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So I met with Matt Parsons

Bristol Rob

By Bristol Rob
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Bristol Rob

Bristol Rob

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Posted

On Saturday, just for a 'Hello' and to put a face to the name.

Had a really nice chat with him and clearly he is looking to engage with as many supporters as possible and to get to know people (reckon it's because my forum name begins with a 'B' he collared me early in the process).

In amongst our chin-wag, he asked me a question that he has clearly asked other people and other groups, and it's something that probably warrants a wider debate.

@Matt Parsons BCFCSLO was saying that he had been at an EFL conference and the question of 'identity' had been raised, he said that in his small working group was his Sheffield Wednesday and QPR equivalents and it wasn't difficult to identify either of those clubs, Wednesday unique suffix of a name and of course being The Owls. QPR, their name is on their badge and if you are thinking EFL and 'the hoops' chances are, first thought QPR.

But what is OUR identity? What makes us unique? He has asked a few other people and answers have been varied, but far from consistent.

What one or two words would you expect to see either associated with Bristol City* football club, to either identify us on the pitch, or for us to be recognised off the pitch?

There are no right or wrong answers, but 2 days later, the closest I can come to us almost creating a unique identifier was the 'Always Believe' statements from a few years back. And that largely died off when Basso moved on.

*those two words can't be 'Bristol City'.

So, what is OUR identifier?

Also, if you haven't met Matt yet, find him, say hello and introduce yourself, lovely bloke (who, on explaining some of the challenges of his role, will probably get an easier ride from me going forward, but it's for Matt to explain the challenges out of getting the answers out of a number of multi tiered companies trading independently from a shared space).

So, where were we? Yes! IDENTITY!

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LondonBristolian

LondonBristolian

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7 minutes ago, Bristol Rob said:

On Saturday, just for a 'Hello' and to put a face to the name.

Had a really nice chat with him and clearly he is looking to engage with as many supporters as possible and to get to know people (reckon it's because my forum name begins with a 'B' he collared me early in the process).

In amongst our chin-wag, he asked me a question that he has clearly asked other people and other groups, and it's something that probably warrants a wider debate.

@Matt Parsons BCFCSLO was saying that he had been at an EFL conference and the question of 'identity' had been raised, he said that in his small working group was his Sheffield Wednesday and QPR equivalents and it wasn't difficult to identify either of those clubs, Wednesday unique suffix of a name and of course being The Owls. QPR, their name is on their badge and if you are thinking EFL and 'the hoops' chances are, first thought QPR.

But what is OUR identity? What makes us unique? He has asked a few other people and answers have been varied, but far from consistent.

What one or two words would you expect to see either associated with Bristol City* football club, to either identify us on the pitch, or for us to be recognised off the pitch?

There are no right or wrong answers, but 2 days later, the closest I can come to us almost creating a unique identifier was the 'Always Believe' statements from a few years back. And that largely died off when Basso moved on.

*those two words can't be 'Bristol City'.

So, what is OUR identifier?

Also, if you haven't met Matt yet, find him, say hello and introduce yourself, lovely bloke (who, on explaining some of the challenges of his role, will probably get an easier ride from me going forward, but it's for Matt to explain the challenges out of getting the answers out of a number of multi tiered companies trading independently from a shared space).

So, where were we? Yes! IDENTITY!

I’m not about to make myself popular here - and I think this isn’t exactly the club’s fault - but it doesn’t help that we share our nickname with half the bloody teams in the south west. I’m not saying we should change it but it does make it harder than it is for the Hoops or the Owls (or indeed Wednesday) to push a unique identity.

 

To be honest, our USPs are probably gifs, purple & lime and cider...

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cidered abroad

cidered abroad

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Easy answer to that.

Bristol City have not been in the top tier for THIRTY EIGHT YEARS. We just bounce up and down between leagues two and three.

Bristol City have an annoying habit of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

What major trophies have we ever won? Mickey Mouse cups don't count.

Should I continue or just shut up?

@Matt Parsons BCFCSLO

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LondonBristolian

LondonBristolian

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1 minute ago, cidered abroad said:

Easy answer to that.

Bristol City have not been in the top tier for THIRTY EIGHT YEARS. We just bounce up and down between leagues two and three.

Bristol City have an annoying habit of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

What major trophies have we ever won? Mickey Mouse cups don't count.

Should I continue or just shut up?

@Matt Parsons BCFCSLO

To be fair, loads of clubs compete with that. And Rochdale utterly thrash us at non-achievement.  Nothing at all unique in not being in the top flight or not winning major trophies. It just makes us like a lot of other clubs. That said, you can deride Mickey Mouse cups all you like but nobody does the Football League Trophy as well as us...

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JamesBCFC

JamesBCFC

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3 minutes ago, LondonBristolian said:

To be honest, our USPs are probably gifs, purple & lime and cider...

Happy with those tbh.

 

People won't like this, but it may end up being that the other elements of Bristol Sport become what other clubs fans identify with us when they come to Bristol.

No other (or at least not many) club is associated with as many non football ventures, and we will, in the not too distant future, have a £100m complex with a basketball stadium that connects to AG as it is now.

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JamesBCFC

JamesBCFC

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7 minutes ago, cidered abroad said:

Easy answer to that.

Bristol City have not been in the top tier for THIRTY EIGHT YEARS. We just bounce up and down between leagues two and three.

Bristol City have an annoying habit of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

What major trophies have we ever won? Mickey Mouse cups don't count.

Should I continue or just shut up?

@Matt Parsons BCFCSLO

None of them are an identity specific to Bristol City, other than the exact number of years since we were top flight.

 

Every fan of every club outside the top couple (and even some of the non plastic Man CIty fans) will have seen their club "snatch defeat from the jaws of victory" more times than they care to remember.

Look among the football league, we are absolutely not the only side to have not won any major cups.

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Bristol Oil Services

Bristol Oil Services

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As supporters, we do have, or used to have, an identity of sorts - we drink cider, we sing about cider, we are Ciderheads, we are occasionally referred to as "The Cider Army" - and we once revelled in our West Country (la la la) roots. And our propensity to "moan" sets apart from the other 91 clubs, I am led to believe.

The team or the club, though, lack identity - which frightens me, as I now imagine bods at the club seeing an opportunity to think "brand" and come up with something truly ****ing horrendous.

 

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MC RISK77

MC RISK77

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1 minute ago, MC RISK77 said:

Was thinking of this recently and could not think of anything that gives us an identity.

sadly we are just not that interesting.

Most clubs identities comes from great teams.

even similar clubs like Ipswich have the uefa cup winning team, Blackburn premier league winning team, stoke league cup likewise Norwich and qpr.

we have never won anything of any note.

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spudski

spudski

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Pissing about with the kit doesn't help.

Neither does having the current badge.

I'd stick to having a plain red shirt with collar and cuff, white shorts, Red sock with white trim. Stick to it...stop phaffing about with it. This season we are currently playing as 'Boro' if you asked any footy fan. Does my head in.

Make Purple and Lime our alternate kit, and stick to it...don't change it. Make it ours...so that football fans relate those colours to us.

Use the Robin badge...it stands out...the current badge could be any badge from a distance. And stick to it. Our current badge is so bland and just plain neutral...it doesn't pop.

Seen so many people look at kit, then badge to see who fan supports when wearing shirt, especially at service stations. We could be anyone of so many teams.

Even the blue few have a bigger Identity than us....easy to see with both kit design and badge.

 

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The turtle

The turtle

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The fans and cider is a pretty clear identity, it's within fan culture in many ways!!

But the team is a bit harder. If the robin on the badge had stayed, perhaps you could say that.

But Honestly, the first thing that pops into mind: purple and lime.

Every team has a home kit.... but 1st v Liverpool, then the double season 20 years later. Do many teams have an away kit, linked to generational moments like that?

Love it or hate it, it means something to the club and the fans!!

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MC RISK77

MC RISK77

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3 minutes ago, spudski said:

Pissing about with the kit doesn't help.

Neither does having the current badge.

I'd stick to having a plain red shirt with collar and cuff, white shorts, Red sock with white trim. Stick to it...stop phaffing about with it. This season we are currently playing as 'Boro' if you asked any footy fan. Does my head in.

Make Purple and Lime our alternate kit, and stick to it...don't change it. Make it ours...so that football fans relate those colours to us.

Use the Robin badge...it stands out...the current badge could be any badge from a distance. And stick to it. Our current badge is so bland and just plain neutral...it doesn't pop.

Seen so many people look at kit, then badge to see who fan supports when wearing shirt, especially at service stations. We could be anyone of so many teams.

Even the blue few have a bigger Identity than us....easy to see with both kit design and badge.

 

I don’t think a purple and lime kit and a robin will give us an identity if that is it then we are clutching at straws...no offence mate

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Guest

Guest

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56 minutes ago, cidered abroad said:

Easy answer to that.

Bristol City have not been in the top tier for THIRTY EIGHT YEARS. We just bounce up and down between leagues two and three.

Bristol City have an annoying habit of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

What major trophies have we ever won? Mickey Mouse cups don't count.

Should I continue or just shut up?

@Matt Parsons BCFCSLO

But we were only in the top flight for four years. Infact over the last 100 years that’s the only time we have. Historically we’ve always been a Div 2 or 3 side. Do those four years way heavy on expectations of those who experienced it compared to many of us who didn’t? Genuine question no dig intended. 

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ChippenhamRed

ChippenhamRed

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3 minutes ago, phantom said:

I hear many people say we lost our identity when Bristol Sport became more and more prominent 

Agree 100% with @spudski above 

I think that’s utter bollocks. What aspect of our identity did we have before Bristol Sport that we don’t have now? I mean something that a supporter of another club would think of when they think of us, that they no longer would?

I can’t think of a single thing.

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Major Isewater

Major Isewater

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1 hour ago, Bristol Rob said:

On Saturday, just for a 'Hello' and to put a face to the name.

Had a really nice chat with him and clearly he is looking to engage with as many supporters as possible and to get to know people (reckon it's because my forum name begins with a 'B' he collared me early in the process).

In amongst our chin-wag, he asked me a question that he has clearly asked other people and other groups, and it's something that probably warrants a wider debate.

@Matt Parsons BCFCSLO was saying that he had been at an EFL conference and the question of 'identity' had been raised, he said that in his small working group was his Sheffield Wednesday and QPR equivalents and it wasn't difficult to identify either of those clubs, Wednesday unique suffix of a name and of course being The Owls. QPR, their name is on their badge and if you are thinking EFL and 'the hoops' chances are, first thought QPR.

But what is OUR identity? What makes us unique? He has asked a few other people and answers have been varied, but far from consistent.

What one or two words would you expect to see either associated with Bristol City* football club, to either identify us on the pitch, or for us to be recognised off the pitch?

There are no right or wrong answers, but 2 days later, the closest I can come to us almost creating a unique identifier was the 'Always Believe' statements from a few years back. And that largely died off when Basso moved on.

*those two words can't be 'Bristol City'.

So, what is OUR identifier?

Also, if you haven't met Matt yet, find him, say hello and introduce yourself, lovely bloke (who, on explaining some of the challenges of his role, will probably get an easier ride from me going forward, but it's for Matt to explain the challenges out of getting the answers out of a number of multi tiered companies trading independently from a shared space).

So, where were we? Yes! IDENTITY!

I thought the QPR nickname was the " Rs " ? 

Our identity ? 

West Country , Wurzels , Cider, Purple and Lime , Underachievement. Red Robin bobbin along. Ashton Gate . 

:dunno:

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Bristol Oil Services

Bristol Oil Services

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28 minutes ago, Tomarse said:

But we were only in the top flight for four years. Infact over the last 100 years that’s the only time we have. Historically we’ve always been a Div 2 or 3 side. Do those four years way heavy on expectations of those who experienced it compared to many of us who didn’t? Genuine question no dig intended. 

Yes. Started watching when we were at the top and just cannot shake off the idea that that is where we should be and when are we going to get back there, and that every owner and manager/head coach is judged against that insane belief.

I should've started a bit later, when we were 92nd in the Football League, December '82. Be deliriously happy all the time ........

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JamesBCFC

JamesBCFC

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8 minutes ago, Major Isewater said:

I thought the QPR nickname was the " Rs " ? 

Our identity ? 

West Country , Wurzels , Cider, Purple and Lime , Underachievement. Red Robin bobbin along. Ashton Gate . 

:dunno:

That is not an identity of ours.

The majority of football league sides will see themselves as underachieving in some respect.

There's another club in our city that accomplishes underachieving to a far greater degree than we ever could.

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