Welcome to the latest installment of the Gloucester Groundhopper blog.
For this chapter, we returned to Bristol for some League Cup action as Championship side Bristol City took on League One side Oxford United at Ashton Gate.
It's All In The Name
Bristol City's players wore red shirts and white shorts, a combination that was introduced in 1897 and remained largely unchanged for the next century, earning them the moniker "The Robins." The first documented tag was 'The Garabaldians,' so named because of the red shirts worn by followers of the Italian rebel Garibaldi. In the early days, the players were also known to as "The Citizens," "Red Shirts," or "Reds."
As a result of their rapid rise to prominence, they quickly became known as the 'Bristol Babe,' a moniker that lasted until the late 1940s when the current moniker emerged, having apparently first been used in 1926 when the song 'When the red, red, robin goes bob, bob, bobbing along,' written by Harry Woods, was the hit of the time.
Some Notable People From Bristol:
Edward Teach (Blackbeard)- Pirate
Lando Norris- Racecar Driver
Paul Potts- Opera Singer
Tom Hollander- Actor
William Penn- Writer
Some Notable Former Players:
John Atyeo
Norman Hunter
David Moyes
Steve McLaren
Andy Cole
Yannick Bolasie
Tammy Abraham
David James
A History Lesson From AFC Finners
Bristol City was founded in 1894 as Bristol South End, and when they became professional and joined the Southern League three years later, they changed their name to Bristol City. They joined the Football League in 1901.
In 1906, they won the Second Division with style, becoming the first football league club to win 30 games out of 38 in a season, as well as 14 consecutive games. By the end of the decade, they had come within a whisker of glory twice, finishing second in the first division in 1907 and then losing the 1909 FA Cup final to Manchester United.
However, they were relegated in 1911 and would not return to the top flight for another 65 years. They were relegated to the third division in 1922 and spent the majority of the 1920s bouncing between the two tiers. They were relegated to the third division in the 1930s, and the grandstand at Ashton Gate was destroyed in the Blitz during World War II.
In their first season back after the war, they won a record 9-0 against Aldershot, and engineer Harry Dolman took over the club, a position he would hold for the next 30 years.
In the late 1950s, they spent five years in the second tier, and despite facing relegation, they returned in 1965. Alan Dicks was appointed manager in 1967, and nine years later, he ended the Robins' 65-year exile from the top flight. In 1978, they won the Anglo-Scottish Cup, beating Alex Ferguson's St Mirren in the final. They were in the top flight for a few years before being relegated in 1980, and two more relegations followed to complete the hat trick as debts piled up, and they were eventually declared bankrupt.
Eight players agreed to have their contracts terminated for half of what they were owed, which aided in the club's survival. These players were dubbed the "Ashton Gate 8," and a plaque commemorating their act now stands outside Ashton Gate.
When Terry Cooper was promoted in 1984 and Joe Jordan was promoted to the second tier in 1990, things began to improve. Andy Cole was one of their first signings following their promotion to the Second Division. In 1994, they eliminated Liverpool from the FA Cup, forcing Liverpool manager Graeme Souness to resign. They were demoted to the third division later that year.
The Robins struggled in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but Gary Johnson secured their promotion to the Second Tier in 2007. Johnson nearly led them to the top flight the following season, but they were defeated 1-0 by Hull in the playoff final.
Following this, the club declined and was relegated in 2013, but Steve Cotterill would turn the club around, leading them to a league one and football league trophy double in 2015. Their fortunes have been mixed since returning to the Championship, but they have remained there since, and they hope to finally become a Premier League side under Nigel Pearson's management.
And here's a fun fact: between 1951 and 1966, John Atyeo scored 351 goals for the club, a record that is unlikely to be broken.
Honours
🏆 Championship (Champions: 1905–06)
🏆 League One (Champions: 1922–23, 1926–27, 1954–55, 2014–15)
🏆 FA Cup (Runners-up: 1908–09)
🏆 EFL Trophy (Winners: 1986, 2003, 2015)
🏆 Western League (Winners: 1897–98)
🏆 Welsh Cup (Winners: 1934)
🏆 Anglo-Scottish Cup (Winners: 1978)
An Interview With Australia based Bristol City Supporter, Robert Jeston:
GG: Could You Tell Us How Long You have been a Bristol City fan, and what has the journey with the club been like for you?
RJ: First of all I will explain I was born in Bristol, Henbury in fact which is mostly Bristol Rovers fans.
I believe I was around 10 years old when a couple of lads Iplayed football in the park with, asked me if I wanted to go with them to watch Bristol City v Blackburn. I was so excited that older lads had actually asked me, so on the Saturday I walked to their house, and we caught the bus to Aston Gate, what a feeling and so began my love affair with Bristol City.
Bristol City had a good side in those days with John Gally and Chris Garland up front Dickie Rooks at the back with Gordon Parr and Mike Gibson in goal. I think that a lot of fans from other clubs always think that Bristol City could do better and should have had a run in the Premier League even if only for one season, after all Norwich have done it a few times, but sadly we have only done it the once, but what a great time!
GG: Who is your favourite player of all time?
RJ: In my 54 years of supporting Bristol City I have seen some fantastic players but the one player that stands out to me was Geoff Merrick.Maybe because he played the same position as Idid but mostly because he was my hero. He was a defender who read the game so well and like me was city through and through.
But of honorable mention should be the players, who, in 1982 tore up their contracts to save the club. I don’t think the players from today would ever do that. They did that to demonstrate the love for their club and I don’t think that should ever be forgotten.
GG: What is the best football match you’ve been to as an Bristol City fan?
RJ: As I have mentioned I have been a city fan most of my life and have seen many away games as well as some great home games. There are many I remember fondly like my first visit to the Bristol Rovers ground the away end stacked with city fans.Rovers scored in the first half but second half goals from Jimmy Mann, Trever Taintain and I think two from Keith Fear saw Bristol City take the win 1-4. The game we got promoted to Division One at home against Portsmouth and our first game in Division one against the mighty Arsenal, however that game that really stands out as the best game I ever went to was Coventry away. This was when I went with my best mate David Marshell.We got there late, due to traffic and there were so many city fans it took us ages to get it. Coventry scored in the first half and again at the start of the second half I will be honest and say I had a few tears as I could see us going right back down again. Then Gerry Gow scored and the City fans were in full voice with most of the ground cheering them on. City equalized through Donny Gilles and I know the last ten minutes were funny with no team trying to win it but we didn’t care as we stay in Division One. Everyone ran on the pitch at fulltime hugging each otherincluding Coventry fans, everyone was overjoyed, this was the only time I have seen home and away fans hugging each other, this game had everything from tears to overwhelming joy.
GG: Who would you say was the biggest team to play at Bristol City’s stadium?
RJ: The days in Division One were so good as we saw the likes of Liverpool,Manchester United and Spurs and all the top teams of Division One when football was football.
GG: Which managers have left the most memories for Bristol City fans?
RJ: In my years of watching City we had some good managers and some not so good, my favourite being Terry Cooper and Danny Wilson and I think that Nigel Pearson is doing a great job, but for me Alan Dicks was something else. He coached the young lads and made us into a division one team a team Bristol was proud of.
Many years later my best friend David and myself move to Australia a big choice and one I don’t regret. I played for many years here before I started coaching my daughter who now coaches herself. She is football mad and support the mighty reds and England which I’m so happy about.
GG: Could you give us an overview of football in Australia?
RJ: The football over here is not great, the A league is div 1-2 standard and filled with old pros making their last bit of money and a few good Australia players.
I will finish with a funny story when I first arrived in Australia there was no internet no sky sport only a magazine called British Soccer Weekly which I got every week to keep up on all the news about football, but mainly Bristol City. There was a section where fans from the big clubs like Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool had fan groups for fans in Australia, however one day I saw one for Bristol City so I called this lad, Mike Garner, no answer so left a message.A few weeks later he called me back, complete strangers coming together who had one common interest you guessed it Bristol City. Fast forward 25 years and today we have now become such good mates we say we are brothers but from a different mum, funny how the love of a football team can bring people so close.
I love living in Australia and now pay a fortune to get to watch the city games when they are on whether that is at 2 am in the morning or 6am I still have the same excitement as I did when I was a 10-year-old, no doubt about it I’m city for life.
Matchday: Bristol City 5-1 Oxford United
We travelled to Bristol on a warm Tuesday evening as we were in search of another goal fest. We arrived at the ground in good time, and parked on somebody's drive courtesy of the JustPark app. This was initially an issue as we originally booked parking at Ashton Gate for £6, however about a week later this was cancelled by the club with no explanation, which wasn't ideal.
We walked around the stadium and took some customary photos, then we went straight into the ground. Our first port of call was to get some food. There was a wide variety of food available at the ground, including Greek, fish and chips, some standard football food such as hot dogs and pasties and most interestingly some Jamaican food. I opted for a cheese and onion pasty which tasted so good I had to succumb to my fatty instincts and get another one.
We took our seats in the Dolman stand, and somehow we managed to get front row seats. It's really difficult to word this, but considering we paid £12 for our tickets we can hardly complain, but in the league the club charge £30 for seats in that stand, for which you would want an unobstructed view wherever you are, however, my view was most obstructed by stewards who were playing musical chairs. This was slightly annoying but I guess I could have booked tickets higher up and avoided this issue.
The ground has been massively updated since my last visit (all the way back in 2007 when Cheltenham played Bristol City and midfielder Scott Brown broke his leg). The ground is massively modern and and up to date. The seats were relatively comfortable and it's nice to see a city taking great pride in their football club. Hopefully we see Bristol City in the Premier League one day.
The atmosphere was somewhat lacking. At a lot of clubs you get comments like 'you should have gone to *insert game here* to get a proper atmosphere' but I can only judge it on what I witnessed. Other than a few chants and loud chants of 'we want six' towards the end of the match, the atmosphere felt fairly flat.
Everybody, however, was really friendly. Everybody was willing to engage and have a chat and talk about the football. You would be surprised how many places we have been to where this hasn't been the case. It really does make a difference when people make you feel welcome.
Teamsheet
Bristol City
Manager: Nigel Pearson
Max O'Leary
George Tanner
Zac Vyner (c)
Rob Dickie
Haydon Roberts
Andy King
Joe Williams
Jason Knight ⚽️ ⚽️
Harry Cornick ⚽️
Nakhi Wells ⚽️
Anis Mehmeti
Substitutes
Harvey Wiles-Richards
Cameron Pring
Kal Naismith ⚽️
Raphael Araoye
Jamie Knight-Lebel
Matty James
Mark Sykes
Sam Bell
EphraimYeboah
Oxford United
Manager: Liam Manning
James Beadle
Ciaron Brown
Jordan Thorniley
Elliott Moore (c)
Stanley Mills
Cameron Brannagan
Billy Bodin ⚽️
Fin Stevens
Marcus McGuane
Tyler Goodrham
Gatlin O'Donkor
Substitutes
Simon Eastwood
Sam Long
Mark Harris
Oisin Smyth
Ruben Rodrigues
Josh Murphy
Max Woltman
Stephan Negru
Zaide Took-Oxley
Bristol City dominated the game from start to end. After only 15 minutes, the hosts broke the tie. Anis Mehmeti linked up with Haydon Roberts down the left flank before the latter brought the ball back for Harry Cornick to score from close range.
On the half-hour mark, League One Oxford levelled. Billy Bodin blasted a wonderful header past keeper Max O'Leary after Fin Stevens floated a cross from the right side to the back post.
Oxford's parity was brief. Knight scored his first goal for the Robins after Mehmeti's cross was diverted into his path.
Knight added a third two minutes after the break, while Nakhi Wells scored City's fourth on 52 minutes. After being passed in by Knight, he calmly rounded keeper James Beadle.
Oxford's bad day at the office was complete when City scored their fifth goal a few minutes after the hour mark, courtesy of replacement Kai Naismith.
Scores On The Doors
Atmosphere: 5/10
Food and Drink: 8/10
Stadium: 8.5/10
Welcome: 8/10
Overall Experience: 8/10
GG
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