Bristol City F.C.
| Bristol City badge | |||
| Full name | Bristol City Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Robins | ||
| Founded | 1897 | ||
| Ground | Ashton Gate Bristol | ||
| Capacity | 22,500 | ||
| Chairman | Steve Lansdown | ||
| Manager |  Gary Johnson | ||
| League | League One | ||
| 2005-06 | League One, 9th | ||
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Bristol City is a football club in Bristol, England, which plays in Football League One. Its home is Ashton Gate Stadium. Gary Johnson has been the team's manager since 23 September 2005.
Home colours for 2006-7 will revert from all red to the traditional red shirts and white shorts. The away kit will be white with gunmetal grey shorts, and a black third kit will also be used. In the past a variety of away combinations have been used, particularly white shirts and black shorts, but yellow, green-and-purple, all black, all white and "champagne gold" have also been seen in recent years. The club's nickname is "the Robins", and a robin featured on the club's badge from 1976 to 1994.
City's derby rivals are Bristol Rovers and there is considerable antipathy between the sides and supporters. Even the issue of oldest club is still a matter of contention, Rovers claim to be the oldest professional club in Bristol, however City have enjoyed league status for longer. City draw their main support from the south of Bristol, Rovers from the east. In recent years City have usually finished higher in the league than Rovers, though neither team has enjoyed huge success.
Bristol City reached the 1909 F.A Cup final where they lost to Manchester United, but they did win the Welsh Cup - despite being an English team - in 1934. In 1907 they finished runners-up in the league, which is their highest-ever final position.
In 1982, Bristol City became the first English team to suffer three successive relegations and just before falling into the Fourth Division they almost went out of business. But a takeover deal saved them from going under, and by 1990 they were back in the Second Division. Another relegation followed in 1995, when City finished second from bottom in the new Division Two, and a return to that division three years later lasted just one season. Most of their seasons since 1999 have been spent challenging promotion, but so far all of their promotion challenges have been unsuccessful.
Bristol City currently play at Ashton Gate stadium, which has an all-seated capacity of more than 20,000. There have been plans, if the need arises, for expansion work to be carried out at their current ground. There have also been proposals to build a new stadium, the first option being a 36,000-seat stadium at Hengrove Park. In 2002, the local council was looking at possible sites for a new 40,000-seat stadium which would house both City and Rovers, but these plans were scrapped. Ashton Gate's current capacity is adequate, and it would probably take at least one promotion to demand an expansion.
Honours
The team played in the FA Cup final, losing 1 - 0 to Manchester United at Crystal Palace, London, on April 26 1909, and won the Welsh Cup in 1934, defeating Tranmere Rovers 3 - 0.
Their highest finishing position in the League was in the 1906-07 season when the team were runners-up to Newcastle in Division 1.
Minor honours include: Second Division champions 1905-06; Third Division South champions three times; Associate Members' Cup winners 1985-86 (as Freight Rover Trophy); Football League Trophy winners 2002-3 (as LDV Vans Trophy); Anglo-Scottish Cup winners 1977-78.
History
The club was founded in 1897, when Bristol South End F.C. turned professional and changed its name to Bristol City. In 1900 the club merged with local rival Bedminster F.C., which had been founded as Southville in 1887. The side joined the Football League in 1901. They first entered Division 1 in 1906 as Division 2 champions, and as newcomers became known as the "Bristol Babes", a nickname that would last into the thirties. They were runners-up in their first season in the top flight, but couldn't match this performance again, and were relegated in 1911. They would not return for sixty-five years.
The 1920s were a rocky time as City "yo-yoed" between Division 2 and Division 3 South. By the thirties they were solidly stuck in the third division, and stayed that way until after World War II. Harry Dolman became chairman in 1949, a post he would hold for over 30 years. An engineer who had bought out the firm he worked for, he designed the first set of floodlights installed at Ashton Gate in the early 1950s. The late 1950s were a better time for City, with a five year stay in Division 2, a league they returned to for a further spell in 1965. In 1967 Alan Dicks was appointed manager, and he eventually led them back to the top division in 1976 when they were runners-up in Division 2.
Surviving just four seasons in the top division and only managing a peak of 13th position in the 1978-79 season, they were relegated in 1980 and plummeted to Division 4 in straight seasons. The club went bankrupt and was only able to continue playing under the ownership of a new company, BCFC (1982) plc, because eight highly-paid senior players (the "Ashton Gate Eight") accepted redundancy.
City's stay in the basement was short - just two years - since when they have remained in the middle two divisions of the League structure. The late nineties were a period of instability for the club, with five managers in four seasons. Danny Wilson was appointed as manager in June 2000, but left by mutual consent in June 2004 after successive seasons of finishing 3rd but narrowly failing to win the play-offs. Long-serving City midfielder Brian Tinnion became player-manager in his place and led the team to a place just outside the play-offs in his first season.
The summer of 2005 saw a major rebuilding of the squad, bringing in the Premiership strikers Marcus Stewart (who supported City as a boy) and Michael Bridges. Three games into the 2005-2006 season City were one of only two clubs in the entire league without a goal; the drought ended abruptly in their fourth game, with three goals in the first quarter hour of a 4-2 victory over Port Vale. Results remained poor, however, and Tinnion resigned as manager after a 7-1 thrashing by Swansea. He was replaced by Gary Johnson, who was lured from west country neighbours Yeovil Town. A club record of nine successive defeats was brought to an end with a 2-0 victory at home to Huddersfield on 10 December. Since then, a continuous run of only three defeats in sixteen games was capped with City beating Gillingham 6-0, with defender Louis Carey scoring twice. This was City's largest league win since late 1969. They progressed well throughout the season – without Bridges (released) and Stewart (loaned out) – but just missed out on the League One playoffs, finishing ninth.
Current squad
Luke Wilkshire has left the club after his contract expired.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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- (1) Has been transfer-listed.
- (2) Has signed a permanent contract, with compensation to Fulham being discussed.
- (3) New Signings
Famous players
- Billy Wedlock
- John Atyeo
- Gus Caesar
- Andy Cole
- Brian Tinnion
- Marcus Stewart
- Dariusz 'Jacki' Dziekanowski
- Ade Akinbiyi
- Shaun Goater
- David Moyes
- Steve McClaren
- Norman Hunter
- Gerry Gow
Managers
- Sam Hollis (1897-99)
- Bob Campbell (1899-1901)
- Sam Hollis (1901-05)
- Harry Thickett (1905-10)
- Sam Hollis (1911-13)
- George Hedley (1913-17)
- Jack Hamilton (1917-19)
- Joe Palmer (1919-21)
- Alex Raisbeck (1921-29)
- Joe Bradshaw (1929-32)
- Bob Hewison (1932-49)
- Bob Wright (1949-50)
- Pat Beasley (1950-58)
- Peter Doherty (1958-60)
- Fred Ford (1960-67)
- Alan Dicks (1967-80)
- Bobby Houghton (1980-82)
- Roy Hodgson (1982)
- Terry Cooper (1982-88)
- Joe Jordan (1988-90)
- Jimmy Lumsden (1990-92)
- Denis Smith (1992-93)
- Russell Osman (1993-94)
- Joe Jordan(1994-97)
- John Ward (1997-98)
- Benny Lennartsson (1998-99)
- Tony Pulis (1999)
- Tony Fawthrop (2000)
- Danny Wilson (2000-04)
- Brian Tinnion (2004-05)
- Gary Johnson (September 2005-Present)
Ashton Gate
Bristol City play at Ashton Gate in the south-west of Bristol, just south of the River Avon. The ground has an all-seated capacity of about 21,500, with an effective capacity (depending on how many away tickets are allocated, and how they are segregated) of around 19,100. It was the home of Bedminster F.C. until the 1900 merger, and the merged team played some games there the following season, but it did not become the permanent home of Bristol City until 1904.
The Wedlock Stand at the south-east end of the ground was the traditional home fans' end until 1994, and has since housed visiting fans. It was due to be redeveloped at the end of the 2004/05 season but problems with funding saw the project put on hold for the foreseeable future.
The Williams Stand, on the south-west side, which includes the directors' box and press box, was built in 1958.
The Dolman Stand, which lies opposite it, was built in 1970. The stand contains a lot of wooden seats which may be replaced with more modern plastic seating before the start of the 2006/07 season, pending a grant from the Football Foundation.
The most recent addition to the stadium is the Atyeo Stand at the north-west end, which was built in 1994 to replace an open terrace, and contains new dressing rooms and a large gymnasium.
Ashton Gate has also played host to many big concerts in recent years. They have had such stars as Rod Stewart, Bryan Adams, Elton John and Neil Diamond. They are due to host to more big events this summer, with two big concerts, one of which is the legendary band The Who and also playing there will be former Irish boyband singer Ronan Keating.
External links
- Official website (requires registration)
- Fan's forum