Eternal Optimism......

[WesM]

I think it is the right for every person who follows a team with any modicum of pride or passion to do so blindly. When I sing ".......by far the greatest team, the world has ever seen and it's Bris-tol City....Bris-tol City FC" I really believe it, because to me, they are!

I know in my heart of hearts, we will never be more than an average 1st Division team at best in my lifetime. Sounds a little pessimistic I agree, but certain things are required to reach the promised land of the Premiership, one of which is money and lots of it. Something that unfortunately we are never going to have, unless some sugar daddy with more dosh than sense (eg Mssrs Abramovich/Walker/Hayward) comes a calling. Even so, would true Bristol City fans want this? I would hate to see the club turned into some media circus by a money man with only a passing interest in the club, to be dropped when some other small time amusement comes his way?

Another crucial element to success is fanbase. This has been brought up on other threads this week, regarding population of Bristol against fans who go to football. The LDV proved we could draw a number of people to a one of game, but I seriously doubt that we could maintain such interest levels....even if the offering was Premiership football. How many people who went to the LDV final had ever been to a BCFC game before? How many was it their only game of the season? How many went because it was a "day out" with family or friends? Are these people going to return because were playing Liverpool rather than Tranmere? I think not folks. It seems like Wigan may blow this theory out of the water this year and secure promotion with a laughable fanbase. However, when you consider their location and the demographics of the area, aswell as their increase in gates as a %, they have achieved remarkable things in what is predominantly a Rugby town.

Also support is a key factor. Having supported Bristol City all my life, I cannot claim to be an authority on other clubs, but talking to many sets of fans, we do seem to be very quick to criticise our players who we deem to be not up to scratch. I remember sitting next to a Newcastle fan who was in Bristol on business. He could not believe how critical and picky City fans were. He claims that this doesn't happen at St. James', which I didn't believe for one second. Fans who don't constantly criticse and berate their own players......surely not? It must go on at grounds all over the world, but we have got a reputation, especially locally of being very critical of our own. It's a tag we could do with losing.

The top and bottom of this is.....are we happy being a big club in a relatively small pond? Winning more games than we lose, but never doing enough to make the final step to a higher level? Or do we want to push on and be a small fish in an ocean, struggling from week to week, grounding out the occasional win and taking part in relegation battles every year.

I am not accusing the board of a lack of ambition, Jesus without them digging into their own pockets we'd be out of business already and all city fans should be grateful for the things the current board have done. I do however question whether or not we really want promotion and all the extra expense that comes with it from a business perspective? I would love to see us as an established 1st division club, but as time goes by, the gulf between all divisions is becoming wider and increasingly difficult to bridge, then even harder to maintain.

I'd rather have a reasonable 2nd Division club than an out of business, bankrupt 1st.

Thanks for listening.....any views??

[Robbored]

If City do get promoted the club get substancially more TV revenue which makes promotion even more attractive.The other benefits would include increased gate reciepts.With a better standard of football and "bigger" away support the gates at AG would increase.

And - Division one is the last step before the promised land.That alone is tempting enough.

That said - at a higher league the wage bill goes up but could be off set by the extra revenue.City would have to strengthen the squad as well which takes money.

With Steve Landsdown as chairman the club will not go into administration.He's a self made millionaire who made his dosh in the world of finance.He knows what he's doing and we fans should have faith in him and his board.

Division 1 is just what we what to improve the status of the club.