Bristol City History
2006-07 Season
2nd; promoted from League One
League Cup: 1st round; Cheltenham Town a. 1-2
FA Cup: 4th round replay; Middlesbrough a. lost 5-4 on penalties.
JP Trophy: Southern Final; lost 1-0 on aggregate to Bristol Rovers.
Highlight:
3-1 win over Rotherham United that clinched promotion, 5/5/07
Low Spot:
2-3 home defeat to Bradford City, 13/3/07
Good:
Jamie McCombe
Big, strong stopper who took the step up from League Two, having signed from Lincoln, in his giant stride. Dominant in the air but mobile and effective on the ground as well.
Faced with another step up in class again next season but should be able to handle it.
Adriano Basso
Brazilian keepers are more dodgy than Scottish ones in general but you do get some decent ones and this guy certainly did the business for City as they gained an excellent promotion.
Big, agile and extremely confident.
In Brief:
Having won their opening game City then lost three on the trot in the league and fell limply in the League Cup. There would be no more serious blips throughout the season, however.
Six out of the next seven were won and steady progress was maintained throughout. As their promotion bid gathered pace the club also made it through to the 4th round of the FA Cup and were desperately unlucky to go out on penalties to Premiership Middlesbrough.
Defeat in the Southern area final of the JP Trophy was less of an issue, even though it was at the hands of their neighbours, and their cup exploits did not affect their league challenge.
A strong March was spoiled by an untimely slip at home to struggling Bradford but promotion remained in their own hands and having lost at Millwall in the penultimate game they clinched a place in the Championship with victory over Rotherham on the final day of the season.
The club will feel, and looks, equipped to establish itself at Championship level but sound additions to the playing squad are necessary to make this a reality.
Bristol City Football Club was formed in 1894 and was originally known as Bristol South End. The club changed its name to Bristol City in 1897 when it turned professional.
Bristol City were elected into Division Two in 1901 and gained promotion to Division One as champions in 1906. City enjoyed a fine start to life in the first division finishing as runners up behind Newcastle United in 1907.
In 1909 the club reached their only FA Cup final. They needed a replay before beating Derby County in the semi finals only to lose 1-0 in the final to Manchester United.
In 1911 Bristol City were relegated into Division Two and as a second division club they reached the FA Cup semi finals in 1920 where they lost 2-1 to Huddersfield Town.
The Robins suffered another relegation in 1922 and then bounced between Division Two and Division Three South before becoming stuck in the lower of these divisions from 1932.
The club rallied in the mid 1950's spurred on by the prolific goalscoring of John Atyeo. Atyeo's exploits earned him England recognition and he also went on to set club records for appearances (597) and goals (314).
City were champions of Division Three South in 1955 but slipped down into what had become simply Division Three in 1960. The Robins were promoted back to Division Two in 1965 and after eleven seasons of contrasting fortunes in the second division they returned to the first division after a 65 year absence in 1976.
The Robins managed a four year stay in the top flight but when they were relegated in 1980 the club went into freefall and very nearly paid the ultimate price.
City suffered two further successive relegations to drop into the fourth division for the only time in their history in 1982.
With many players still on lucrative contracts and the club haemorrhaging money there was a real possibility that City would fold in the early months of 1982.
A new company, BCFC (1982), was formed to try and clear the clubs debts and eight players agreed to have their contracts torn up to save the club money. Then, bizarrely, the club went out and signed two new players despite this grand gesture and the fact that they still owed money on previous transfers.
The Football League ordered City to return these players to their former clubs but were instrumental in saving the club when they waived the payment required to guarantee the fulfilment of the next seasons fixtures.
The Robins moved back in the right direction in 1984 when they won promotion from Division Four and then quickly established themselves as a strong side at the next level. In 1990 they confirmed their recovery by winning promotion into Division Two although it was somewhat disappointing to finish as runners up behind Bristol Rovers.
They outstayed their rivals in the second tier, however, managing five seasons before suffering relegation in 1995.
After missing out on promotion in 1997 in the play offs the Robins secured automatic promotion back to the second tier in 1998 but were relegated in bottom place the following season.
City are now in their seventh season in the third tier of English football having twice lost out in the play offs after finishing the season in third place.
The club have twice reached the semi finals of the League Cup, in 1971 and 1989.
In 1971, as a second division club, City put out Rotherham, Blackpool, Leicester and Fulham after being drawn away from home in every round before losing on a 3-1 aggregate to Tottenham Hotspur.
In 1989, as a third division club, City accounted for Exeter, Oxford, Crystal Palace, Tranmere and Bradford before losing 2-1 on aggregate to Nottingham Forest. Extra time was needed in the second leg at Ashton Gate to find a winner which was eventually delivered by Forest's Garry Parker.
Bristol City have also enjoyed success in the various minor competitions. They won the Anglo Scottish Cup in 1978 on a 3-2 aggregate over St Mirren after winning the away leg 2-1 with goals by Kevin Mabbutt and Peter Cormack.
They also have two successes in the lower league cup competitions, in 1986 in its Freight Rover Trophy days and in 2003 as the LDV Vans Trophy.
In 1986 they hammered Bolton 3-0 at Wembley and in 2003 they defeated Carlisle United 2-0 at the Millenium Stadium.
City were also runners up in 1987, losing on penalties to Mansfield in the Freight Rover Trophy and 2000 going down 2-1 to Stoke City in the Auto Windscreens Shield.
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