Curr Avon

Getting this...

Seems like a good time as any...

Same here. Website not loading.

Ill or injured? Anyone?

Those defensive star jumps didn't work out too well.

What happens when we win today? Expectations will go through the roof! How will we cope?

A spartan and frozen Boothferry Park (no wonder they moved!), Superbob up front, aided by Newman, Shelton, Morgan, Smith et al. Enjoy.

Well, I've got time on my hands...

It must have been inspired by these lyrics... Don't worry, about a King 'Cause every little King, gonna be all right Singin', don't worry, about a King 'Cause every little King, gonna be all right

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/sep/21/andy-king-leicester-return-bristol-city-strange-emotional Bristol City player-coach goes back on Saturday to club where he spent 16 years, rising from League One to a Premier League title Andy King knows a cocktail of emotions awaits on Saturday at the King Power Stadium and that his first trip to Leicester City, the club which shaped him, as an opposition player is guaranteed to evoke memories. “It is going to be strange,” says the Bristol City midfielder, who this summer assumed a player-coach role. “I think it will be emotional. I had a lot of happiness in that ground, some sadness as well; Vichai’s helicopter [crash] was at that stadium and that guy changed my life. I’m looking forward to going out on to the pitch and in my mind, for a split-second, reliving all of those amazing memories that made me who I am. Maybe I’ll go back out there and have a moment with myself after the game.” King’s 16-year association with Leicester, which began in digs on Aylestone Road after impressing on trial as a 15-year-old during February half term and culminated with him lifting the Premier League trophy, came to an abrupt end in July 2020. Coronavirus restrictions denied him the opportunity to say farewell to the familiar faces who helped him on his journey. “The advice was like ‘travel if absolutely necessary’, wasn’t it? So as much as I wanted to go back, me going back to say bye to the people behind the scenes – those who worked in the kitchen at the training ground for 10 years or the stadium staff – it was not essential.” This weekend though, he stresses, will not be akin to a testimonial. “It is not a sort of parade for me to go back to Leicester. I want Bristol City to win.” King lived the highs and lows of Leicester’s rise from League One to mixing it with Europe’s elite, via the pain of Yann Kermorgant’s penalty miss, the agony of ‘Deeney-day’ and, of course, the unthinkable. He scored on the day Leicester lifted the title, when the 5,000-1 story came to fruition. Leicester beat Everton 3-1, with Jamie Vardy – at whose house in Melton Mowbray the Leicester players gathered on the evening they sealed the crown in 2016 – scoring twice. Andrea Bocelli performed Nessun Dorma before the trophy lift. “Still when I hear that tune, I think of that magical day,” says King, 35 next month. “I have a photo with the man-of-the-match award, my medal around my neck and the Premier League trophy in my right hand … what more could you want from one day?” Then came Leicester’s first foray into the Champions League. “I was a ballboy at Chelsea and I used to wave the flag in the middle of the pitch – the ‘ball’ around the centre circle – to the Champions League music. You’d have to get there early because they would teach you how to take the peg out of the ground, pick up the flag and wave it … To get released by Chelsea and go to Leicester and a few years later be walking out to the music, through the big [branded] arch they put up and watching kids wave the flag, it was like: ‘That was me 13, 14 years ago.’” In his early days at Leicester, King says, scholars could not leave the training ground until all the jobs were ticked off: filling ice buckets, sweeping the changing rooms and collecting balls. He remembers cleaning the boots of Trevor Peake, the academy coach, and then Stephen Hughes, the midfielder. “You’d get Christmas tips, one hundred quid or something and be absolutely buzzing,” he says, laughing. “The lads who moved from home [to join Leicester] were all in one house so 15 or 16 of us would walk to training. I loved every minute of it.” King was at Wembley when Leicester won the FA Cup in 2021 and went with his wife, Camilla, to their home defeat against Liverpool towards the end of last season. Vardy, Marc Albrighton and Wilfred Ndidi are among the friends and former teammates who will be behind enemy lines come kick-off on Saturday. It will also be the first time Bristol City’s captain Matty James, manager Nigel Pearson and head of medical Dave Rennie return to Leicester’s stadium in a work capacity. “It is going to be weird going back into the tunnel, going left rather than right, wearing red rather than blue,” King says. Is he looking forward to seeing anyone in particular? “Birch,” King replies, alluding to Alan Birchenall, the popular club ambassador widely viewed as the voice of the club. “He is not in the best health at the moment so I want to cherish every moment I get to spend with him … it will be really nice to see him. But I’m going there with a red shirt and robin on my chest and that is not lost on me because I’ve been that guy in the stand, travelling to away games.” Andy King (second right back row) and family outside the Millennium Stadium before Bristol City's defeat by Brighton in the 2004 Second Division playoff final. Photograph: Courtesy of Andy King When King signed for Bristol City two years ago it was little known that he grew up supporting the club. His dad, John, is from Chipping Sodbury, 13 miles northeast of the city and his parents regularly attend City games. There is a great photo of King, in a gold commemorative kit from the 2000 Auto Windscreens Shield final at Wembley, sinking into the sofa next to his late grandfather, Jon. He remembers his elder brother, Dave, crying at the then Millennium Stadium after defeat in the Second Division playoff final by Brighton in 2004 and watching Dean Windass dent City’s hopes of reaching the Premier League while on a family holiday in Egypt in 2008. Another game – with a happy ending – sticks in the memory. “Brentford away [in 2003], we won 2-1, Leroy Lita scored twice and everyone piled down to the bottom of the stand to celebrate. My first live game was Liverpool in the FA Cup, 1994. Tinns [Brian Tinnion, now City’s technical director] scored in the replay … I’ve not actually spoken to him about it. Bruce Grobbelaar was in goal – my brother had a real thing about his jelly legs.” King, who played under his childhood heroes Steven Gerrard at Rangers and Frank Lampard at Derby, and spent time on loan at Swansea and Huddersfield, says: “My brother would always support who I play for. Ten years ago if Leicester played City, I think he’d want Leicester to win … I think!” So while Leicester City will always be ingrained, Bristol City also shaped him. “My brother came to uni at UWE here just so he could get a season ticket at Ashton Gate. Whenever I had a spare weekend, it was always Bristol City. Because my dad and brother were into it, and I followed what they were doing, we had the same sort of emotional rollercoaster as everyone else. That is why coming back here just put a fire back in my belly that I had been lacking since I left Leicester. Looking back, maybe I didn’t deal with the end of that as well as I should have.” He has kept his boots from the Everton game and a Champions League ball as another memento. For now, they are safely stowed. “It will only be a matter of time until Marley wants to start getting the ball out and kick it around,” he says of his eldesr daughter, who is two and a half. Piper, born last year, will also be among the family looking on at his old stomping ground. “My kids never got to see me play for Leicester … it will be nice for them to see the stadium where I made a name for myself.”

https://foreverbristolcity.podbean.com/e/plymouth-h-the-verdict-city-look-the-real-deal-in-ashton-gate-thriller/ There were goals a plenty at Ashton Gate as City convincingly beat west country rivals Argyle to secure their first home league win in emphatic style. Racing to a 2 goal lead inside the first 10 minutes the result was never in doubt once that margin had been restored to snuff out any hope of a Plymouth revival, City going in 3-1 ahead at half time. It was a great team performance savoured by DaveP, Ian, Mark & Neil in their analysis of the game and more.

Which one?

Just read the Huddersfield owners take, https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/football/news/kevin-nagle-neil-warnock-departure-27741008?int_source=amp_continue_reading&int_medium=amp&int_campaign=continue_reading_button#google_vignette Love him or hate him, Warnock has been a superb manager and thoroughly deserves his Huddersfield send off. Compare this to the plight of Watford managerial appointees, who on day one receive a special app with a countdown clock.

I'm surprised that no local media outlet has run the headline: Bristol City's PA 'Fixed' For Good

https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/chrischarles/2009/08/review_of_the_week_33.html

How we laughed when Birmingham City retired Bellingham's shirt number when he went to Dortmund. They knew his worth. What a talent.

Rose Knight-Lebel? Bloody hell, how many aliases has Cindy got?

And THE PLAN! "We had a plan." "We stuck to the plan rigidly."

Apparently they've been waiting to interview our CEO for several weeks. Listen here: Radio Bristol - Listen Live - BBC Sounds

Absolutely. We had to suffer it in 1979, now its their bloody turn.

No. Its got to be Anita Ward, Ring My Bell You can sing Sam Bell Sing Sam Bell Sam Bell, sing...

I was right! For once.

What. A. Win. Fully deserved. Best performance of the season. Williams a monster in midfield, but just edged out for my MOTM by Sykes for that belting finish and assist.