Steve Lansdown's links with Bristol Rovers laid bare as he reveals how he got involved with Bristol City The majority share holder at Ashton Gate has told before about originally being a Gashead and now he has talked more fully his early Ashton Gate experiences, including visiting Eastville Bristol City majority shareholder Steve Lansdown welcomes fans to the stadium in front of the newly named Lansdown Stand ahead of the first game of the season. (Photo: Rogan Thomson/JMP) Majority shareholder Steve Lansdown has been talking about his involvement at the club. Talking to BBC Radio Bristol on Saturday he revealed how he began watching Bristol Rovers in the 1960s but then switched to following City when the Gas moved to Twerton Park and to take son - and Bristol City vice-chairman - Jon Lansdown with him. These days, Lansdown senior has invested to help renovate the Ashton Gate stadium to the tune of £45m while Lansdown junior also helps run the club at BS3. If things had worked out differently, perhaps the City supremo may have been bankrolling Rovers... "As a boy I came up watching the Rovers down at Eastville. I can't remember my first game but I think it was around '63-64. "I went there because my friend took me - I went with a friend and his dad and spasmodically went backwards and forwards to Eastville to watch them there," revealed Steve about his early Bristol football experiences. So how did the City connection come about? "When it came to taking [son] Jon, it became a question of where to go. Rovers weren't there - they were playing at Twerton Park [in Bath] and weren't in Bristol - and I knew Des [Williams, then chairman at Bristol City] very well so it was a very easy way to take Jon to a game so in a way Jon got me into watching City as much as I got him into watching Bristol City," explained Steve. Meanwhile Jon Lansdown revealed that his first season of football was watching the Robins against Bury (winning 1-0; Dave Smith scored) in the 1989-90 game at the age of six, taken by his father. Bristol City Manager Lee Johnson with Owner Steve Lansdown. (Photo: Robbie Stephenson/JMP) They sat in the Dolman Stand after father Steve scrounged some tickets from Des Williams, an early financial client for Lansdown senior. "I always joke that people say there's no such thing as a free lunch, well there was definitely no such thing as a free ticket bearing in mind what's happened since. That's why we went along and we both got hooked after that," revealed Steve of that first game at Ashton Gate. It was then progressing onto getting season tickets, attending matches alone when Jon couldn't make it, and joining the '51 club, getting older and craving creature comforts such as a cup of tea, that eventually saw Steve make the connections that eventually saw him help with the running of the club. Asked about which name they might have got on the back of their City shirts in younger years, Jon replied: "That's tough, there's a few and unfortunately a few of them still work here [at the club], so I don't want to name them. But I always thought that Shaun Goater was a great player and a bit underrated. "When Tins and Scott Murray were playing here together they were a great combination as well." And it was the 2007 promotion game against Rotherham under Gary Johnson that stood out most for Lansdown senior. The recent double trophy-winning season was a huge source of pride too. Steve went on to explain that the tension watching games today is greater because more is riding on it and that there's more pressure from the stands, but that he was enjoying his time in control of Bristol City and that the club might not always be family-run. The two also explained that they spoke whenever needed and that they mostly agreed when making decisions for the club. http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/steve-lansdowns-links-bristol-rovers-42930
First game I ever saw was the Gas. a 2-0 win against Halifax at Eastville- Friends father looked at me in disgust and took me to City v Norwich the next week. We won 4-0 too!
I went down the same road as you guys as a young lad when one of my uncles took me to Eastville and I decided I didn't like the stadium or the weird shirts. Then my favourite Uncle Bobby took me the watch the real thing down at Ashton Gate but the biggest thrill was spending the weekend with him aboard the M.V. Cato in the city docks. The small ship did the run to Ireland for Guinness and belonged to the Bristol Steam and Navigation Company if my memory serves me correctly. Those were the days!
I quite liked the quirky old Eastville with its flower beds behind the goals, and the steeply raked away terrace by the M32 and the little hut built into the top of one of the stands. Never quite worked out what it was for other than it being a great viewpoint ! When I first went there, Rovers were a few years from moving (back?) to the blue and white quarters. They played in dark blue shirts, white shorts and blue (I think) socks.
