season. Harry Dolman became chairman in 1949, a position that which he would hold for nearly 30 years. A civil engineer who purchased the company that he worked for He created the first set of floodlights to be installed on Ashton Gate in the early 1950s. The end of the 1950s was an excellent time for City as they had the club spending five years within the Second Division, a league that they were able to return to for another time in 1965.

As of 1967 Alan Dicks was appointed manager and things slowly started to improve, culminating in being promoted into the First Division in 1976, which ended a long exile from the top division.

Between 1975 to between 1975 and City played regularly between 1975 and 1981 in The Anglo-Scottish Cup, winning the trophy in 1977 and 1978 winning it, defeating Hibernian to reach the semi-finals and then winning 3-2 at the end of the game, beating St Mirren (managed at the time by the then-new coach, Alex Ferguson). St Mirren had their revenge the following year, with an aggregate win of 5-1 against City and became the sole Scottish team to take home the trophy.

City's second season in the top division was not as successful as the first time around and thirteenth place in 1979 their best place in the era. Famous players from this time included Peter Cormack, Geoff Merrick, Tom Ritchie, Clive Whitehead, Gerry Gow, Trevor Tainton and Jimmy Mann.

In the year 1980, when the City team was relegated in The Second Division in the first of three relegations. Their debts grew, and their financial loss grew after which two more Relegations after. In 1982, they moved into the Fourth Division, and were declared insolvent. The club was renamed BCFC (1982). created in 1982, and BCFC (1982) Ltd acquired the contract of players for the club.

The high-paying seniors Julian Marshall, Chris Garland, Jimmy Mann, Peter Aitken, Geoff Merrick, David Rodgers, Gerry Sweeney and Trevor Tainton, who became known as the "Ashton Gate Eight Each agreed to the termination of their contract with a half payment of the due amount. The previous owners of the club been unable to pay their obligations to local companies. The negative repercussions for the club made it difficult for new owners to get credit.

City had two seasons playing in The Fourth Division before winning promotion under Terry Cooper in 1984. City consolidated their position into the Third Division during the latter period of the 1980s and Cooper's successor in 1990 Joe Jordan achieved promotion as Third Division runners-up to local rivals Bristol Rovers.

It was a tragic event for the club during that promotion campaign. In the month of March, 1990, two months prior to the club's the deal forward Dean Horrix was killed in an accident in a car just 2 weeks into his time at the club after having played in three league matches for the club.

Jordan was transferred from Heart of Midlothian to Heart of Midlothian in September 1990. His successor Jimmy Lumsden remained in charge for 18 months, before taking over for Denis Smith. Smith's first hire was twenty-year old Arsenal forward Andy Cole, who was instantly a success with supporters. Smith was traded to Newcastle United in February 1993 and then played with Manchester United, where he won the five Premier League titles, two FA Cups and the European Cup.

In the meantime, City remained in the new Division One (no longer the Second Division after the creation of the Premier League in 1992) and Smith relocated into Oxford United in November 1993. The successor to Smith was Russell Osman. In January 1994, Osman managed City to a stunning win by 1-0 against Liverpool on Anfield in the third round of the FA Cup, a result that led to his Liverpool Manager at that time, Graeme Souness, to quit. Osman was dismissed within one year of his appointment as manager.

Joe Jordan was brought back to Ashton Gate in September 1994 however, he was not able to keep himself from being sent back to Division Two.

Jordan continued to be the manager for two seasons following City's demotion, but he resigned in the month of March 1997, after failing to bring City back in Division One. A former Bristol Rovers manager John Ward assumed the role, and was able to secure promotion in 1998, finishing as Division Two runners-up. However, City were unable to recover in Division One and Ward was forced to leave in October of 1998 to succeed Benny Lennartsson, their first non-British manager. City were sent to the bottom spot in the league. Lennartsson had to be dismissed favor by Gillingham's Tony Pulis, who lasted 6 months before departing to join Portsmouth. While in charge at Ashton Gate he was manager of the perhaps most sloppy City team since the team that had ended a run of three consecutive Relegations in the past 20 years.

Manager Tony Fawthrop took over until the final stages of the season at which point Danny Wilson was appointed. Wilson was, in all likelihood, the most famous manager to lead the City club in the time since Denis Smith, as he was the one who led Barnsley towards promotion into the Premier League in 1997 and Sheffield Wednesday to a 12th-place finishing in 1999.

The 2000s' early years were an arduous period when it came to Bristol City. They were regularly Division Two playoff contenders during Wilson's time as manager. They missed out on their playoffs for 2002 and finished 7th. The next season, Wilson almost took them to automatic promotion, placing 3rd as well as winning the Football League Trophy in Cardiff in 2003. The experience of the play-offs was bitter, however, as they lost to the rivals Cardiff City 1-0 on aggregate in the semi-final. In his final season, in 2004, they finished in third place and this time , they made it to the final of the playoffs however they were defeated by Brighton & Hove Albion. The club fired him within a few days and replaced by the veteran footballer Brian Tinnion.

City did not get into the playoffs during Tinnion's inaugural season as manager, coming in seventh. He was sacked out in September of 2005 following an inept beginning into the year. The team's performance had deteriorated even with the addition of some of the most well-known players such as Marcus Stewart and Michael Bridges. Yeovil Town manager Gary Johnson was appointed as his successor.

Johnson was signed in September and made the switch to the club from Yeovil Town, with whom Johnson had been promoted twice. The first results were not great but Johnson was soon able to rebound from the season to finish an impressive 9th position.

In the 2006-07 season Bristol City finally achieved the impossible promotion that had been denied the club in their eight years of playing in the third tier. The promotion towards the Championship was announced on the last day of the campaign with the 3-1 victory over already exiled Rotherham United, securing the second-place finish in the division, resulting in automatic promotion as well as joyful celebrations.

After a successful start to the Championship, City established themselves as serious contenders, despite being in third place by Christmas. At the beginning of March, City were top of the Championship and a promotion for the second time in succession a real possibility. But a poor performance put City out of contention for getting promoted, but they were able to make it into the play-offs after fourth place which was their best finish since the year 1980. City beat Crystal Palace 4-2 on aggregate to advance to the final of play-offs at Wembley and were defeated by 1-0 Hull City.

After a shaky start in the beginning of 2008-09's season City rebounded after Christmasand climbed to 4th position in the latter part of February. After many defeats, the year was a washout and City ended the season in tenth position. The 2009-10 season was marked by positive results in the fall however heavy losses by the club's local opponents Cardiff City (0-6) and Doncaster Rovers (2-5) in the early part of 2010 caused discontent among fans. Johnson was dismissed from the club on March 18th 2010. Manager assistant Keith Millen took charge as manager interim, and led the team to a string of impressive results, which resulted in a third consecutive tenth place finishing.

Steve Coppell became manager in the year 2010[15], but he resigned after only two games. Long-time Assistant manager Keith Millen was announced as Coppell's successor in the year 1717. City dropped to a 15th-place finishing in the 2010-11 season. After a disappointing start to the season of 2011-12, Millen left the club in the month of October.

Derek McInnes was appointed next however, after a promising beginning, City dropped into the relegation zone and eventually ended up in 20th position, their lowest since their promotion in 2007. The steady decline continued and, after a disastrous beginning to the 2012-13 season, McInnes was sacked in January 2013 when City in the bottom half in the Championship. McInnes was replaced with Sean O'Driscoll, the club's fifth coach in three years. However, City were dropped into League One after six seasons in the Championship. O'Driscoll quit with the team ranked 22nd at the top of League One.

Steve Cotterill joined the club that marked the beginning of the revival. When he arrived the club, the club was at the in the bottom half in League One. Cotterill helped the club climb to safety, and they finished the season on the 12th spot. If the season had started before Steve Cotterill joined the club, Bristol City would have placed 5th in the league, which shows the magnitude of the turnaround.

Bristol City were promoted back to Championship for the 2015-16 season following winning their 2015-15 Football League One title, their first league championship since 1955. Their final home game against Walsall in the final game of their season in style with a win of 8-2. Bristol City finished the season with 99 points. This is the highest amount of points scored in a single season in the history of the club with only five loss. In the same year they also took home the Johnstone's Paint Trophy in 2015. Johnstone's Paint Trophy after a victory against Walsall that ended with a 2-0 win. It was they won their 3rd league award. This is a record set by the club as having the most wins in the competition.

Despite the huge success of the prior season team had a difficult time returning to the second division. Steve Cotterill was relieved of his duties in January of 2016 after a bad performance that saw Bristol City slip to 22nd in the Championship table. Lee Johnson, former player and son of former manager Gary Johnson, was appointed as Bristol City's head coach on the 6th of February, 2016. Bristol City eventually finished in 18th position.

Bristol City started the 2016-17 season in a positive way with 11 games played, and by the end of the season they were in fifth place on the league table. City were also part of the Last 16 of the League Cup for the first time since the 1988-1989 season. But a drastic drop in fortunes commenced over the winter months, and City had a difficult time gather enough points to be able to survive at the conclusion year.

Lee Johnson remained at the directorship for the next season, and again made a favorable start. The mid-point in the campaign, following 24 league games, they were at 2nd place in the Championship and also knocked off Premier League opposition in Watford, Stoke City, Crystal Palace and Manchester United to reach the semi-finals of the League Cup. However, a lack of form followed, and City ended their season in the 11th position.

Bristol City ended the 2018-19 season on the 8th spot, having a turbulent season, including seven wins in a row. The fight for the last place in the playoffs came down to the final dayof play, and Derby County managed to win their final game to secure the title. From March through June this season halted because of the COVID-19 virus. Although he was able to compete to make the playoffs in this season Johnson got fired on July 4, 2020, following only one victory in 10 league games. The longtime coach, Dean Holden, was named his replacement on the 10th of August 2020. After six consecutive defeats in all contests, Holden was dismissed on 16 February 2021 following just six months as manager. Holden was succeeded by the former Watford manager, Nigel Pearson.

Note: The numbers in parentheses are the tier of football for that season.

• 1897–1901: Southern League Division One (3)
• 1901–1906: Football League Second Division (2)
• 1906–1911: Football League First Division (1)
• 1911–1922: Football League Second Division (2)
• 1922–1923: Football League Third Division (3)
• 1923–1924: Football League Second Division (2)
• 1924–1927: Football League Third Division (3)
• 1927–1932: Football League Second Division (2)
• 1932–1955: Football League Third Division (3)
• 1955–1960: Football League Second Division (2)
• 1960–1965: Football League Third Division (3)
• 1965–1976: Football League Second Division (2)
• 1976–1980: Football League First Division (1)
• 1980–1981: Football League Second Division (2)
• 1981–1982: Football League Third Division (3)
• 1982–1984: Football League Fourth Division (4)
• 1984–1990: Football League Third Division (3)
• 1990–1995: Football League Second Division / Football League First Division (rebranding after the Premier League came into existence) (2)
• 1995–1998: Football League Second Division (3)
• 1998–1999: Football League First Division (2)
• 1999–2007: Football League Second Division / Football League One (rebranded) (3)
• 2007–2013: Football League Championship (2)
• 2013–2015: Football League One (3)
• 2015– : Football League/EFL Championship (2)

League

Football League Division One / Premier League

• Runners-Up (1): 1906–07

Football League Division Two / Football League Championship

• Champions (1): 1905–06
• Runners-Up (1): 1975–76

Football League Division Three / Football League One

• Champions (4): 1922–23 (South), 1926–27 (South), 1954–55 (South), 2014–15
• Runners-Up (4): 1964–65, 1989–90, 1997–98, 2006–07

Domestic Cups

FA Cup

• Runners-Up (1): 1909

League Cup

• Semi-Finalists (3): 1970-71, 1988-89, 2017-18

Football League Trophy

• Winners (3): 1985–86, 2002–03, 2014–15,
• Runners-up (2): 1986–87, 1999–00

Welsh Cup

• Winners (1): 1933–34

Anglo-Scottish Cup

• Winners (1): 1977–78

Bristol City Football Club Awards

Bristol City have played in white and red since the 1890s. Sometimes, they're adding black. Its away kit, however is varied. It's typically white, but it has included yellow or black. Other colours have been featured include purple, green, and lime that has become a favorite among fans.

The current crest for the club is a modernized version the Robin that has a long history of connections to fans and the club.

The previous crest of the club was a simplified rendition of the coat of arms that was worn by Bristol. of Bristol.

The club's symbol has been Scrumpy the robin that was the club's emblem since.

The official anthem of the club is One for the Bristol City by the Wurzels. It was first released in the year 1976. it's the tune that which the team sings to when they play home matches. A new version of the track reached number 66 on the UK charts in September 2007.

Around the halfway point of the 2007-08 season, Bristol City manager Gary Johnson declared in an interview his team was determined to make the entire ground bounce. City fans adopted this rallying call on board and began singing "Johnson says to bounce all over the field" to the beat to the tune of Yellow Submarine, while continually moving upwards and downwards. The first match at which it was performed was an away game with Southampton in St Mary's Stadium, and it was also performed away games against Queen's Park Rangers in February.

If Bristol City fans travelled to London to play Charlton Athletic on 4 March 2008, the fans who were using the rail network to get back home, changed the tune in the form of "Bounce Around the Train". Since the time, it has been an often-repeated chant at Ashton Gate stadium by the supporters. City director Gary Johnson even joined in by bouncing himself. [citation required] It was occasionally used by fans from Gary Johnson's previous club Northampton Town, primarily at away games. Gary Johnson's son Lee Johnson returned to his former club in the year 2016 to become the manager of the club and he said that he wanted to carry on the chant, and continue to keep the supporters singing the chant.

Bristol City's main opponents include Bristol Rovers. Bristol Rovers have played at least 105 times, beginning with the first match in 1897. Bristol City have the most wins in 43. But, the two clubs haven't been within the same division for a couple of years. They had their last time in the same league back in 2001. Since then, they've only played three times, in the southern final, a two-legged match during the 2006-07 Football League Trophy, which Rovers were victorious 1-0 on aggregate and in the first round in the 2013-14 Johnstone's Paint Trophy, which City took 2-1 victory in the first round at Ashton Gate.

City's main rivals are Cardiff City which are located in Cardiff. Although it's the local rivalry, it does cross the Welsh-England border and is an international derby. derbies that are played in the United Kingdom. Both clubs have played at similar performance in recent seasons and have been part of the same league for 10 of the 16 seasons. This has resulted in frequent meetings within the league, including the semi-finals of 2003's Second Division play-offs.

Other clubs are seen as third rivals by both media and the public. Swindon Town are seen by many as rivals, and are referred to as "Swindle" by City supporters. The rivalry became present in the 2014-15 season, where the two clubs were competing in the race to be promoted into the Championship. Plymouth Argyle have also previously been considered rivals despite being separated by a distance of more than 100 miles. The rivalry was particularly significant during the 2000s, when both clubs were the top-ranked West Country clubs for a several years and the games were seen as the deciding factor in the "Best of the West'. Swansea City, Newport County, Cheltenham Town and even Yeovil Town have previously been named as rivals, but not often. But, in a match in the match between Bristol City and Swansea City on February 2 on the 2nd February 2019 at Ashton Gate, fighting took place between Bristol City and Swansea City fans , resulting in an argument brewing between the two sets supporters.

Bristol City has played in Ashton Gate Stadium in the south-west region of Bristol located just south of the River Avon, since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The stadium currently is able to seat 27,000. It was home to Bedminster prior to the merger in 1900 and the newly formed team played a few games at the stadium during in the following season, but it was not the stadium of Bristol City until 1904.

In the past, plans were considered for expansion to be undertaken on Ashton Gate. There was also a plan to construct a brand new 36,000-seater stadium in Hengrove Park. The proposal was rejected in an election held on December 20, 2000. The council was considering potential sites for a stadium with 40,000 seats that would accommodate Bristol Rugby, City and Rovers. City, Rovers and Bristol Rugby however, the plans were cancelled and it is widely believed that this wouldn't have been a huge hit with most supporters of all clubs. The current capacity of Ashton Gate is a typical size for Championship venues However in November 2007, they announced their plans to move to a stadium with a capacity of 30,000. at Ashton Vale plans were also in place to boost capacity to 42,000, had been successful in the England World Cup bid in the 2018 World Cup bid been successful.

The South stand was officially opened in 2015/16, following the previous Williams stand demolished, and replaced with the Lansdown stand in the year 2016. A new , partially-constructed Desso pitch was built and the existing Dolman stand was renovated. There's still no official decision regarding the club's request to create an "safe standing" area that is like the ones used in Germany.

The state-of-the-art facility for training became operational in the year 2020. It is located in the Robins High Performance Centre is located in Failand just a few minutes away to Ashton Gate Stadium.

• Record League victory – 9–0 v. Aldershot F.C. (28 December 1946)
• Record FA Cup victory – 11–0 v. Chichester City (5 November 1960)
• Record League defeat – 0–9 v. Coventry City F.C. (28 April 1934)
• Highest attendance – 43,335 v. Preston North End (16 February 1935)
• Highest attendance (at any ground) – 86,703 v. Hull City Championship Play-off Final – Wembley Stadium – (24 May 2008)
• Most League appearances – 597, John Atyeo (1951–66)
• Most League goals scored – 314, John Atyeo (1951–66)
• Most goals scored (overall) – 351, John Atyeo (1951–66)[48]
• Most capped player – Billy Wedlock, 26 caps, England
• Most goals scored in a season – 36, Don Clark (1946–47)
• Record transfer fee paid – £8 million to Chelsea for Tomas Kalas (July 2019)
• Record transfer fee received – £20 million from Brighton for Adam Webster (August 2019)
• Record sequence of League wins – 14; 9 September 1905 – 2 December 1905 – This was a joint league record until 2017.
• Record sequence of League defeats – 8; 10 December 2016 – 21 January 2017
• Record sequence of unbeaten League matches – 24; 9 September 1905 – 10 February 1906
• Record sequence without a League win – 21; 16 March 2013 – 22 October 2013
• Record points total for a Season – 99pts; 2014–15 Football League One