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Your First Match and Who Took You


Rich

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Blimey, seems too bloody long after this season alone!

Got into football like a lot from my generation during the ’66 World Cup and remember the first kick-about mass playground match with a tennis ball at Infants School. Before this landmark, I remember my Dad coming home from matches, talking about John Atyeo, etc. After the World Cup we swapped cowboys, war games, Thunderbirds, etc. for full on football.

So Dad asked if wanted to see a match with him. I was 7 now. It was a pre-season July/August 1966, home to Southampton. We drew 1-1, Southampton had Terry Paine (played early games at World Cup) and I think still had Martin Chivers (later to be Spurs and England star). I was hooked. Then he took me to a reserve mid week match with my Mum as well ( a lad called Dickie Downs was playing and my mum knew his mum - I think that’s the only reason she went!).

I loved it and I think my dad was glad he got me into City before any chance my head might be turned by Rovers. Although there was little chance of this living in South Bristol and all my family from a City background.

The icing on the cake came when for a joint Xmas and birthday present, he got me a season ticket (Juvenile Season Card Season 1966/67) which cost him £5 - a lot of money to us in those days(hence a joint birthday and Xmas present).  The journey began and despite the usual moans and groans of following the team I wouldn’t swap any of experiences I had following as a supporter all these years. Loads of great memories, including visits to Spurs (Greaves, Gilzean, Mackay), West Ham ( inc. Moore, Hurst, Peters) in late 1960’s FA Cup matches.

I was lucky to get to know many of the players during those days and over the next 15 or so years, who were all great set of blokes. 

I was with my dad as tears rolled down his cheeks at Ashton Gate the night City beat Portsmouth to get to the First Division. It was then I understood what it meant to support a football club. Not just all the heartaches, the promotion success, the journey, but spending time and the shared experience with your family, friends, or even if you’re on your own you’ve got the rest of the City fans. 

That’s why I can’t shake off those bonds to this day, and I will meet up with my son next season (despite him telling me I’ve scarred him for life by making him go to watch City v Luton when he was 5).

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Watching since 1967 and following for a few years before that by reading second hand copies of The Green'un.  We were very poor and I could not afford to go and had to save up. First match I saw was against Birmingham when John Galley (2) and Chris Crowe scored.  Became a lifelong addict.  It should have come with a health warning!

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Since the late '70s - got into football at Primary School, one of the teachers there earned a few bob working down at AG of a Saturday, and used to take trips down there for us to watch games.

First ever game was a 1-1 draw with ManUre. 

The first team I supported was...Chelsea. 'Cos when I was little (under 4), we lived on Chelsea Park Rd, in Easton...logical little bu99er, wasn't I?

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16 hours ago, HappyClapper said:

You’re definitely a supporter in my book. What I don’t understand is why!! Most of us can blame our parents/ grandparents or our proximity to the ground. How were you hooked in?

I am on my phone and is too much to write, if i will find the topic where I explained it will be nice. I was in love with English football like forever, I grow up in a sporty atmosphere. 

Even if Nott Forest were our best opponents and with a much bigger history that I knew about, I development feelings about this team but it grow eventually even more in that 2007/2008 championship run. I stick with City since then, season by season and I had probably everytime bigger expectations than most of you cause yeah... I chose to be a fan of this team and I can't wait to see it in the First League. That is a natural thing when you grow up watching your country based favorite team in Champions League and fighting for the title every time. 

Sometimes I am not patient, cause I know that we could to better. A lot of teams, probably smaller than City, managed to get into PL. I am sure we will too, but as you all feel, the patience is not at a high level ( that doesn't make me not interested anymore, just making me to take a break from the forum to not write shitty things, cause I don't know what happens there, I know only what I read and I may be wrong ).

And sometimes I am just starting a career in Football Manager to get to the top level and feel good about it in a virtual way, after a disappointing season in real life. A disappointing season it is probably everyone except our promotion from league one in 2015. When we finish 8th after top 6 half of the season, for me is a disappointing season cause I had hopes.

But this is our team, we have sometimes a bad start, we come back and we still finish in a bad manner. Or either we start good and like in every season, our last 5 games will destroy the whole season. Even when we almost promoted in 2008, we had a horrible run in the end and we lost top 2.

Hope Nigel can change this, he has plenty of experience.

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2 minutes ago, Mihai said:

I am on my phone and is too much to write, if i will find the topic where I explained it will be nice. I was in love with English football like forever, I grow up in a sporty atmosphere. 

Even if Nott Forest were our best opponents and with a much bigger history that I knew about, I development feelings about this team but it grow eventually even more in that 2007/2008 championship run. I stick with City since then, season by season and I had probably everytime bigger expectations than most of you cause yeah... I chose to be a fan of this team and I can't wait to see it in the First League. That is a natural thing when you grow up watching your country based favorite team in Champions League and fighting for the title every time. 

Sometimes I am not patient, cause I know that we could to better. A lot of teams, probably smaller than City, managed to get into PL. I am sure we will too, but as you all feel, the patience is not at a high level ( that doesn't make me not interested anymore, just making me to take a break from the forum to not write shitty things, cause I don't know what happens there, I know only what I read and I may be wrong ).

And sometimes I am just starting a career in Football Manager to get to the top level and feel good about it in a virtual way, after a disappointing season in real life. A disappointing season it is probably everyone except our promotion from league one in 2015. When we finish 8th after top 6 half of the season, for me is a disappointing season cause I had hopes.

But this is our team, we have sometimes a bad start, we come back and we still finish in a bad manner. Or either we start good and like in every season, our last 5 games will destroy the whole season. Even when we almost promoted in 2008, we had a horrible run in the end and we lost top 2.

Hope Nigel can change this, he has plenty of experience.

That's amazing, it's really fascinating knowing we have supporters around the world, and to have followed a team for 15 years when you have no familial connection is seriously impressive. 

Any chance of forming a Romania branch, like our Swedish friends did?

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1 hour ago, ZiderEyed said:

That's amazing, it's really fascinating knowing we have supporters around the world, and to have followed a team for 15 years when you have no familial connection is seriously impressive. 

Any chance of forming a Romania branch, like our Swedish friends did?

I think that is quite impossible. I had some friends that supported Swansea, since Lee Trundle played for them so they were not looking like a future good club. We have big problems about football in Romania. There is a crisis, the best team Steaua Bucharest divided into two teams, the second best team is fighting for relegation. Steaua and Dinamo means around 70% of football supporters in my country. 

We lack perspective of developing footballers. The Minister and the Football Federation did only wrong things in the last 20 years. We pay less than before for fotballers, salaries. Hope this crisis will end soon and we will do the thing properly. We have a lot of wasted talents around the map. 

Based on this, I don't know how involved are in lower league teams when they are barely involved into domestic teams.

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One of my earliest memories is of being hoisted onto my father’s shoulders as a 2/3 year old and looking out over a huge crowd. Bizarrely, for many years I thought that this memory was associated with the Queen’s Coronation!   However, I’m not quite old enough for that and now I think that my memory is of my first visit to Ashton Gate and I like to believe that this was during the 1954/5 promotion season and that what I am remembering is the view of the crowd from the back of the Open End.  Then there was a gap of ten years until the switching on of the “new” floodlights v Wolves in 1965 and the John Atyeo testimonial match in 1966.  I’m still here - returned to the city after years of living in the midlands - and hoping for many more seasons.

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On and off since 1965, in 1970s had a spell in the Army when I was overseas so couldn't attend, then later on bringing up a family couldn't afford regular attendance. However I was lucky enough to be there on the night we secured our promotion to Division 1 (now the Premier), a mate of mine swapped Guard duties - I ended up doing two weekend duties for the swap, but it was well worth it.

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My dad took me to my first game v norwich 1971.we lost 1-0 and I was at the front as a 6 year old in the park end.

my main memory was bowyers sponsored the game and threw loads of pork pies into the crowd at half time!!

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1967 for me as an 8 year old. Can't remember which specific match was the first but I can remember Terry Bush and Hugh McIlmoyle up front before the great John Galley signed. I can remember the teleprinter on Grandstand announcing his debut hat-trick away at Huddersfield later that season. I used to stand on the little wall with feet and arms wrapped around the railings at the open bit of the East end in front of the entrance next to the enclosure. Vividly remember the kid next to me eating a bag of Revels and offering me one but not letting me have any of the round ones with the nice centres. I could only have the flat counter of chocolate. Bastard! Was that any of you lot on here I wonder?

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On 26/05/2021 at 06:48, Street red said:

First game home to Aldershot 25th October 1988 in the east end The old age of ten 33 years of supporting city.

Almost identical to myself, I'd just turned 11.

I'd just moved to Bristol and my step-dad - despite living in Bristol for almost his entire life and being a diehard Gashead - was an army baby born in Aldershot so always had them as his second team. He took myself and my brother into the East End and we were hooked. Despite his allegiances he encouraged our enthusiasm and kept taking us to Ashton Gate until some of our friend's dads volunteered and he gracefully stepped away.

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I wasn't really into football as a little kid. I'd probably have said City if anybody had asked me, because my dad supported them, but I wouldn't have really cared.

That all changed in 1990 when the World Cup opened my eyes to the beautiful game. After that I was obsessed with football and demanded my dad start taking me to AG. 

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and time for me...i had to consult with Dr Google.

I think, it was 27 December 1982, aged 8, in the Dolman with my Uncle, who had recently recovered from a stroke, we lost 1-3 to the mighty Port Vale. Hooked; line and sinker.

I remember my mates at school wondering what happened, why wasn't I a Liverpool or Man U supporter. 

The simple answer = babysitting. I could get my mum or dad to deliver me to my Aunt & Uncle's place, I could get a nice fishfingers chips and beans for lunch, followed by the majesty of Ashton Gate. I got picked up at around 7pm, and they probably had a very nice time without me and my younger brother fighting for 6 hours!

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first visit was 1984.

i was in the West ham end for a 2-2 cup game (I was a casual Hammers fan - Cottee and someone else scored for WHU - i got pinned in by police dogs after :))

then started after that going down with friends, around 1986? post wembley, but a game where City missed out on the play offs I think, someone (nevil?) hit the post, Moyes was playing.

Standing up behind pillar 4 in the East end (although i swear that pillar moved in line with the play)

then ever since.

 

 

 

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4 hours ago, TedsHeadIs Red said:

Given how long people on here have been supporting City, perhaps this forum should be renamed Old Timers In Bristol.

But it’s been a really good thread to read and the loyalty shown has been very reassuring for a hapless club like ours.

The demographic has certainly been very interesting. I’m a comparative young ‘un on here which is great, as I’m not many other places any more! 

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February 1976 a 1-1 draw with Saints so 45ish years for me.

It`s worth thinking about that, if you have been a fan for 42+ years that is a third of the entire time that the club has existed. If you`ve supported for longer than 63 years (and we have a few on here I reckon) you`ve done over half the time.

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1 hour ago, Lanterne Rouge said:

February 1976 a 1-1 draw with Saints so 45ish years for me.

It`s worth thinking about that, if you have been a fan for 42+ years that is a third of the entire time that the club has existed. If you`ve supported for longer than 63 years (and we have a few on here I reckon) you`ve done over half the time.

Is this why my  status is 'Rising Star" 

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2 hours ago, Lanterne Rouge said:

February 1976 a 1-1 draw with Saints so 45ish years for me.

It`s worth thinking about that, if you have been a fan for 42+ years that is a third of the entire time that the club has existed. If you`ve supported for longer than 63 years (and we have a few on here I reckon) you`ve done over half the time.

Likewise, 45 years. 

Forty. Five. F ##ing. Years. 

 

 

tenor (8).gif

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1 hour ago, City Rocker said:

Likewise, 45 years. 

Forty. Five. F ##ing. Years. 

 

 

tenor (8).gif

I became a City fan from the approximate age of 10 when my dear old Dad made me go with him to watch his beloved Bristol Rovers. From that day there was always friendly banter between us, sadly Dad has long gone, Rovers are still crap, I'm 73 still love City & still waiting but hopefully NP can get on the right path :pray:.

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As we now get wall to wall coverage of football on the telly, is going to your first match still the same rite of passage.

The crowds, the noise ,words you didn't understand ,the fog of cigarette smoke ,the smell of frying onions and that moment when you first see the pitch .

Unforgettable

Spurs v Sheffield Wednesday 1962 .my Dad

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