Rags To Riches

[tin]

In 03/04 we thought we were on the verge of the promised land - Championship football. After two season's of knocking on the door we bottled it against Brighton in Cardiff with a bunch of pisshead player's who didn't give a damn for the shirt.

In the aftermath of that defeat, we then appointed the greatest player in my living memory - Brian Tinnion to take the helm of our great club. We were expected to walk it in 04/05 but the perpetual underachievement continued as we finished 7th.

We sold our best striker for a decade in Leroy Lita to Reading for a paltry £1m that summer and consequently dropped to the foot of League One at Christmas 2005. The lowest point in my time supporting City.

Then came Gary Johnson from Yeovil. It seemed mission impossible with the clicquey squad at his disposal, we spiralled to nine defeats on the spin and people faced up to a probability of a return to basement football.

The signs were all too real, as recognised by the generation before. The humiliating 7-1 defeat at Swansea that cost Tinnion his job drew comparisons with the drubbing dished out by Northampton in 1982 and the wounds of inexplicably becoming the first team English Football League history to fall from the First Division to the basement in consequetive seasons were still there when this dreadful run continued to conspire against us.

I remember my mate's ol man talking about fans deserting us to follow Newport County and crowds struggling to break the 4,000 mark. Certain people were understandably twitchy and even calling for Gary Johnson's head but two and a half seasons on, with one overdue promotion in the bag, we're on the cusp of the Premier League and a Play-off Final at Wembley.

Crowds are averaging 16,000, the highest in many a season at Ashton Gate, and a magnificent 36,000 strong Cider Army will lay seige to Wembley in the biggest game most of us have ever seen us play.

The pundits wrote us off, opposition fans wrote off, bookmakers continue to write us off. Even the majoirty of us would've settled for a season of survival yet we confounded everyone with a superb season.

Players are now willing to die for the red shirt, which is in stark contrast to the class of 2004, and our loyalty has been rewarded with the fittest team in the league. Players formed from the scrapheap of free transfers and gambles stand on the brink of immortality for putting the West Country back on the footballing map.

People may well talk about Hull being the biggest city not to have had representation in the top flight but we've been down on our luck too over recent years and it could've been all so different. We deserve it for different reasons.

Whatever happens on Saturday, it has been a remarkable ride. I won't stick my neck out with a prediction but suffice to say WE'RE BRISTOL CITY, WE ALWAYS BELIEVE.

[Dolman Block B]

In 03/04 we thought we were on the verge of the promised land - Championship football. After two season's of knocking on the door we bottled it against Brighton in Cardiff with a bunch of pisshead player's who didn't give a damn for the shirt.

In the aftermath of that defeat, we then appointed the greatest player in my living memory - Brian Tinnion to take the helm of our great club. We were expected to walk it in 04/05 but the perpetual underachievement continued as we finished 7th.

We sold our best striker for a decade in Leroy Lita to Reading for a paltry £1m that summer and consequently dropped to the foot of League One at Christmas 2005. The lowest point in my time supporting City.

Then came Gary Johnson from Yeovil. It seemed mission impossible with the clicquey squad at his disposal, we spiralled to nine defeats on the spin and people faced up to a probability of a return to basement football.

The signs were all too real, as recognised by the generation before. The humiliating 7-1 defeat at Swansea that cost Tinnion his job drew comparisons with the drubbing dished out by Northampton in 1982 and the wounds of inexplicably becoming the first team English Football League history to fall from the First Division to the basement in consequetive seasons were still there when this dreadful run continued to conspire against us.

I remember my mate's ol man talking about fans deserting us to follow Newport County and crowds struggling to break the 4,000 mark. Certain people were understandably twitchy and even calling for Gary Johnson's head but two and a half seasons on, with one overdue promotion in the bag, we're on the cusp of the Premier League and a Play-off Final at Wembley.

Crowds are averaging 16,000, the highest in many a season at Ashton Gate, and a magnificent 36,000 strong Cider Army will lay seige to Wembley in the biggest game most of us have ever seen us play.

The pundits wrote us off, opposition fans wrote off, bookmakers continue to write us off. Even the majoirty of us would've settled for a season of survival yet we confounded everyone with a superb season.

Players are now willing to die for the red shirt, which is in stark contrast to the class of 2004, and our loyalty has been rewarded with the fittest team in the league. Players formed from the scrapheap of free transfers and gambles stand on the brink of immortality for putting the West Country back on the footballing map.

People may well talk about Hull being the biggest city not to have had representation in the top flight but we've been down on our luck too over recent years and it could've been all so different. We deserve it for different reasons.

Whatever happens on Saturday, it has been a remarkable ride. I won't stick my neck out with a prediction but suffice to say WE'RE BRISTOL CITY, WE ALWAYS BELIEVE.

Very nicely put young man. Promotion would be quite simply "unbelivable" after our first season back in the championship.

Failure will hurt for sure, but nothing we can not get over. The efforts of all at the club this season is simply magnif!!!!!!

[robins72]

On 14th February 2006 we beat Scunny 2-0 and were 22nd in league 1! Now look at us on the brink of promotion to the promised land!! Am going to enjoy Saturdays day out at Wembley and be proud of the boys whatever the result.

[tin]

On 14th February 2006 we beat Scunny 2-0 and were 22nd in league 1! Now look at us on the brink of promotion to the promised land!! Am going to enjoy Saturdays day out at Wembley and be proud of the boys whatever the result.

Exactly right Lisa. That just shows how far we've come in such a short space of time and what a remarkable journey we've been on regardless of what happens Saturday.

Just hope these part-timers are all aware of what we've been through to get to where we are now.

[robins72]

Exactly right Lisa. That just shows how far we've come in such a short space of time and what a remarkable journey we've been on regardless of what happens Saturday.

Just hope these part-timers are all aware of what we've been through to get to where we are now.

I bloody hope so!! I will not be happy if I'm sat next to an Arsenal fan who doesnt even know our first team or manager!! I will be making lots of noise to back the team Saturday and feel so proud of them for getting us to Wembley. I will be staying after the match to thank the players for their efforts over the season. So many great memories these past 9 months.

[ribsbcfc]

those of us unfortunate enough to have witnessed the reign of benny lenny couldn,t have dreamt of being on the cusp of the prem in those dark days

EI EI EI O OFF TO WEMBLEY ERE WE GO

[downendcity]

God post Tin. It's easy to forget just how far GJ has bought us in such a short space of time.

Its taken City a good few years to go from rags to riches. On Sunday morning I was left with no option but to purchase a £98 Wembley ticket, so it took me just 15 minutes to go from riches to rags!

[tin]

those of us unfortunate enough to have witnessed the reign of benny lenny couldn,t have dreamt of being on the cusp of the prem in those dark days

EI EI EI O OFF TO WEMBLEY ERE WE GO

It ain't just the reign of Benny, it's Pulis, Wilson and Tinnion too. They must've set us back around ten years between them. That really puts what Johnson's acheived into perspective.

I actually thought Benny was an excellent coach who was responsible for bringing through the first real crop of the academy when he was here, his standing in Scandinavia speaks volumes. What followed him, starting with Pulis, was what has taken the real getting over in the recent era.

It's just amazing to think we can possibly shrug off false dawn after false dawn by winning one game on Saturday!

[Bristolface]

those of us unfortunate enough to have witnessed the reign of benny lenny couldn,t have dreamt of being on the cusp of the prem in those dark days

EI EI EI O OFF TO WEMBLEY ERE WE GO

Forget benny, what about the football under Pulis and Lumsden, I have never walked out of Ashton Gate before the final whistle but boy under them to i nearly did, at lest Benny got us a good pay day on Jim Brenan

[Bristolian76]

Ive seen some things during my time following City, that day in Swansea sticks in my mind, sitting there numb not being able to escape the humiliation as it was a bubble trip, sitting their till the end on the lowest point of my time following the club, i then remember the following tuesday week travelling up to Forest and watching us get tonked 3-1 and wondering if we were on our way to League Two with the way the team were falling apart at the seams.

But then i remember the next game at Griffin Park, i remember GJ coming over to the fans and making every player come over to the away end after the warm to show their appreciation to those who made the effort to be there, i had a feeling that day we a manager different to any other weve had in my lifetime.

Saturday is the biggest game ever for me and all City fans of this generation, what GJ has done in such a short space of time is miraculous and I'm sure we all will give everything on saturday as I'm sure the players will, one big push from all of us and the unthinkable will be a reality.

WE'RE BRISTOL CITY, WE ALWAYS BELIEVE.

[South_Coast_Red]

Great post James. You've pretty much summed up exactly how I'm feeling and how it's been in the recent past for a Bristol City supporter. Whilst I always hoped I would see the day we'd be up there challenging with the top boys, I didn't think we'd be seeing it this season. The credit goes to Gary, but as he often says, it's about the backroom team as a whole. I remember more people calling for Millen's head than Tinman's during the dark days of '04, but he seems to be a very important cog in this machine. The whole club - Board, Management, Players, Fans and even the admin staff at AG are moving forward in the same direction and that momentum will be a very difficult thing to stop.

And it's not going to stop on Saturday.

To the 38,000 have a great day out.

WE ARE GOING UP

[Keep the Faith]

It's a great way to ensure that you enjoy Saturday no matter what. Just remember where we've come from.

I was sorting through my old tickets stubs the other day and remembering some of the games since we last came out of the second flight. I decided to make a display on my wall to remind me of some of the great days I've experienced watching City. I assumed that I'd pick out great wins but I decided to go with the Swansea 7-1, Luton 5-0 and others of the some type as well the the Palace 2-1 , Carlisle 3-1 and other wins. I think you need to put them alongside each other to truely appreciate how great it is to be a City fan at the moment.

In 5 years time maybe I'll be looking at season after season of tickets from Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge rather than from Saltergate, the Bescot, Gresty Road and the like.

[havanatopia]

Halcyon days indeed. I have followed City since 1976 when i was a wee nipper, too young according to my Mum to go to a match! It was not until we suffered our top flight relegation in 1980 that I started going. I suffered a lot with my brother in those days. We went to many away grounds as we struggled to stay in the old Division Two as Alan Dicks made way for Bob Houghton and then the current gaffer at Fulham, Roy Hodgson.. neither could stop the rot as we slid into Division 3. As we slid down the leagues the grounds my brother and I visited gradually became more shed like, the prices to get in gave us more change from a tenner the further we slid and pasties got worse but cheaper. The City following held up but gradually slipped away from thousands to high hundreds, to low hundreds and even lower. We slipped again a season later into Division 4 and before Christmas the following season we hit rock bottom and 92nd. A dark night at Spotland or the Shay Ground, scrappy matches, thick mud, bouncing balls flicking off at weird angles as the rain poured down on a cold february night. It was all downhill in those days. You could not cycle your chopper bike faster down a 1 in 7 hill than see city hit the basement.

I think we always knew deep down, those of us that travelled the land willing to see a City away win, that we would one day turn the corner. This was when there was no auto relegation so we felt comfort in the fact that we could go down no further.. we had hit rock bottom, we felt secure in the knowledge that we could keep going to matches home or away and one day we would, miracle of miracles, see two wins in a row. We would see a header from Rob Newman against all the physical possibilities of a spindly 6 footer running up 60 yards from defence with his gangly legs to head home a corner from Terry Cooper. Would he make it all the way up the pitch or would he fall over, his body too heavy for his thin legs. Would the thick mud make him come a cropper.

The goal flew into the back of the net and the belief then was the same now that we could turn it around, we could fight our way out of adversity and build the club back. That is where it all began, that was the beginning of the re-birth of Bristol City football club. It started there, in 92nd spot back in 1984/5. the seeds were sown on a dark miserable, wet, windy night at the Shay Ground in Halifax, West Yorkshire.

I salute Gary J and all his players and back room staff and all of the fans and players along the way and I salute those young 17 and 18 year old YTS kids. paid a stip end and given fish and chips on the knackered Leyland Coach back home who formed the back bone of Bristol City 1982 Ltd. I salute them as well. This match on saturday is a salute to every single one of them. So lets do it for them all. Lets do it lads, above all, lets just do it. 28 years of hurt.

[Dolman Block B]

In 03/04 we thought we were on the verge of the promised land - Championship football. After two season's of knocking on the door we bottled it against Brighton in Cardiff with a bunch of pisshead player's who didn't give a damn for the shirt.

In the aftermath of that defeat, we then appointed the greatest player in my living memory - Brian Tinnion to take the helm of our great club. We were expected to walk it in 04/05 but the perpetual underachievement continued as we finished 7th.

We sold our best striker for a decade in Leroy Lita to Reading for a paltry £1m that summer and consequently dropped to the foot of League One at Christmas 2005. The lowest point in my time supporting City.

Then came Gary Johnson from Yeovil. It seemed mission impossible with the clicquey squad at his disposal, we spiralled to nine defeats on the spin and people faced up to a probability of a return to basement football.

The signs were all too real, as recognised by the generation before. The humiliating 7-1 defeat at Swansea that cost Tinnion his job drew comparisons with the drubbing dished out by Northampton in 1982 and the wounds of inexplicably becoming the first team English Football League history to fall from the First Division to the basement in consequetive seasons were still there when this dreadful run continued to conspire against us.

I remember my mate's ol man talking about fans deserting us to follow Newport County and crowds struggling to break the 4,000 mark. Certain people were understandably twitchy and even calling for Gary Johnson's head but two and a half seasons on, with one overdue promotion in the bag, we're on the cusp of the Premier League and a Play-off Final at Wembley.

Crowds are averaging 16,000, the highest in many a season at Ashton Gate, and a magnificent 36,000 strong Cider Army will lay seige to Wembley in the biggest game most of us have ever seen us play.

The pundits wrote us off, opposition fans wrote off, bookmakers continue to write us off. Even the majoirty of us would've settled for a season of survival yet we confounded everyone with a superb season.

Players are now willing to die for the red shirt, which is in stark contrast to the class of 2004, and our loyalty has been rewarded with the fittest team in the league. Players formed from the scrapheap of free transfers and gambles stand on the brink of immortality for putting the West Country back on the footballing map.

People may well talk about Hull being the biggest city not to have had representation in the top flight but we've been down on our luck too over recent years and it could've been all so different. We deserve it for different reasons.

Whatever happens on Saturday, it has been a remarkable ride. I won't stick my neck out with a prediction but suffice to say WE'RE BRISTOL CITY, WE ALWAYS BELIEVE.

I just got to ask Tin. How can a fellow like yerself, drink that much Natch, yet make a post like that?

Must be the fresh air by the sea

[ribsbcfc]

It ain't just the reign of Benny, it's Pulis, Wilson and Tinnion too. They must've set us back around ten years between them. That really puts what Johnson's acheived into perspective.

I actually thought Benny was an excellent coach who was responsible for bringing through the first real crop of the academy when he was here, his standing in Scandinavia speaks volumes. What followed him, starting with Pulis, was what has taken the real getting over in the recent era.

It's just amazing to think we can possibly shrug off false dawn after false dawn by winning one game on Saturday!

i,ll give you pulis , wilson was a case of nearly but not quite ,and tinnion massive player on the pitch but had to much say in the dressing room & the boardroomn was chattin to sum random reserve player a few years ago didn.t make the grade (could be bitter i don't know ) spotted a picture of tinman in my workshop said he was very much a yes man at the gate easy appointment in my oppinion (and didnt they learn to regret it .

[tin]

I just got to ask Tin. How can a fellow like yerself, drink that much Natch, yet make a post like that?

Must be the fresh air by the sea

Three years studying to be a journalist enables me to make posts like that Arn. Natch consumption is just part and parcel but I haven't touched a drop since Palace at home as I'm trying to shake a flu bug. May not even be able to consume on Saturday at this rate!