So I met with Matt Parsons

[WhistleHappy]

14 minutes ago, Fiale said:

 

**Proud to be shitheads ? I always thought it was a dumb insult, especially the Bristol Shitty - they forget they are a Bristol City (City of Bristol) team as well or have the fully embraced their S.Glos wannabe identity.

**Yep, why not?, we can be proud of ourselves and be proud we have a sense of humour too.

We don't have to take ourselves too seriously all the time... I think TEDS is a good name, and when everyone eventually cottons on to it's origins I think others will respect us for our humorous attitude to it as well.. 

Proud to be TEDS, …. what's wrong with that... ?     

[Chivs]

28 minutes ago, Up The City! said:

We are not even easily identifiable in our own stadium ffs. Maybe that would be a good place to start?

Not looked up at the ceiling recently?  Not wandered by the Wedlocks?  Or seen the list of all time goalscorers on the walls?  Or the red lights on the outside?

[miser]

12 minutes ago, Fiale said:

 

Proud to be shitheads ? I always thought it was a dumb insult, especially the Bristol Shitty - they forget they are a Bristol City (City of Bristol) team as well or have the fully embraced their S.Glos wannabe identity.

We've always been front foot. Rovers always on the back foot. Even in their Twerton heyday, they were purile. Pathetic attempt to respond to our wit - disregard. 

[Fiale]

7 minutes ago, WhistleHappy said:

**Yep, why not?, we can be proud of ourselves and be proud we have a sense of humour too.

We don't have to take ourselves too seriously all the time... I think TEDS is a good name, and when everyone eventually cottons on to it's origins I think others will respect us for our humorous attitude to it as well.. 

Proud to be TEDS, …. what's wrong with that... ?     

 

Put it this way, It think I and my friends have a good'ish sense of humour, but if one insisted on being called a shithead or a nickname alluding to it, I think we would all find it more embarrassing/strange than funny. As for other people "what, oh yeah no, it means he's a shithead, no, no it's funny, we are embracing.... oh theyv'e gone" 

[eardun]

1 hour ago, Rich said:

Ashton Gate is our identity, instantly recognisable to anyone in football.

I was going to say the same. No one else plays at a ‘Gate’. I’ve always liked that. That combined with the suspension bridge that you see on the way to and from inside the Gate. I reckon if you asked other fans who plays at a ground called Gate or showed them a picture of the suspension bridge, a good number would say us. They are stronger identities than the robin or red as neither of those are unique to us. Thinking about it, we could make more of both of these concepts to make them even stronger. 

[Ivorguy]

2 hours ago, EmissionImpossible said:

Not sure what this identity nonsense is all about. Gobbledygook.

Softening us up for a nonsense BS identity like the rugby and 'Bears'. Ugh!

PS BS might go for all black kit or quarters !?! Double ugh!

[Bristol Rob]

Well this has prompted a debate!

South Bristol - Not mentioned.

Global Sticker Bombing Sensations - Not mentioned.

Wurzels - Not mentioned....

Maybe we are a club with no identity and those bits of identity that we stumble across are never meant to be embraced in the long term. Still, at least our anthems haven't been stolen from Plymouth.

[Meh]

Mass Debate

[lenred]

4 hours 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'd say it's that we're the biggest team in the South West. It's just that the South West is a footballing backwater in comparison with the majority of the rest of the country and so it's no big deal to the wider footballing world. 

[Bristol Rob]

From a personal perspective, the reluctance from the club to embrace the Robin has diluted any semblance of an identity, other clubs had/have the Robin as a nickname over the years, but for whatever reason, we dropped it. 

[T R]

16 minutes ago, eardun said:

I was going to say the same. No one else plays at a ‘Gate’. I’ve always liked that. That combined with the suspension bridge that you see on the way to and from inside the Gate. I reckon if you asked other fans who plays at a ground called Gate or showed them a picture of the suspension bridge, a good number would say us. They are stronger identities than the robin or red as neither of those are unique to us. Thinking about it, we could make more of both of these concepts to make them even stronger. 

Perhaps we could have a toll house and a gate across the road as our badge with the motto: pay up or you don't get in.

[Bristol Rob]

Just to be double-double crystal, Matt wasn't trying to come up with an identity strategy, he struggled to find one when asked and the people he was meeting with couldn't place us by anything other than team name. 

[miser]

1 hour ago, Rich said:

Ashton Gate is our identity, instantly recognisable to anyone in football.

Do we play at Ashton Gate. Always known it as the City ground. Started when we had the covered end, the uncovered end, the enclosure and the grandstand. All down to Bristolian understatement. Only in recent years have we gone flamboyant and got ourselves a South stand. Maybe our identity should be an introvert.

[The Constant Rabbit]

Amongst other fans - probably best known for the CSF.

If the Zulus (previously mentioned by someone) are Brums identifier then I'm pretty sure many.many teams know of the famous CSF (1984)

Sums up how irrelevant we are outside of our little bubble really.

 

Keep the same Home and Away strips for the next 20 yrs

Have a bloody great big 'you are now entering THE GATE' sign at the Atyeo end

 

And prepared to be called 'The Bristol Chirpers' or someother such shite.

 

Gotta have an 'identity' to be recogniseable to any buyers out there eh Steve?

[Up The City!]

1 hour ago, Chivs said:

Not looked up at the ceiling recently?  Not wandered by the Wedlocks?  Or seen the list of all time goalscorers on the walls?  Or the red lights on the outside?

Our biggest and most impressive stand is decked out in rugby stuff, yes the South Stand does have some City stuff but in the whole stadium there is one City badge on display and that is hidden away in the concourse. I do like how the sports bar has added some city stuff added this season, we just need more of that.

Outside the stadium you would struggle to know it's Bristol City's stadium, the red lights are cool but unfortunately they only work when it's dark. On a match day outside the stadium you would struggle to know who's stadium it is save from two flags. 

It's a beautiful stadium but it does need to have more Bristol City stuff inside and out.

[cidered abroad]

4 hours 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. 

I believe it's because we have spent almost our entire league career bouncing from two to/from three that we are not regarded by many supporters of the "bigger" clubs as one that is not at the tip of one's tongue. We are off the beaten track, usually about a two hour trip for our nearest league opponents. I've once lived in the West Midlands and its normal when one says one is from Bristol and follow football, for the other person to say Bristol Rovers. For some reason their name seems to be better known than ours.

Apart from last season in the League Cup, when do we ever get noticed for a cup win? Liverpool in 93, Leeds in 74.

And have we ever won promotion via the playoffs? Not that I can remember. Hull, Brighton, Walsall?

We're a big club at League Three level and an also ran in League Two. The miserable times in the last two seasons with three/four months of scratching out a few points tell me that we're nowhere near becoming a real force at this level.

Even last Wednesday, we played the first half as if we were terrified of Stoke, who appeared to me as a reasonably well organised side, with a very average defence, but with a couple of quality midfielders and an England keeper. Apart from them, nothing special. Because we only played the second half, we lost. And that scenario happens too often.

Call me a miserable sod, but wake up to the reality. Bristol City win promotion from League Three every ten years and sometime in between, get relegated back there. Will we ever change?

[Rinkadink]

My take is Gate is a strong one, as is the image of the suspension bridge. Cider isn't bad either but can't market that as much. 

Robins and red are not. 

To emphasise this before posting the above I just randomly asked a Man U supporting friend who lives elsewhere the question posed and/or first things that popped into his head when I mentioned Bristol City... first response was Bears and second was Ashton Gate in quick succession. He then said unprompted that he's aware the nickname is Robins but doesnt associate that with the club at all. Living outside of town now I have never heard of any groups or individuals going to see "The Robins" play rather "City" or just plain old "Bristol"... anecdotal but there it is.

[TBW]

5 hours ago, Lew-T said:

The current badge tarnishes any identity that we’re trying to create. It’s a Council badge?

The badge of any football club is the first image you base in your head. Little things like MOTD, EFL highlights, Sunday papers, football match day programmes. You see opposing teams and their badges and you know exactly who they are.

Who seriously knows Bristol City Council outside of the region?

Just because you read it was the council badge once doesn't make it true...

Here's the council badge.

[TBW]

2 hours ago, miser said:

Do we play at Ashton Gate. Always known it as the City ground. Started when we had the covered end, the uncovered end, the enclosure and the grandstand. All down to Bristolian understatement. Only in recent years have we gone flamboyant and got ourselves a South stand. Maybe our identity should be an introvert.

City ground is where Nottingham Forest l play. Yes we play at Ashton Gate. You can get it wrong all you like, that's all it is though, you getting it wrong. 

[Up The City!]

2 hours ago, TBW said:

City ground is where Nottingham Forest l play. Yes we play at Ashton Gate. You can get it wrong all you like, that's all it is though, you getting it wrong. 

I have always referred to Ashton Gate as the City ground, pretty much everyone else I know does as well. Tbh people refering to it as Ashton Gate is extremely rare. The Gate is used a lot but not as much as the City Ground.

[exAtyeoMax]

2 hours ago, TBW said:

City ground is where Nottingham Forest l play. Yes we play at Ashton Gate. You can get it wrong all you like, that's all it is though, you getting it wrong. 

I’ve referred to it as The City Ground, as did my mum (who’s 90) and her dad (who started going down from 1920s until 1960).

[Up The City!]

3 hours ago, cidered abroad said:

I believe it's because we have spent almost our entire league career bouncing from two to/from three that we are not regarded by many supporters of the "bigger" clubs as one that is not at the tip of one's tongue. We are off the beaten track, usually about a two hour trip for our nearest league opponents. I've once lived in the West Midlands and its normal when one says one is from Bristol and follow football, for the other person to say Bristol Rovers. For some reason their name seems to be better known than ours.

Apart from last season in the League Cup, when do we ever get noticed for a cup win? Liverpool in 93, Leeds in 74.

And have we ever won promotion via the playoffs? Not that I can remember. Hull, Brighton, Walsall?

We're a big club at League Three level and an also ran in League Two. The miserable times in the last two seasons with three/four months of scratching out a few points tell me that we're nowhere near becoming a real force at this level.

Even last Wednesday, we played the first half as if we were terrified of Stoke, who appeared to me as a reasonably well organised side, with a very average defence, but with a couple of quality midfielders and an England keeper. Apart from them, nothing special. Because we only played the second half, we lost. And that scenario happens too often.

Call me a miserable sod, but wake up to the reality. Bristol City win promotion from League Three every ten years and sometime in between, get relegated back there. Will we ever change?

Miserable times in the last two seasons? I appreciate things haven't always been great but miserable? Really? 

I'd say we are very much on our way to establishing ourselves as a solid Championship side with a lot of potential to push onwards. I don't think we ever really did that in our previous spell in the Championship.

I don't feel threatened by relegation at all and for me that's a a good feeling. I remember the dark days of league one football very clearly. How far we have come, not only on the pitch but as a club is remarkable.

Change has already happened.

[Unan]

Just use the Robin as our identity and become so good that nobody thinks twice about any other 'Robins' team.

Outside of Bristol, 10 years ago if you said "City" it could be a wide variety of teams, nowadays if someone says City you know they're referring to Man City.

Or we can give ourselves a backwards identity like Cardiff.. actually lets not.

[JulieH]

The views from travelling police spotters tends to link Bristol city to wurzels and cider !

most football police officers who visit  city  are impressed than the fans have a song dedicated to cider!

not sure if this is what was meant by an identity but away fans also tend to link city to cider also !!

 

 

 

[RedM]

The Preston and Blackburn fans I randomly met at Glastonbury one year were fascinated we sung a song about Blackbirds in a tree, and I had to teach them the lyrics!

[Ohbasso]

My thoughts on our identity -

Our nicknames’ the Robins and I know there’s a few teams that use it but surely we’re the biggest club to use it so if we pushed it more everyone would associate it with us? I think we should go back to the badge on the white away kit, it’s a great badge, I wouldn’t want a different version of it though only that one.

Ashton Gate is a stadium name other fans always seem to remember probably because we’ve played there over 100 years and have never changed it or added a sponsor to it and I hope it stays that way (sponsored stand names don’t bother me). I liked the idea of having a big sign on the back of the Atyeo saying “Welcome to the Gate” to greet the away fans as it’s an unusual name that people will remember a bit like the Den.

And lastly cider, I like the Cider Army tag, we’re well known for being cider drinkers and have lots of cider related songs which are unique to us so I think it’s a big part of our fan identity.

[InCyder]

Sounds to me like we'll be called the Bristol Robins in a few years time.

[Taz]

2 minutes ago, MC26 said:

Sounds to me like we'll be called the Bristol Robins in a few years time.

Hull Tigers weren't allowed though when they tried to "rebrand". 

If it wasnt for that, I'd completely agree with you.

[Ohbasso]

2 minutes ago, MC26 said:

Sounds to me like we'll be called the Bristol Robins in a few years time.

Hull tried changing their changing their name to Hull Tigers a while back and the league wouldn’t allow it so I think and hope not, that would be awful.

[Redcliffe1990]

Of our current associations, cider’s the most legit for me, its unique to our home and part of our heritage.

However, identity is cultivated by us, that is to say fan culture is the most important. So to have a more pronounced identity we would need to further this, win lose or draw.

Expanding current, or creating new complimentary fan groups, media and other projects. S82, the flag displays, OSIB being good examples. To me the experience should be without the expectation of success but rather built upon participation and inclusivity. Our collective experience is our identity and in turn our success.

To be fair, I’ve no problem with the experience currently, however, identity is not an arbitrary brand, marketed to the hills but it is something bred from within, over time.