City are where they are because we are not a big club and virtually always been a bit crap. City beat Leeds for the first time last night on decades. Leeds are a big club big support in a proper football City and should be top level. No excuses.
Bristol City could be a big club with good support,the ground is here,city just need to produce to fill it.
In truth, you can say this about any team who isn't fulfilling their potential based on history/fan base etc...In the Championship alone you could argue that Newcastle, Villa, Norwich, Wolves, Leeds, Sheffield Wednesday, Brighton and co could/should all be Premiership teams. Likewise Sheffield United and Bradford City are too big for L1 but the former have been there for years for reasons best known to themselves.
No not really. Brighton are a small club like City? Norwich achieve their potential. Blades are not even the biggest side in Sheffield? Villa and Newcastle will go back up. Leeds are a truly big club even now there are still coaches running from the south west picking up on Bristol due to what they were. Kids in schools where wearing their admiral kits in the seventies here. Leeds should be premiership all day long.
Its been a could for a 100 years. if city don't push on expect the crowds to drop and Ashton Gate will look like Cardiffs ground matchday. its not a football city.
there are a few taps on our board true ... .....young? players those under lets say 25, come in 4 groups the got it's and go on to be above average, even brilliant the late developer's, usually find it clicks after a hard few seasons trying to take it all in and getting and taking the chance had it's, above average but just don't train on ..and become div 1/ 2 - championship at best throwaways , full of promise but overcome by the moment and the money missing out on the best years but sometimes seeing the light late on ....
tell our fans that,we are as passionate as any in the country,we take thousands to away games,we create great vocal backing home and away.
I agree. It's not a football city, and it never really has been. BUT Wigan, Blackburn, Fulham and co proved that if you are in the top division you can fill your ground for most games. If we stay in the top half of the Championship I would expect an average gate of 18,000 or more across the 23 home league games. If we were in the Premiership I would expect the best part of 28,000 per home game.
City do have passionate fans but not as many as other clubs. we take thousands to some games but it can also be hundreds. Citys away support is not all that and has not been for years. Prefer away games myself as the atmosphere tends to be better but Ashton gates atmosphere is poor. Citys own fans frequently say it is. Dolman is dead to what it once was.
Wigan and Blackburn did not sell out that regularly. Wigan, Blackburn, Fulham were also based on mad spending. City in the EPL would see the ground regularly full by the types who would desert City as soon as they started losing. like to see City working harder to build support now v waiting for the promised land. plenty of empty seats last night so give those tickets to schools and kids clubs..
Went to St Andrews in 90. City fans (ours) nearly out numbered them in a 9000 gate. Top level hooligans along with Bristol City maybe.
City should have been very closely involved with local schools and kids clubs for the past 40 years in order to help develop generation after generation of supporter, but they have done very little to promote the club within Bristol, and in particular the South Bristol communities until very recently. Aside from a few brief seasons in the old 1st Division where we were packing them into The Gate, and again recently when the ground was being redeveloped and the capacity was compromised, the club missed a trick for years by not giving away free or heavily discounted tickets. It costs the club little to give these away for seats that would be empty anyway, and those turning up with a free ticket may still buy food or drink, a programme, or visit the club shop thus helping the club in other ways. Or better still they might like what they see and pay for it next time and bring their parents or friends along.
2000 + to Fulham, 1000 + to Burton, below 1000 for the remainder of away games this season. Boasting about Pink Elephants should be left to followers of Bristol Rovers.
Birmingham bigger than Bristol City ? Hmm debatable ! However, Derby, Forest, Fulham, Blackburn, Norwich, Leeds, Ipswich (even 4th division Portsmouth or 3rd Div Coventry), all far bigger and more of a football culture than Bristol. Coincidentally they also have a history which includes the occasional silverware, which may explain why they are more of a football culture. The annual winning of the Gloucester Cup doesn't really hack it i'm afraid. That and competition from the likes of cricket, rugby and minority sports like boxing, cycling, swimming, snooker etc which are always well represented in Bristol. The highest we can hope to achieve is the size and gravitas of a club like West Ham, and frankly that is a decent size of club. To achieve this we would need 10 years of success in the Premiership, with a Euro Cup and a couple of domestic Cup successes (that means winning them). The human imagination is a stubborn and sluggish animal, and it needs to be inspired big stylee
Birmingham bigger than Bristol City ? Yes. Bigger gates, more time in higher divisions ... Fulham? Their gates were very poor in the 80/90's in comparative divisions v Bristol City. City,s modest gates have been more stable. Perhaps Fulham's support has a wider fickleness to it. A hope I once had was that Bristol City could mirror Norwich to a degree and become known for the quality of their attractive attacking football. Cooper and Jordan laid a bedrock to achieve that then BCFC appointed heathens like Osman and Pulis, and later Mr Lansdown changed his mind over the path the FC would take like the wind. Still hopeful BCFC can become a regional powerhouse based upon attacking fluid football with local players in its XI.
Yes, that should see us romp away with the Gloucestershire Cup on a regular basis Cant see it taking us to the top of the Premiership, but then that only matters to those with that ambition. As this thread is about reaching the promised land, I have a mantra which has served me reasonably well in my life If you reach for the moon you may get to the top of the tree Top of the tree looks a pretty cool place from down here in the furrows, but if you need to know for sure just ask fans of Swansea, Bournemouth, Norwich, Watford etcetc … Good job those clubs are not based near BS3 or we would never win the Gloucestershire Cup !
