The Bottom Line For This Football Club...

[Wanderingred]

..is that its never going to go anywhere and is destined to spend eternity lurking around league 1 with brief forays into the second tier every now and then. I have been a supporter since 1990, my dad since around 1960 and my grandfather since well before the war. Since then, the same mistakes have been repeated again and again, and the same old "what if?" questions have been asked

The fundamental reason for this is that nobody in any position of influence in this city has the ambition, the vision or the competence to make it happen and furthermore, the people of Bristol simply do not care enough. Lets start with the fanbase. A metropolitan area of well over half a million these days and we couldnt even sell out a 20,000 seater stadium when top of the championship. Compare this with a city like Norwich. Half the size yet they are passionate about their football. Years of stagnation saw them drop into league 1 a few years ago yet they continued to average 25,000 fans and were far too big to stay down there.

Now I can already hear peoples responses... But Norwich have won over a generation of fans for their success in the 70s and 80s!! Very true but you could ask what enabled them to get that success in the first place? Well, vision. Ambition. Good decision making. Drive. Something that the apathetic people of Bristol have never really had. Which brings us to those at the club and those in the local authority.

City had the world at their feet just a few years ago. A top 10 championship side, a vision for a wonderful new stadium to potentially host the world cup, an exciting squad of talented players and a real feeling that this club was finally about to take off. And what scuppered those dreams more than anything else? A bunch of dog walkers. Thats right. The people in the local government and the people in charge of the football club with millions of pounds behind them allowed themselves to be beaten by 20 or so local residents who just didnt really fancy looking at a big red building from their kitchen window.

And the reason they won? Because our local government lacked the competence to follow regulations correctly.. Because the people at the club failed to recognise the threat of the village green application. And because overall people just didnt fight hard enough. Ive no doubt that if this had happened in Liverpool, Newcastle or indeed even Norwich, these nimbies would have been crushed. Utterly embarassing. .

Since then, the writing has been on the wall. Bad decision after bad decision has seen us move backwards because people at the club are incapable of doing the right thing. .. The wrong men have been appointed who in turn have made poor decisions. And here we are again drawing 1-1 with Colchester bloomin United.

No doubt one day in the next ten years or so we will be on the up again. Which is great. But history says that we are only going to get so far again before it all comes crashing down.... Unless something changes. Something big that can put right 100 years of bad management, short sightedness and general apathy

I just think theres something in the water in this city. The local authority is one of the worst in the country, education standards are very low and all this has filtered through to the football club which has shuffled its way around the lower divisions for a hundered years whilst clubs from smaller places (Watford, Norwich, Reading, Swansea, Ipswich and countless others) have created solid football clubs.

What I want peoples opinions on is what will it take for things to finally change?

I asked this very question to my dad and his response was that he'd be perfectly happy to see out our days in a run down ashton gate playing in league 1, he just wants a club to support. Does that sum up our fanbase I wonder?

[cheshire_red]

With hindsight would any decision have been made? Would SL have even pumped a penny into the club?

I was happy in the Championship with the chance of the play-offs every other season or so would have been fine. Some big big clubs in that division with attractive fixtures week in week out.

There is a saying that if you keep pointing in the right direction then one day you will get there. We just need to learn from the mistakes and keep pointing in that direction and one day we will.

[Aizoon]

..is that its never going to go anywhere and is destined to spend eternity lurking around league 1 with brief forays into the second tier every now and then. I have been a supporter since 1990, my dad since around 1960 and my grandfather since well before the war. Since then, the same mistakes have been repeated again and again, and the same old "what if?" questions have been asked

The fundamental reason for this is that nobody in any position of influence in this city has the ambition, the vision or the competence to make it happen and furthermore, the people of Bristol simply do not care enough. Lets start with the fanbase. A metropolitan area of well over half a million these days and we couldnt even sell out a 20,000 seater stadium when top of the championship. Compare this with a city like Norwich. Half the size yet they are passionate about their football. Years of stagnation saw them drop into league 1 a few years ago yet they continued to average 25,000 fans and were far too big to stay down there.

Now I can already hear peoples responses... But Norwich have won over a generation of fans for their success in the 70s and 80s!! Very true but you could ask what enabled them to get that success in the first place? Well, vision. Ambition. Good decision making. Drive. Something that the apathetic people of Bristol have never really had. Which brings us to those at the club and those in the local authority.

City had the world at their feet just a few years ago. A top 10 championship side, a vision for a wonderful new stadium to potentially host the world cup, an exciting squad of talented players and a real feeling that this club was finally about to take off. And what scuppered those dreams more than anything else? A bunch of dog walkers. Thats right. The people in the local government and the people in charge of the football club with millions of pounds behind them allowed themselves to be beaten by 20 or so local residents who just didnt really fancy looking at a big red building from their kitchen window.

And the reason they won? Because our local government lacked the competence to follow regulations correctly.. Because the people at the club failed to recognise the threat of the village green application. And because overall people just didnt fight hard enough. Ive no doubt that if this had happened in Liverpool, Newcastle or indeed even Norwich, these nimbies would have been crushed. Utterly embarassing. .

Since then, the writing has been on the wall. Bad decision after bad decision has seen us move backwards because people at the club are incapable of doing the right thing. .. The wrong men have been appointed who in turn have made poor decisions. And here we are again drawing 1-1 with Colchester bloomin United.

No doubt one day in the next ten years or so we will be on the up again. Which is great. But history says that we are only going to get so far again before it all comes crashing down.... Unless something changes. Something big that can put right 100 years of bad management, short sightedness and general apathy

I just think theres something in the water in this city. The local authority is one of the worst in the country, education standards are very low and all this has filtered through to the football club which has shuffled its way around the lower divisions for a hundered years whilst clubs from smaller places (Watford, Norwich, Reading, Swansea, Ipswich and countless others) have created solid football clubs.

What I want peoples opinions on is what will it take for things to finally change?

I asked this very question to my dad and his response was that he'd be perfectly happy to see out our days in a run down ashton gate playing in league 1, he just wants a club to support. Does that sum up our fanbase I wonder?

Top post. The same could be said of the Gas, Bristol Rugby, and just about any venture not involving clowns or bicycles. I love this city, was born here and hope to die here, but isn't it run by some total rissoles?

[Mr Mosquito]

..is that its never going to go anywhere and is destined to spend eternity lurking around league 1 with brief forays into the second tier every now and then. I have been a supporter since 1990, my dad since around 1960 and my grandfather since well before the war. Since then, the same mistakes have been repeated again and again, and the same old "what if?" questions have been asked

The fundamental reason for this is that nobody in any position of influence in this city has the ambition, the vision or the competence to make it happen and furthermore, the people of Bristol simply do not care enough. Lets start with the fanbase. A metropolitan area of well over half a million these days and we couldnt even sell out a 20,000 seater stadium when top of the championship. Compare this with a city like Norwich. Half the size yet they are passionate about their football. Years of stagnation saw them drop into league 1 a few years ago yet they continued to average 25,000 fans and were far too big to stay down there.

Now I can already hear peoples responses... But Norwich have won over a generation of fans for their success in the 70s and 80s!! Very true but you could ask what enabled them to get that success in the first place? Well, vision. Ambition. Good decision making. Drive. Something that the apathetic people of Bristol have never really had. Which brings us to those at the club and those in the local authority.

City had the world at their feet just a few years ago. A top 10 championship side, a vision for a wonderful new stadium to potentially host the world cup, an exciting squad of talented players and a real feeling that this club was finally about to take off. And what scuppered those dreams more than anything else? A bunch of dog walkers. Thats right. The people in the local government and the people in charge of the football club with millions of pounds behind them allowed themselves to be beaten by 20 or so local residents who just didnt really fancy looking at a big red building from their kitchen window.

And the reason they won? Because our local government lacked the competence to follow regulations correctly.. Because the people at the club failed to recognise the threat of the village green application. And because overall people just didnt fight hard enough. Ive no doubt that if this had happened in Liverpool, Newcastle or indeed even Norwich, these nimbies would have been crushed. Utterly embarassing. .

Since then, the writing has been on the wall. Bad decision after bad decision has seen us move backwards because people at the club are incapable of doing the right thing. .. The wrong men have been appointed who in turn have made poor decisions. And here we are again drawing 1-1 with Colchester bloomin United.

No doubt one day in the next ten years or so we will be on the up again. Which is great. But history says that we are only going to get so far again before it all comes crashing down.... Unless something changes. Something big that can put right 100 years of bad management, short sightedness and general apathy

I just think theres something in the water in this city. The local authority is one of the worst in the country, education standards are very low and all this has filtered through to the football club which has shuffled its way around the lower divisions for a hundered years whilst clubs from smaller places (Watford, Norwich, Reading, Swansea, Ipswich and countless others) have created solid football clubs.

What I want peoples opinions on is what will it take for things to finally change?

I asked this very question to my dad and his response was that he'd be perfectly happy to see out our days in a run down ashton gate playing in league 1, he just wants a club to support. Does that sum up our fanbase I wonder?

Great post Sir. The last bit of decent success was 1976-80 when we were last a top flight club. Before that you have to look at the period 1905-20. My maternal Grandfather (born in St Judes Bristol) was a staunch City fan and I remember him talking about going to the FA Cup Semi final as a teenager at Stamford Bridge where we lost 2-1 to Huddersfield. BLOODY HELL - 1920 remains the last time we reached the FA Cup semis !!!!!!

My paternal Grandfather had a bit more luck with his place of birth because he was born at Preston just outside Brighton and I know he used to take the train with his Dad to London to watch Chelsea. Then there's me, born Southmead Bristol with a choice of Gas or City to watch - like my long suffering maternal Grandfather I've now suffered years of watching lower league football following City. It's very depressing the way in which we've slumped back to the 3rd tier with massive debts and I'm pissed off with it to be honest.

[Cider red]

..is that its never going to go anywhere and is destined to spend eternity lurking around league 1 with brief forays into the second tier every now and then. I have been a supporter since 1990, my dad since around 1960 and my grandfather since well before the war. Since then, the same mistakes have been repeated again and again, and the same old "what if?" questions have been asked

The fundamental reason for this is that nobody in any position of influence in this city has the ambition, the vision or the competence to make it happen and furthermore, the people of Bristol simply do not care enough. Lets start with the fanbase. A metropolitan area of well over half a million these days and we couldnt even sell out a 20,000 seater stadium when top of the championship. Compare this with a city like Norwich. Half the size yet they are passionate about their football. Years of stagnation saw them drop into league 1 a few years ago yet they continued to average 25,000 fans and were far too big to stay down there.

Now I can already hear peoples responses... But Norwich have won over a generation of fans for their success in the 70s and 80s!! Very true but you could ask what enabled them to get that success in the first place? Well, vision. Ambition. Good decision making. Drive. Something that the apathetic people of Bristol have never really had. Which brings us to those at the club and those in the local authority.

City had the world at their feet just a few years ago. A top 10 championship side, a vision for a wonderful new stadium to potentially host the world cup, an exciting squad of talented players and a real feeling that this club was finally about to take off. And what scuppered those dreams more than anything else? A bunch of dog walkers. Thats right. The people in the local government and the people in charge of the football club with millions of pounds behind them allowed themselves to be beaten by 20 or so local residents who just didnt really fancy looking at a big red building from their kitchen window.

And the reason they won? Because our local government lacked the competence to follow regulations correctly.. Because the people at the club failed to recognise the threat of the village green application. And because overall people just didnt fight hard enough. Ive no doubt that if this had happened in Liverpool, Newcastle or indeed even Norwich, these nimbies would have been crushed. Utterly embarassing. .

Since then, the writing has been on the wall. Bad decision after bad decision has seen us move backwards because people at the club are incapable of doing the right thing. .. The wrong men have been appointed who in turn have made poor decisions. And here we are again drawing 1-1 with Colchester bloomin United.

No doubt one day in the next ten years or so we will be on the up again. Which is great. But history says that we are only going to get so far again before it all comes crashing down.... Unless something changes. Something big that can put right 100 years of bad management, short sightedness and general apathy

I just think theres something in the water in this city. The local authority is one of the worst in the country, education standards are very low and all this has filtered through to the football club which has shuffled its way around the lower divisions for a hundered years whilst clubs from smaller places (Watford, Norwich, Reading, Swansea, Ipswich and countless others) have created solid football clubs.

What I want peoples opinions on is what will it take for things to finally change?

I asked this very question to my dad and his response was that he'd be perfectly happy to see out our days in a run down ashton gate playing in league 1, he just wants a club to support. Does that sum up our fanbase I wonder?

I agree with the majority of your post. For whatever reason its never seemed to click for us (yet!) but I think majority of fans are as passionate as others across the country. Similar cities of our size who have one club get in the region of 20k (leeds for example) but we have 2, if you put our average attendances with rovers both doing poorly in the third and four tier respectively your talking 15-20k minimum. Norwich again only have the one club. Also the last time we were doing well at the top of the championship we averaged 17k in a stadium that holds just over 19.5 on a good day, many times in that season we could have sold far more which would have put the average up no doubt. The support is definitely there, I predict with a redeveloped gate and doing well in the championship we will average 20-22k, that we will have to wait a few years for though im afraid.

[WolfOfWestStreet]

The lack of quality sporting infrastructure in this city is a disgrace and an absolute embarrassment.

[Major Isewater]

..is that its never going to go anywhere and is destined to spend eternity lurking around league 1 with brief forays into the second tier every now and then. I have been a supporter since 1990, my dad since around 1960 and my grandfather since well before the war. Since then, the same mistakes have been repeated again and again, and the same old "what if?" questions have been asked

The fundamental reason for this is that nobody in any position of influence in this city has the ambition, the vision or the competence to make it happen and furthermore, the people of Bristol simply do not care enough. Lets start with the fanbase. A metropolitan area of well over half a million these days and we couldnt even sell out a 20,000 seater stadium when top of the championship. Compare this with a city like Norwich. Half the size yet they are passionate about their football. Years of stagnation saw them drop into league 1 a few years ago yet they continued to average 25,000 fans and were far too big to stay down there.

Now I can already hear peoples responses... But Norwich have won over a generation of fans for their success in the 70s and 80s!! Very true but you could ask what enabled them to get that success in the first place? Well, vision. Ambition. Good decision making. Drive. Something that the apathetic people of Bristol have never really had. Which brings us to those at the club and those in the local authority.

City had the world at their feet just a few years ago. A top 10 championship side, a vision for a wonderful new stadium to potentially host the world cup, an exciting squad of talented players and a real feeling that this club was finally about to take off. And what scuppered those dreams more than anything else? A bunch of dog walkers. Thats right. The people in the local government and the people in charge of the football club with millions of pounds behind them allowed themselves to be beaten by 20 or so local residents who just didnt really fancy looking at a big red building from their kitchen window.

And the reason they won? Because our local government lacked the competence to follow regulations correctly.. Because the people at the club failed to recognise the threat of the village green application. And because overall people just didnt fight hard enough. Ive no doubt that if this had happened in Liverpool, Newcastle or indeed even Norwich, these nimbies would have been crushed. Utterly embarassing. .

Since then, the writing has been on the wall. Bad decision after bad decision has seen us move backwards because people at the club are incapable of doing the right thing. .. The wrong men have been appointed who in turn have made poor decisions. And here we are again drawing 1-1 with Colchester bloomin United.

No doubt one day in the next ten years or so we will be on the up again. Which is great. But history says that we are only going to get so far again before it all comes crashing down.... Unless something changes. Something big that can put right 100 years of bad management, short sightedness and general apathy

I just think theres something in the water in this city. The local authority is one of the worst in the country, education standards are very low and all this has filtered through to the football club which has shuffled its way around the lower divisions for a hundered years whilst clubs from smaller places (Watford, Norwich, Reading, Swansea, Ipswich and countless others) have created solid football clubs.

What I want peoples opinions on is what will it take for things to finally change?

I asked this very question to my dad and his response was that he'd be perfectly happy to see out our days in a run down ashton gate playing in league 1, he just wants a club to support. Does that sum up our fanbase I wonder?

A wonderful publicity for our town.Come to Bristol DTA (death to ambition)

Are we going to stand for this ?

quite probably i think;

[Guest]

..is that its never going to go anywhere and is destined to spend eternity lurking around league 1 with brief forays into the second tier every now and then. I have been a supporter since 1990, my dad since around 1960 and my grandfather since well before the war. Since then, the same mistakes have been repeated again and again, and the same old "what if?" questions have been asked

The fundamental reason for this is that nobody in any position of influence in this city has the ambition, the vision or the competence to make it happen and furthermore, the people of Bristol simply do not care enough. Lets start with the fanbase. A metropolitan area of well over half a million these days and we couldnt even sell out a 20,000 seater stadium when top of the championship. Compare this with a city like Norwich. Half the size yet they are passionate about their football. Years of stagnation saw them drop into league 1 a few years ago yet they continued to average 25,000 fans and were far too big to stay down there.

Now I can already hear peoples responses... But Norwich have won over a generation of fans for their success in the 70s and 80s!! Very true but you could ask what enabled them to get that success in the first place? Well, vision. Ambition. Good decision making. Drive. Something that the apathetic people of Bristol have never really had. Which brings us to those at the club and those in the local authority.

City had the world at their feet just a few years ago. A top 10 championship side, a vision for a wonderful new stadium to potentially host the world cup, an exciting squad of talented players and a real feeling that this club was finally about to take off. And what scuppered those dreams more than anything else? A bunch of dog walkers. Thats right. The people in the local government and the people in charge of the football club with millions of pounds behind them allowed themselves to be beaten by 20 or so local residents who just didnt really fancy looking at a big red building from their kitchen window.

And the reason they won? Because our local government lacked the competence to follow regulations correctly.. Because the people at the club failed to recognise the threat of the village green application. And because overall people just didnt fight hard enough. Ive no doubt that if this had happened in Liverpool, Newcastle or indeed even Norwich, these nimbies would have been crushed. Utterly embarassing. .

Since then, the writing has been on the wall. Bad decision after bad decision has seen us move backwards because people at the club are incapable of doing the right thing. .. The wrong men have been appointed who in turn have made poor decisions. And here we are again drawing 1-1 with Colchester bloomin United.

No doubt one day in the next ten years or so we will be on the up again. Which is great. But history says that we are only going to get so far again before it all comes crashing down.... Unless something changes. Something big that can put right 100 years of bad management, short sightedness and general apathy

I just think theres something in the water in this city. The local authority is one of the worst in the country, education standards are very low and all this has filtered through to the football club which has shuffled its way around the lower divisions for a hundered years whilst clubs from smaller places (Watford, Norwich, Reading, Swansea, Ipswich and countless others) have created solid football clubs.

What I want peoples opinions on is what will it take for things to finally change?

I asked this very question to my dad and his response was that he'd be perfectly happy to see out our days in a run down ashton gate playing in league 1, he just wants a club to support. Does that sum up our fanbase I wonder?

Chinaman, Yank or Arab and a big broom.

[...]

Bristol football is in a shameful state.

Once upon a time, a pundit was asked 'where should BCFC be in the league'.

The answer?

"About 1/2 way up in Division 2" (If the Prem is Div 1, then he meant the Championship).

This was met with derision by most supporters, thinking we could do better than 1/2 way in the Championship, as it is known today.

At the moment, this is a pipe dream.

I don't think anyone can explain why Bristol cannot support at least one team that can plod-on regularly in mid-table in the Championship.

Does this sum-up Bristol itself? I think it probably does. You get what you deserve.

The truth hurts.

[Mr Popodopolous]

Essentially agree, there's something wrong and no mistake with us historically- hell Bristol sport in general given the potential!

Course we had a fella who was achieving lower to upper midtable in Championship, credible results against ex PL clubs, the Gate a bit of a fortress...ah well.

[Portland Bill]

Essentially agree, there's something wrong and no mistake with us historically- hell Bristol sport in general given the potential!

Course we had a fella who was achieving lower to upper midtable in Championship, credible results against ex PL clubs, the Gate a bit of a fortress...ah well.

That was until Cardiff and Doncaster came along and scored 6 and 5 against us, that was the beginning of our downward spiral.

[Mr Popodopolous]

That was until Cardiff and Doncaster came along and scored 6 and 5 against us, that was the beginning of our downward spiral.

Yeah, this is true- maybe I'm looking at it a bit too rose tinted- can't help but wonder on occasion though.

Still GJ aside, and yes let's accept he had to go the underachievement of Bristol sport in general is a shocker! But nobody yet has done better than him in that timespan in terms of those who followed him.

[The Red Planet]

We still have a very wealthy benefactor - SL of course, who believes passionately in Bristol sport (rugby included). I know there is only so much he can do under the new FFP regs, but he is still there, underpinning our club. Thankfully.

Yes, he was of course (like most of us)very disappointed by the NIMBY response to the new stadium proposals but we fight on and it may be that a re-developed AG will actually turn out to be the better option - although I dread the intervening period, going to games on a building site.

As for support for sport in Bristol, yes it can be a bit fickle and comparisons with (smaller city) Norwich are valid BUT if you were at the JPT cup game v Rovers you know how it could be.

And I have vivid memories of electric atmospheres at AG in play-off semi-finals v Hartlepool and Crystal Palace - both of which we won over two legs.

Don't give up, keep the faith. Even after our dreadful start to this season, I am convinced we will not be relegated and in fact we could be competing for a play-off place come the end of the season.

Now that is optimism !

[Mr Popodopolous]

We still have a very wealthy benefactor - SL of course, who believes passionately in Bristol sport (rugby included). I know there is only so much he can do under the new FFP regs, but he is still there, underpinning our club. Thankfully.

Yes, he was of course (like most of us)very disappointed by the NIMBY response to the new stadium proposals but we fight on and it may be that a re-developed AG will actually turn out to be the better option - although I dread the intervening period, going to games on a building site.

As for support for sport in Bristol, yes it can be a bit fickle and comparisons with (smaller city) Norwich are valid BUT if you were at the JPT cup game v Rovers you know how it could be.

And I have vivid memories of electric atmospheres at AG in play-off semi-finals v Hartlepool and Crystal Palace - both of which we won over two legs.

Don't give up, keep the faith. Even after our dreadful start to this season, I am convinced we will not be relegated and in fact we could be competing for a play-off place come the end of the season.

Now that is optimism !

Quite right, 9 games- on paper we still have one of the better squads on paper in this League- we could have a big run at some point, just a confidence and transition question I feel. Bristol derby was a cracker but overall we have udnerachieved historically surely.

[Guest]

Quite right, 9 games- on paper we still have one of the better squads on paper in this League- we could have a big run at some point, just a confidence and transition question I feel. Bristol derby was a cracker but overall we have udnerachieved historically surely.

Were we in transition in the Bristol derby, if so how did we win?

Another "transition" question; Is transition where we sell and buy some pro footballers?

A "gel" question; is this done after or during transition or are they both the same?

Or are both the above words in fact words used when our and other teams are not getting results they should be.

[Son of Fred]

..is that its never going to go anywhere and is destined to spend eternity lurking around league 1 with brief forays into the second tier every now and then. I have been a supporter since 1990, my dad since around 1960 and my grandfather since well before the war. Since then, the same mistakes have been repeated again and again, and the same old "what if?" questions have been asked

The fundamental reason for this is that nobody in any position of influence in this city has the ambition, the vision or the competence to make it happen and furthermore, the people of Bristol simply do not care enough. Lets start with the fanbase. A metropolitan area of well over half a million these days and we couldnt even sell out a 20,000 seater stadium when top of the championship. Compare this with a city like Norwich. Half the size yet they are passionate about their football. Years of stagnation saw them drop into league 1 a few years ago yet they continued to average 25,000 fans and were far too big to stay down there.

Now I can already hear peoples responses... But Norwich have won over a generation of fans for their success in the 70s and 80s!! Very true but you could ask what enabled them to get that success in the first place? Well, vision. Ambition. Good decision making. Drive. Something that the apathetic people of Bristol have never really had. Which brings us to those at the club and those in the local authority.

City had the world at their feet just a few years ago. A top 10 championship side, a vision for a wonderful new stadium to potentially host the world cup, an exciting squad of talented players and a real feeling that this club was finally about to take off. And what scuppered those dreams more than anything else? A bunch of dog walkers. Thats right. The people in the local government and the people in charge of the football club with millions of pounds behind them allowed themselves to be beaten by 20 or so local residents who just didnt really fancy looking at a big red building from their kitchen window.

And the reason they won? Because our local government lacked the competence to follow regulations correctly.. Because the people at the club failed to recognise the threat of the village green application. And because overall people just didnt fight hard enough. Ive no doubt that if this had happened in Liverpool, Newcastle or indeed even Norwich, these nimbies would have been crushed. Utterly embarassing. .

Since then, the writing has been on the wall. Bad decision after bad decision has seen us move backwards because people at the club are incapable of doing the right thing. .. The wrong men have been appointed who in turn have made poor decisions. And here we are again drawing 1-1 with Colchester bloomin United.

No doubt one day in the next ten years or so we will be on the up again. Which is great. But history says that we are only going to get so far again before it all comes crashing down.... Unless something changes. Something big that can put right 100 years of bad management, short sightedness and general apathy

I just think theres something in the water in this city. The local authority is one of the worst in the country, education standards are very low and all this has filtered through to the football club which has shuffled its way around the lower divisions for a hundered years whilst clubs from smaller places (Watford, Norwich, Reading, Swansea, Ipswich and countless others) have created solid football clubs.

What I want peoples opinions on is what will it take for things to finally change?

I asked this very question to my dad and his response was that he'd be perfectly happy to see out our days in a run down ashton gate playing in league 1, he just wants a club to support. Does that sum up our fanbase I wonder?

For things to change?by whome is our fair City run?...anyone wanting to achieve anything worth having in Bristol will face nothing but objection,apathy and hurdle after hurdle constantly thrown in the path..whatever IS achieved in Bristol is done so very much the hard way and only by those prepared to constantly battle with the decision makers.to describe these people as lacking vision is an hilarious understatement.

[RegC]

Football-wise you're spot on of course. We ARE a 2nd/3rd tier club (not team) apart from the odd foray into the top & bottom divisions.

If SL had never "happened" then I reckon we'd be just about where we are now? Probably having reached/flirted with the 2nd tier for a few years as well.

The message is - enjoy the good times while they last. And they did for a few years. Until the next time. Whenever that may be.

(of course, the conversation about Bristol as a city is an entirely different (but depressingly familiar) one but they're inextricably linked)

COYR

[demet78]

You support the club regardless of what league they are in bad ownership bad management it's all in the past now surely instead of dwelling on what was why not try and look at what is now ... Alright near the foot of the 3rd div without a lge win since March but at least the structure of the club seems to be changing by trying to breed the younger generation rather than waste a load more money on average players there just to pick up an above average pay packet!

The city as a whole is a big city as we all know but the club unfortunately is not a sleeping giant like players try to make us believe we just got to enjoy the good times whenever they come around and sit tight and hope through the bad times!

[Manon]

Another "transition" question; Is transition where we sell and buy some pro footballers?

A "gel" question; is this done after or during transition or are they both the same?

Not sure about the first one as it has more than six letters...

But I think gelling refers to a dressing room culture, whereby a new batch of players contest the brand of shower gel used.

Once agreement has been reached over the brand, they have 'gelled'.

[Northamptonshire Red]

Great post by the OP and agree with every word! For a City run and dominated by so called 'progressives', it's amazing how much they hate change.

[The Casual Connoisseur]

Couldn't agree more and I know exactly what we need, a commonwealth games and the sports village, stadia that comes with it.

[Rowley Birkin]

How do you change things?

Simple.

Steve Lansdown needs to employ a proper Chairman for starters to reconnect the club and fans, and some real football people on the board, as he's run off with his bottom lip out, and seems to be punishing the fans for his own mistakes.

It's not our fault Steve, for God's sake !!!!!!!

He's an accountant, and it's his job to save money.

Unfortunately he's now going with the cheap answer to everything, cost cutting away, and the club is suffering the consequences. i.e.his lad as MD.

Until proper football people are employed behind the scenes, nothing will change.

How would you like to be Shaun O'driscoll, who do you turn to within the club ?

I feel now Steve Lansdown has become a total control freak, and is sulking, because of the way it's all turned out.

I've heard some horror stories behind the scenes you wouldn't believe!

It makes me laugh when you have Adam Baker head of communication within the club, giving his expert opinion on Radio Bristol commentaries.

A bit like Comical Ali with Saddam!

Hardly going to say anything to ruffle any feathers is he?

Why not have an ex pro like Cheese or someone, who knows what they are talking about?

When Gary Johnson was sacked, what other club has ever had a press conference with the sacked manager, so they could control the moral high ground?

The truth is somewhat different, when you know how some real passionate Bristol City employees have been treated.

Solution.

There never seems a shortage of people out there willing to throw money at football clubs, either home and more recently from abroad.

Steve should be doing all he can to bring in someone with fresh ideas, and cash to share the burden.

It'd give a real positive lift to the club, and become more democratic, which it drastically needs, and quick.

We all want Steve Lansdown to be a success, and be in charge, but he needs help, and needs to admit it, and we can all take the club where we want to go.

Unfortunately you can't say the same with the local authorities, who really are a bunch of minority appeasing *****, who have held the City back for decades.

[marmite]

Bristol is a city surrounded by countryside, and therefore it is run by country bumkins. They have neither the vision or the knowledge to move the city forward in any direction whatsoever,(Tram, airport, arena, football stadia etc) the list is endless. People only recognise Bristol because of Clifton Suspension Bridge, and that was built a hundred years ago or so. What does that say about our forward thinking as a city. All this of course has run through to all levels, including sport, where we have the most abysmal facilities for a city of this size. People see Bristol as a footballing backwater when all we can offer is ageing grounds that hold less than 20,000 people. I believe we have exactly what we deserve because the People who run the city were elected by us. No vision equals no future. There will not be a successful football club in Bristol until we invest in the City of Bristol itself. With the current bunch in charge....dream on.

[Chivs]

Bristol is a city surrounded by countryside, and therefore it is run by country bumkins. They have neither the vision or the knowledge to move the city forward in any direction whatsoever,(Tram, airport, arena, football stadia etc) the list is endless. People only recognise Bristol because of Clifton Suspension Bridge, and that was built a hundred years ago or so. What does that say about our forward thinking as a city. All this of course has run through to all levels, including sport, where we have the most abysmal facilities for a city of this size. People see Bristol as a footballing backwater when all we can offer is ageing grounds that hold less than 20,000 people. I believe we have exactly what we deserve because the People who run the city were elected by us. No vision equals no future. There will not be a successful football club in Bristol until we invest in the City of Bristol itself. With the current bunch in charge....dream on.

Can you name a city that isn't surrounded by countryside?

[Aizoon]

Can you name a city that isn't surrounded by countryside?

Hong Kong? Venice?

[Psychrome]

Mega-City One, Coruscant...

[Kid in the Riot]

Can you name a city that isn't surrounded by countryside?

New York, San Francisco, Portsmouth etc

[Sir Colby-Tit]

We'll never have a big enough fan base to be successfull.

People refer to the sizeable catchment area of Bristol and the surrounding areals, but when you exclude the posh students, the foreign students, the illegal immigrants, the legal immigrants, the cock-er-ney councillors, the non-Bristolian silly red-trousered mayors, the home counties re-settlers, the blue few, the Vietnamese cannabis farmers, the Eastern European lapdancers, the Italian restauranteurs and the Bristolians that support a Premier League team, we're only left with a pool of 3 - and two of them are fickle as ****.