City Fan.

[Rednready]

My dear sister now 79 rang to say congratulations, and could I guess what was the 60 year event.

I had no clue as I don't remember birthdays etc. She advised me that our late father took me to my first City game in April of 1947. She is one of those precious women that keeps an annual diary. All I knew was it was the late 40's. She lives in Brum and is not into footy, so we rarely mention football. Her son, my Godson is a mad Villa fan and we keep in touch about our results. Knowing we were close to promotion, he asked his mum how long since I went to my first match at the Gate.

Thought I would share that with my forum family............good enough for the club to owe me a promotion. :goingup:

[GrahamC]

You deserve a medal, mate.

My old man is somewhere around the 50 year mark, (he's 66) whereas mere youngsters like me have only got around 34 years under my belt!

[giles_23_bcfc]

You deserve a medal, mate.

My old man is somewhere around the 50 year mark, (he's 66) whereas mere youngsters like me have only got around 34 years under my belt!

Us Grandkids (me) have 13 years under my belt. I'm 18. Not that bad going is it?

[Rednready]

You deserve a medal, mate.

My old man is somewhere around the 50 year mark, (he's 66) whereas mere youngsters like me have only got around 34 years under my belt!

TY Graham, and I must say, your match review is the first one I look for and enjoy the most. You indeed have a good eye for the game.

[budbcfc]

a very well done. its my 40th season next year so come on you reds.

[Rudolf Hucker]

Hearty congratulations to you. During those 60 years you will have seen so much change yet perversely, everything stays the same.

I well remember watching with my dad, from the Open End, Atyeo score against Oldham in the final game of the season at Ashton Gate in 1964/5 to win us promotion to the old Second Division ... running onto the pitch at the final whistle. Now here we are, 42 years later, on the brink of achieving the same promotion and I'm planning the same celebration with my kids.

People and jobs come and go but the City are a constant in our lives for all of our lives. Once a Red - always a Red!

[Rednready]

Hearty congratulations to you. During those 60 years you will have seen so much change yet perversely, everything stays the same.

I well remember watching with my dad, from the Open End, Atyeo score against Oldham in the final game of the season at Ashton Gate in 1964/5 to win us promotion to the old Second Division ... running onto the pitch at the final whistle. Now here we are, 42 years later, on the brink of achieving the same promotion and I'm planning the same celebration with my kids.

People and jobs come and go but the City are a constant in our lives for all of our lives. Once a Red - always a Red!

Thankyou and well put. Memories are another thread, but John Atyeo, television and the OTIB forum are all strong in my mind.

Rudolf, Budfc and giles23, thankyou for your thoughts and best wishes. You are all the future of the club, always a constant factor. Long after players and managers come and go, the lifes blood of the club will still be here...the FANS

[giles_23_bcfc]

Thankyou and well put. Memories are another thread, but John Atyeo, television and the OTIB forum are all strong in my mind.

Rudolf, Budfc and giles23, thankyou for your thoughts and best wishes. You are all the future of the club, always a constant factor. Long after players and managers come and go, the lifes blood of the club will still be here...the FANS

Cheers mate. All the best to you aswell. Hopefully still a very long while going down to Ashton Gate for you. Good to see a fellow city fan in Sag territory aswell!

[Eddie Hitler]

My dear sister now 79 rang to say congratulations, and could I guess what was the 60 year event.

I had no clue as I don't remember birthdays etc. She advised me that our late father took me to my first City game in April of 1947. She is one of those precious women that keeps an annual diary. All I knew was it was the late 40's. She lives in Brum and is not into footy, so we rarely mention football. Her son, my Godson is a mad Villa fan and we keep in touch about our results. Knowing we were close to promotion, he asked his mum how long since I went to my first match at the Gate.

Thought I would share that with my forum family............good enough for the club to owe me a promotion. :goingup:

Congratulations. Rednready I think the club are planning a present for you in South-East London on Saturday. :goingup:

[bcfcchris2016]

being only 18, i have supported city for 14 years now (1992/93) though my first real season was 7 years ago. When we were back in second division after relegation from first division.

forget Bas Savages T-Shirt "i want to be like Bas", There should be one saying "i want to support City like rednready"

on a serious note, fair play to you.

[tom buck]

i have only been going down to watch city about 6 years, started when i was about 10, now at the grand age of 16. Fair play to rednready for going down for 60 years.

[Rednready]

Frank your 4 eyes are driving me nuts ! Actually at 275lbs and in good shape for my age.......watch out London !

bcfcchris2004, you are too kind. I hope our club gives you many years of entertainment, as its done for me.

[RedM]

60 years, I believe that in annerversary terms it is a 'diamond', and what a glittering prize promotion would be! Can I congratulate you and wish you many happy years in the future watching. You must have seen some highs and lows and laughed and cried many times! Great memories. Only another football fan can begin to understand the passion and commitment a fan has for their club.

My Mum who was a great City fan is sadly no longer with us. I know she would be so proud of her team. I remember Steve Lansdowns emotional speech on the opening day of the season, made even more emotional as it would have been her birthday that day, remembering fans of the past and one in particular.

Come on city one last push, reward those fans past, present and future and make them prouder than ever.

:goingup:

[december 1963]

Dear Rednready. If your sister is accurate about the dates it means you saw City win in your first match. City played 3 times at Ashton Gate in April 1946 - they beat Cardiff 2-1 at Easter then Leyton Orient 3-0 and Southend 2-0.

The season was a strange one and post war supporters from the south of the City, supping their Georges beer, must have put up with the same frustrations as in our day. After a third of the season City were top of the division with Played 16 Won 11 Drawn 3 Lost 2 Points 25. In those days only the top team was promoted to Division 2 and the post war excitement was such that by the end of November we were attracting crowds of 25,000. However in the followuing 10 matches City only won twice and our final position was third.

1946-47 is also notable for two other events. First, we had a certain Don Clark playing at Centre Forward and he scored virtually every time he touched the ball. He managed 36 league goals that year which is still a record for league goals for this club (plus 5 more in the FA Cup) though Bob Taylor came close to matching it 17 years back. Don scored in both the Cardiff and the Leyon Orient games so you might have seen a goal by him.

Second, in the period when we only won twice in 10 games we suddenly had one more purple patch day at Christmas when we beat Aldershot 9-0 which remains to this day our highest ever win in a league match.

Sadly the season petered out after that and we never produced the consistency we showed in the opening months of the season. Don was a regular for only one and a half more seasons and despite massive enthusiam, anticipation and hope (sounds familiar) it took us another 8 seasons to reach the next Division.

In 1946-47 Cardiff were the champions in our Division which exkplains why 32,000 watched the Easter game (was that the one you saw I wonder? - everyone else was there!) whereas 16,000 were at the Leyton Orient match and just 12,400 at the Southend match.

60 years up is a wonderful record and its great to hear that your enthusiasm for this club remains undiminsihed

[Robbored]

60 years! amazing. I've only done 40 so far.

One question - I started watching City the year Johns Atyeo retired, 1967 and I don't remember much about what he was like as a player.We all know he scored lots of goals and played for England but could you tell us what his qualities were and what made him such a good player.

We hear very little about him these days so it would be good to hear from someone who saw the great man play.

[redhelen]

Congratulations on your anniversary. You will have seen alot of ups and downs as a supporter. My Dad was a life long City fan as was his father. Unfortunately my Dad died in May 1982 and he was devasted to see City suffer so many problems after reaching the old league 1. He would have been proud of their recovery even though it has been somewhat slow!!

I often think of him at matches and would have especially have loved him to see them now. My 3 children and husband are all now City supporters having gone down the route of supporting Man Utd , Chelsea etc they realise that their chances of seeing these teams play are pretty slim and love the fact they can go and see City whenever they feel like it. They love the excitement surrounding club at the moment and I will be so pleased that they will (hopefullly) get to see them promoted!!

[Rednready]

I've answered december 1963 and his well researched post by pm, and will add tombuck16, Red M and red helen to my thankyou list.

Robbored asks about John Atyeo. I was very fortunate to grow up whilst his career was in progress, and he is a real legend.

351 goals in 645 games !!!!!!!

For those that were unaware of his actual goals tally. He always seemed larger than life, stronger than other players and would shoot from anywhere at anytime. He just had that aura about him, we always expected something when he recieved the ball, our hearts and voices would lift and big John gave us true measure.

He could use a fair shoulder charge like no other player I've seen. He would lean slightly to one side whilst on the run, and shoulder other players off the ball.......with intent ! I've seen double markers come at him, and John would burst through and they would literally bounce off him, such was his strength.

His huge goal tally imo was due mainly to the power of his shots, breathtaking, awesome and even in the pre match warm up the crowd would encourage him to let fly with a couple.

The best as I remember was sometime early in the 50's. We were not doing too well ,0-1 down at home and late in the game. I still cant believe what he did. A hurried clearance came aimlessly from the City defence, Big John won the ball just inside our half, swivelled, pushed the ball just over the half way line and belted the ball into the back of the net.

The players just stood and gaped, mesmerised by the moment, then the loudest longest cheer of the day went around the ground. The picture of that magic Atyeo goal was sewn into the minds of fans forever.

Cheers All.

[Bigdave60]

Hi Guys.

I have been watching City for 53 years. I remember the City promotion side 1953 (i think) easier than the present team.Then i guess thats an ageing thing

[Rednready]

Hi Guys.

I have been watching City for 53 years. I remember the City promotion side 1953 (i think) easier than the present team.Then i guess thats an ageing thing

Well done Dave, the promotion was 1954-55, We had a great team, and its interesting to note that 3 of our best 4 club scorers came from that era. John Atyeo 351 goals, Arnold Rodgers 111 goals and Jimmy Rogers 108 goals.

[giles_23_bcfc]

Well done Dave, the promotion was 1954-55, We had a great team, and its interesting to note that 3 of our best 4 club scorers came from that era. John Atyeo 351 goals, Arnold Rodgers 111 goals and Jimmy Rogers 108 goals.

At the risk of possibly getting slated. Who is the other player in the top 4? And how many goals did he score?

[december 1963]

Tom Ritchie 102 goals, I believe

[bristolcitysweden]

My dear sister now 79 rang to say congratulations, and could I guess what was the 60 year event.

I had no clue as I don't remember birthdays etc. She advised me that our late father took me to my first City game in April of 1947. She is one of those precious women that keeps an annual diary. All I knew was it was the late 40's. She lives in Brum and is not into footy, so we rarely mention football. Her son, my Godson is a mad Villa fan and we keep in touch about our results. Knowing we were close to promotion, he asked his mum how long since I went to my first match at the Gate.

Thought I would share that with my forum family............good enough for the club to owe me a promotion. :goingup:

Congratulations! Very impressing. Hope to make the same figure one day : ) but it's a long way to go. Thirty years for me at the 20th of November.

Cheers

Tommy

[RED4LIFE]

I've answered december 1963 and his well researched post by pm, and will add tombuck16, Red M and red helen to my thankyou list.

Robbored asks about John Atyeo. I was very fortunate to grow up whilst his career was in progress, and he is a real legend.

351 goals in 645 games !!!!!!!

For those that were unaware of his actual goals tally. He always seemed larger than life, stronger than other players and would shoot from anywhere at anytime. He just had that aura about him, we always expected something when he recieved the ball, our hearts and voices would lift and big John gave us true measure.

He could use a fair shoulder charge like no other player I've seen. He would lean slightly to one side whilst on the run, and shoulder other players off the ball.......with intent ! I've seen double markers come at him, and John would burst through and they would literally bounce off him, such was his strength.

His huge goal tally imo was due mainly to the power of his shots, breathtaking, awesome and even in the pre match warm up the crowd would encourage him to let fly with a couple.

The best as I remember was sometime early in the 50's. We were not doing too well ,0-1 down at home and late in the game. I still cant believe what he did. A hurried clearance came aimlessly from the City defence, Big John won the ball just inside our half, swivelled, pushed the ball just over the half way line and belted the ball into the back of the net.

The players just stood and gaped, mesmerised by the moment, then the loudest longest cheer of the day went around the ground. The picture of that magic Atyeo goal was sewn into the minds of fans forever.

Cheers All.

I really wish we had as good TV coverage back then as we do now. It would be an absolute pleasure to watch him play at his best. For all you who have, you are very lucky.

Well done to you too RednReady, 60 years is an incredible achievement. I guess after all those ups and downs, nothing much fazes you anymore when it comes to BCFC. I bet the good times are just as good and the bad times......well, we all try to forget those don't we. Well done to BigDave60 too, 53 years is also excellent service.

Oh by the way, next season will be my 25th anniversary. My first game was September 1982, and i cant remember anything about it. I was only 7 at the time.

[Bristol Boy]

You wouldn't have got that for murder, although, they didn't abolish hanging until much later than when you started supporting City, so it's just as well you decided not to kill anyone and plumped for following City.

I don't know whether to congratulate you or comiserate with you.

[Bristol Boy]

60 years! amazing. I've only done 40 so far.

Feels like much longer.......for all of us

Somebody suggested that you should do forty years but they mentioned Horfield or Leyhill

[Nogbad the Bad]

Well done R&R - stout fellow.

As well as being such a loyal long time City supporter you make an almost unique contribution to the forum with your measured arguments, sage insight, and very welcome talk of teams and times that even those of us with 37 years of support cannot remember.

Some great, and in many cases, moving responses to your post, suffice to say I hope you'll continue watching, and posting, for a very long time to come.

60 Years? - Here's to the completed Century.

[Luke_Ciderhead]

Congratulations to Rednready on his diamond aniversary with Bristol City.

Heres to many more happy years together for you and the club you love.

I can only imagine what will have changed, and how much this club would have been through when i'm celebrating my 60th aniversary as a City fan in 2050!!

[cider head]

Congratulations

[Port Said Red]

Congratulations to you, I am a little envious in that you have someone to tell/remind you of the anniversary.

I remember asking my late father what my first game was and he pretty vague about it. He said that he took me to a game on or for my 4th birthday(12th Jan I am now 45) but he couldn't remember if that was my first one. Looking at the records this could have been Wolves on 7th Jan which we won 1-0 or Coventry on the 21st which we drew 2-2.

I have memories of going to see England play Wales in the home internationals at Ninian Park in I believe '67 which England won 3-0 I think, the reason I mention this is that I know that was not my first match or my game away from Ashton Gate.

I have two older brothers but they were both in the navy and couldn't tell me when it was because they were at sea etc.

I remember the discussions on the terraces when Fred Ford's reign was coming to an end and the appointment of Alan Dicks, so time wise it all fits to the 4th Birthday. Sadly I will never know for certain.

Edit>>> Just looking at the Citystats site and I have further reason to believe I was watching in the 66/67 season. I remember my cousin (a charlton supporter) coming down to visit us and watch the game, we won 4-0. For some strange reason the away game was only two weeks later which we went to and we lost 5-0! You can understand why that has stuck in my mind, but I honestly thought I was older when it happened I must admit.

[Rednready]

With the big day almost at hand, I will close the topic with the following thanks to..........

RED4LIFE, bristolcityswedeSCR, and the big four......hornbeamred, Ciderhead [ subbers forum ], Bristol boy [ how old is he ? ], and Nogbad the Bad who waxed eloquent on my time at the Gate.

I did not expect such pleasant responses, it goes to show that certain topics dipict our forum with an undercurrent of comeraderie. Thankyou all for your kind words.

Now lets stuff Millwall and get it done !

:goingup: