Bristol City

Sometimes, you sit down to research the history of a football club, and you just don’t find a lot. That’s the case with City, which was formed in the 1890s. They’ve spent a total of nine years in the top flight, made and lost the 1909 FA Cup final, and won the League Trophy a few times. Since 1980, they have been mostly in tiers 2 and 3 of the pyramid. We ran all this past a Bristol City fan, and after thinking for a moment, he said, “Yeah, I guess we’re not too interesting, are we?”

Like many clubs, they hit financial troubles. For them it came in the early 1980s and coincided with a drop to the third tier. In fact, they had three straight relegations from 1980 to 1982—one of only three English clubs to suffer such a fate.

They made the second tier again in the early ’90s, with a major highlight from those years being a third-round FA Cup win over Liverpool at Anfield. But soon they dropped back into the third tier, losing in the playoffs a couple of times. Then they made the Championship (tier 2) for six years but went back down in 2013. The word yo-yo comes to mind.

They wiped out League One in the 2014-15 season, gaining 99 points, winning the league, and beating Walsall 8-2 on the last day to cap it all off. In 2017-18, they made the League Cup semifinals, knocking out Manchester United at home in the quarters. They lost to Man City in the semis.

For nine years, they finished between 8th and 9th in the Championship, but last season they actually made the promotion playoffs, where they got steamrolled by Sheffield United, 6-0, this feels to us like a city that deserves Premier League football.

2024–25 SEASON: 6th in the Championship (lost in the playoffs), 3rd Round FA Cup, 1st Round League Cup

2025–26 SEASON: The Championship (promoted in 2015)

Bristol Rovers are the main rival, but they haven’t been in the same league since 2001. The two have only met four times since then, all in the League Trophy when City were down in League One.

Lately the bigger rivalry has been with Cardiff City, who are now in the Championship as well. This is called the Severnside derby, for the river that both cities are on. With Cardiff in Wales, this is one of the few “international” derbies.

Bristol City Women, aka the Robins, play in the Women’s Championship, the second tier, with home games at the club’s stadium, Ashton Gate. Check the club’s website for details.

The teams come out to “One for the Bristol City,” which continues:

Two for the boys in red,

Three for the fans down Ashton Gate.

We’ll follow till we’re dead, me boy,

Follow till we’re dead!

It’s not very good, but they also don’t play it for very long.

Ashton Gate—nice that it doesn’t have a sponsorship name—is a beautiful and modern stadium that holds 27,000 people and still feels like an old ground. They have been there since 1904, but the oldest current stand dates to 1970. The main stand, the Lansdown, opened in 2016 and has solar panels on the roof. It was part of a massive redevelopment of the whole area that makes it all feel very modern and cool, with better food options than most stadiums.

Away fans will be in the Atyeo Stand, named for former player John Atyeo, who played 645 times for the club and is the top scorer, with 351. His statue is outside. The rowdy home fans will be in the opposite end, although when we visited there was some pretty good banter between the away fans and the near end of the Dolman Stand.

TOURS: No tours are currently available 

GETTING THERE: It’s a 45-minute walk from the main Temple Meads station, although a nice one along the River Avon. You can cut that walk in half by taking a train to Parson Street, or you can walk from Temple Meads Station to Redcliff Hill and take Bus 24. A cab will be around £10.

PUBS: Along Ashton Road near the stadium, look for The Coopers Arms and The Rising Sun. The Robins, a bit farther away, is a sports bar but less interesting. Bristol Beer Factory has a tap room nearby with better options than atmosphere. All will probably require a home-section ticket to get in.

GRUB: There are some good places on North Street near the ground, in a neighborhood called Southville. Go figure. The area is clearly gentrifying; for example, since our first visit a singing filled local pub turned into a tapas bar called El Rincon. Fishminster has good fish and chips, and Pizza Workshop offers nice pizzas.

Otherwise, look for pubs and grub in the center, especially along the restored harbor.

AROUND TOWN: For a bit more on what to see and do in town, check the Bristol Rovers profile.