Wardie Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 What a way to wrap up promotion by the boys last night! Still on a high this morning and realised that it's 18 years to the day since my old man took my 9 year old self down the gate for the 1st time on a Tuesday evening in April 1997 to watch Bristol City play Wrexham. I remember I was sat in the Williams, City won 2-1 and Junior Bent scored the winner. I have been hooked ever since! Since then I've seen 13 different permanent managers, 11 and a bit seasons in division 2/league 1 and 7 (soon to be 8!!) seasons in division 1/the championship including 3 promotions, 2 relegations, 3 Wembley appearances (1 old, 2 new), 2 Millennium stadium appearances, 2 play off final heartaches, 2 Football league trophy triumphs and 1 defeat, God knows how many players pull on the city shirt, some brilliant, some utterly shocking! Anyway out of those 18 years this year has got to be the best for me! I think I was too young to appreciate how big promotion was back in 1998 and when GJ took us up in 2007 I missed the majority of the season as I was travelling the world. This season I've enjoyed going down the gate every Saturday or Tuesday with real optimism where as the last few years I've been filled with complete dread! Roll on Saturday and hopefully the title! Can't wait for next season and Steve Cotterill leading this squad into the championship! COYR!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverRed Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 It's 37 years to the day for me... a 9-year old me saw City draw 1-1 with Liverpool at AG. I remember the noise of 30,000 fans packed into the ground. The following season we won that fixture 1-0. A lifetime of ups and downs followed! Last night was a huge up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E.J.Thribb Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 Wardie-that match was a first for me too-first match that I was a ballboy down the Gate, sat in front of Atyeo A block!! Fair to say it's been a fun 18 years!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handsofclay Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 It's 37 years to the day for me... a 9-year old me saw City draw 1-1 with Liverpool at AG. I remember the noise of 30,000 fans packed into the ground. The following season we won that fixture 1-0. A lifetime of ups and downs followed! Last night was a huge up. What I remember about this match is that City were thoroughly outclassed by the best team in Europe. We were awarded a rather dubious pen for a nudge on Royle by Phil Thompson and Cormack stepped up against his old club and missed it. With about 7 mins to go and with everyone in the ground wondering why Liverpool were only 1 nil up instead of being out of sight, City were presented with another sight of goal with a free kick a few yards outside the area. Cormack stepped up and atoned for his pen miss in the first half by finding the back of the net with the kick at the East End. What always sticks in my mind is the round up on MotD that night (it was the spoken word used to report on other matches then and not film). Viewers were told what a lucky escape Liverpool had had in a 1-1 draw at Ashton Gate where Cormack had missed a pen for City! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Port Said Red Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 As I have stated elsewhere this is my 50th year of supporting the City (although I was probably born a supporter), , promotions are great and I have enjoyed every one of them, being champions will be very special and if it happens Saturday, some people around me may see a grown man cry as my thoughts will undoubtedly turn to my own late father who would have been so excited by the potential of this team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverRed Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 What I remember about this match is that City were thoroughly outclassed by the best team in Europe. We were awarded a rather dubious pen for a nudge on Royle by Phil Thompson and Cormack stepped up against his old club and missed it. With about 7 mins to go and with everyone in the ground wondering why Liverpool were only 1 nil up instead of being out of sight, City were presented with another sight of goal with a free kick a few yards outside the area. Cormack stepped up and atoned for his pen miss in the first half by finding the back of the net with the kick at the East End.What always sticks in my mind is the round up on MotD that night (it was the spoken word used to report on other matches then and not film). Viewers were told what a lucky escape Liverpool had had in a 1-1 draw at Ashton Gate where Cormack had missed a pen for City!Your memory is better than mine! I do recall the Cormack penalty miss though, and the resultant groan of disappointment from the AG faithful. I also remember the power of Steve Heighway on the wing for Liverpool, his pace and the whipped-in crosses.I saw the same fixture the following season. Joe Royle scored at the open end and the whole ground (minus the 'Pool fans) singing 1-0. I'm welling up at the thought of it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin phantom Posted April 15, 2015 Admin Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 some people around me may see a grown man cry as my thoughts will undoubtedly turn to my own late father who would have been so excited by the potential of this team. Well said, my thoughts were of a similar vein last night. There will be tears of happiness, joy and for those no longer there to share the moment with us ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handsofclay Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 Your memory is better than mine! I do recall the Cormack penalty miss though, and the resultant groan of disappointment from the AG faithful. I also remember the power of Steve Heighway on the wing for Liverpool, his pace and the whipped-in crosses.I saw the same fixture the following season. Joe Royle scored at the open end and the whole ground (minus the 'Pool fans) singing 1-0. I'm welling up at the thought of it all. I was actually going to mention Steve Heighway playing a blinder on the wing that day. My memory is better simply because I was a handful of years older than you at the time...and presently come to think of it. My first games were in the 1970-71 season and apart from the scorelines and a few incidents and players etc, such as the Charlton keeper getting his boot stuck in the netting in a 2-2 draw (the name Charlie Wright rings a bell) and Tony Currie blowing kisses at the East End after scoring Sheff Utds winner my memory of those games are patchy. At least you can say the first match you attended involved the European Champions. Mine was Sheff Wed in Oct 1970. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverRed Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 I was actually going to mention Steve Heighway playing a blinder on the wing that day. My memory is better simply because I was a handful of years older than you at the time...and presently come to think of it. My first games were in the 1970-71 season and apart from the scorelines and a few incidents and players etc, such as the Charlton keeper getting his boot stuck in the netting in a 2-2 draw (the name Charlie Wright rings a bell) and Tony Currie blowing kisses at the East End after scoring Sheff Utds winner my memory of those games are patchy.At least you can say the first match you attended involved the European Champions. Mine was Sheff Wed in Oct 1970.Players getting stuck in the goal net - classic stuff. Heighway was relentless that day. My memories are also a bit patchy, but I do recall a game against Man City, who had a supporter with a hand bell. The East End 'choir' sang a tasteful ditty that detailed where they were going to shove that bell. Happy days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handsofclay Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 I seen three of our four top flight home games v Man City and in the first one they had gone about 17 matches unbeaten and were challenging Liverpool for the title when a well worked free kick seen Chris Garland net the winner for us. Mickey Doyle, the rather aloof Man C captain then gave an interview in which he said that Bristol City weren't fit enough to tie up their boot laces. I don't know if he meant Man City's boot laces or their own boot laces. Anyway, it was on MotD and I think it was repeated on Play School later in the week, not to show infants how to tie boot laces but how to put it across arrogant prats like Doyle and then enjoy him sampling sour grapes afterwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBlockExile Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 Great days in the School Boy Enclosure in front of the Dolman watching the greats of first Division - apart from the city greats (Jimmy Mann my favorite) Ossie Ardillies the best of them all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BS15_RED Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 What a way to wrap up promotion by the boys last night! Still on a high this morning and realised that it's 18 years to the day since my old man took my 9 year old self down the gate for the 1st time on a Tuesday evening in April 1997 to watch Bristol City play Wrexham. I remember I was sat in the Williams, City won 2-1 and Junior Bent scored the winner. I have been hooked ever since! Since then I've seen 13 different permanent managers, 11 and a bit seasons in division 2/league 1 and 7 (soon to be 8!!) seasons in division 1/the championship including 3 promotions, 2 relegations, 3 Wembley appearances (1 old, 2 new), 2 Millennium stadium appearances, 2 play off final heartaches, 2 Football league trophy triumphs and 1 defeat, God knows how many players pull on the city shirt, some brilliant, some utterly shocking! Anyway out of those 18 years this year has got to be the best for me! I think I was too young to appreciate how big promotion was back in 1998 and when GJ took us up in 2007 I missed the majority of the season as I was travelling the world. This season I've enjoyed going down the gate every Saturday or Tuesday with real optimism where as the last few years I've been filled with complete dread! Roll on Saturday and hopefully the title! Can't wait for next season and Steve Cotterill leading this squad into the championship! COYR!!Nice one mate, on Saturday its 23 years to the day since my old man took a 10 year old me down to the Gate for my first game, a 2-1 win over Ipswich! Andy Cole and Leroy Rosenior getting our goals. Seeing us secure the title would be the perfect way to celebrate me reaching nearly a quarter of a century of going to the Gate. In fact it's fair to say that the vast majority of people at the game on Saturday haven't seen City win a league title. These are very special times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handsofclay Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 Great days in the School Boy Enclosure in front of the Dolman watching the greats of first Division - apart from the city greats (Jimmy Mann my favorite) Ossie Ardillies the best of them all? Remember anticipating seeing Ossie Ardilles on his first visit to Ashton Gate yet on an icebound pitch on which Kendall the Spurs keeper was knocked out when his head hit the hard ground after slipping backwards catching a ball above his head it was Ricky Villa who stole the show. That was before his exploits in the 1981 Cup Final Replay and at the time he was seen as a bit of a makeweight in the Ardilles deal. Younger readers might think 'Big deal, relishing seeing Ossie Ardilles', but back then it was very new having players from abroad in the top flight. The South American greats you could only see in this country if England played them at Wembley. Ardilles had just won the World Cup with Argentina. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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