point taken premiership, but Swansea and Cwmbran are not and they have better athletic facilities than Bristol, even Newport has a newish football stadium.
People in this city would rather go out shopping or sit in and watch day time t.v bollocks then get out and support there local sports team so there to blame just as much as our useless ****ing council.
Look back to the 1960`s both clubs had huge attendances which was a direct result of the economic and social environment. We still had industy such as BAC, The Docks, tobacco factories etc which were jointly huge employers and a breeding ground for local clubs support. Citys crash in the early 80`s and Rovers Eastville departure both came at the worst possible times as just when both clubs had to rebuild and pick up the pieces along came Sky Sports and the Sky Sports generation. When I was a kid I can`t remember seeing or knowing fans of Man U, Chelsea etc, it just didn`t happen everyone supported Rovers or City but now I wouldn`t be suprised if you added up all the glory hunting fans they would almost outnumber the local supporters. We all know the support is out there as both clubs trips to Wembley in recent years has proved but the hard core support is lacking.
Lan Lodger how true. At yesterday's game I saw a couple of lads in the Blackthorn End wearing Man United tops. I would never wear a club shirt for a team not participating in the game I'd gone to watch.
I see alot of kids with chelsea shirts and backpacks down at the gate.. and the odd middle aged man... sickening..
We live in a mealy mouthed comfort zone. Dont offend the Welsh, Irish, no mother in law jokes.................................. I'm 51 and I'm sick of people and events being at the mercy of the ****ing do gooders. Millen out, Wigley out, Sexstone out !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sign of the times mate, you`re guaranteed to get royally ****ed if your argument goes against any one of the modern day holy trinity......... Political Correctness, Health and Safety or the Enviroment
I used to be john fallen Senior Member Johnfallen You utter ****ing cock. I hope Forrest or Derby or preferably both beat you home and away cuz your'e a sad piece of **** ! As is Sven
The public of Bristol are pathetic, no passion for our two local clubs, they all like to follow the big boys, I say get off your fat backside & go & give your support to City or Rovers!!! I have always been a fan of Man. Utd, began as a ten year old & the Munich disaster, but have given the City 53 years of my support & will carry on until I can no longer go. I'am a firm believer in both our clubs getting together & becoming one club, Bristol United is probably the only way forward, will be shot down for that, however I truly think it's the only way forward.
I think life is a choice,nobody owes anybody anything,Bristol people are great,I'm proud to be one of them,I never want to see BCFC bail out the "gasheads", it was their choice to be one of the blue few,good luck to them,but they can sod off... My first game was as a 6 year old in 1953,so that gives me 58 years and I'm no different to say,Shiny and his generation,City will continue to survive and long may it be.... 23000 plus watched us in our glory days,so we know our bedrock is there,give us rubbish and we won't go down the gate,give us success and we are the same as the rest of the world........
another reason for low attendances is the amount of live televised and recorded football, who apart from the ultra loyal fans are going to spend hard earned cash on two *** end clubs and not just city or rovers, when they can see football every day on the box. it may take 10 years or more but both clubs have got to send their players regularly into schools and encourage youth fans and families. i suspect they are already doing it, but do it regularly
And that Wiz is why no Bristol club will ever be a really succesful club! I have been a Rovers fan for about 45 years and always have a smirk on my face when we better the City result... however - would I really want them to go out of existance? Never to witness the old Bristol derbies again? I don't think so. Most of those years we have been the underdogs and have (to my knowledge) never had a sugar daddy ala Dolman and now Landsdown. I take the "abuse" and flack from my fellow reds on the chin most seasons without having much of a reply - I must say tho it has often crossed my mind about a) - a ground share ... and b) - amalgamting into one club. I think there could be a possibility of a ground share in the future (tho maybe not in our lifetime) as the older generation of fans move onto pastures new and the younger generations forget about the old style rivalry of the Tote and East end. An amalgamation would only take place if it was the last resort for football as a whole in Bristol - again I think not in our time Wiz. I predict that in my 20 - 30 years left of supporting the gas I won't get to see them play in the top league and the possibility of us playing in a decent stadium with proper facilities is a distant dream although lots can happen so who knows. As for the City - unless the cheque book is opened again I fear that relegation is a very real prospect this season. If that happens then who knows what SL will do? If he goes and withdraws his financial clout will someone else step up to the plate? If not then is a "Plymouth" a possibility? And finally - most youngsters want it NOW! They have been bought up in an age where I want gets and more often than not its NOW! Gone are the days of supporting your local team through thick or thin. Back in the 80's it was Liverpool, then Man U. - Chelski have come through these last few years but are they really challenging Und for top dog - not yet they aint! Man City are emerging as the new force in the prem, but they will have to win it 2 or 3 seasons in as many years before they see all the youngsters wearing their shirts in towns & cities up and down the country. I can still remember back in the 70's when Man U got relegated (was it to the 3rd div?) - who would think that possible now? So do you think that todays youngsters are gonna be gasheads or s**theads - no chance, I'm gonna get me a Man U shirt and boast about supporting the best team in the country, although there is a chance that they will never go to Old Trafford and never see them play live!
Wiz, I thought you were younger than me but not by almost a decade...! As for the late 70's, 23,000 was our average however I remember flowing helplessly with the crowd with 38,000 others against the likes Man Utd and especially the 2 end of season games against Liverpool that we won to stay up (luckily for us, they had already won the league..!) I'm a City fan but I've been to Old Trafford and Villa on corporate do's with the prawn sandwich brigade. I will never forget the wine in the box at Old Trafford which had "personally passed by George Best" written on the bottle (true!)
Success is Bristol's downfall, in fact it's long term success is what's needed. That's why for BCFC, it's so important that we at least stay in this division and then be looking to progress futher. Otherwise it will be back to square one like we were just a few years ago. Bristol is easily big enough to be a big player in football, but not just floating around the lower leagues. It's why I am a little puzzled why SL put some money in the club one minute and then when the going got tough decided to take a back seat. Surely in that position you would want to make it work, unless it was just a toy to play with until he got fed up............if so, worrying times ahead.
Huge and complex issue involving the Bristol psyche. Bristol for too long has not been an aspirational city. Wealth has been generated locally, there has been low unemployment, with those who want to work usually finding something. We are a very insular City, and have often 'rested' on its natural beauty and setting. Infrastructure has been neglected for far too long, and there has been a general lack of vision amongst our leaders, who have been far more interested in scoring points off one another. With neither club having much of a history of continued success there has been no incentive for major sponsors to get involved; and they would not want to be seen as siding for one club rather than the other. For some obscure reason (because one thing we do have is ready access to transport to get out of the area) major sports 'stars' see us as a geographical backwater. I see no answer on the horizon. City had a chance to break the mould but Lansdown made some strategic errors and seems reluctant to really go for it. There will be purple patches, like Glos in the late 90,s, City in the 70's and Rovers in the 60's and early days oif Trollope, but unless totally committed philanthopists and leaders of vision appear we will continue to stumble along.
When I mentioned ground sharing it was not, bailing out either side just it would make financial sense. We both would not want to share our existing grounds but a brand new state of art stadium used by both and in use more than the ones are at moment would generate more income to both.
Perhaps we do need to ask ourselves some questions - we want 2 seperate clubs, but maybe ground share might work?? I don't come from Bristol (a very long story about supporting them - as a kid, my best mate came from Bristol and his Dad used to take us to home games in the 70's - now i have a season ticket and a 120-mile round trip for home games) - anyway back to the subject - Bristol is a nice place - the people are terrific (red, blue and neutral) - if I ever moved from Dorset it would be to Bristol - it's the best City in the UK
Even though I do love the banter between us and the Gas I do think that in general there are few people who want to see either team do badly. I was gutted when Rovers were relegated last season because it's another step backwards for sport in Bristol. Additionally, I'm sure that some Rovers fans would be disappointed if we're relegated this season. I don't think that both teams need to share the same ground, but I think a feeling of mutual respect does need to be formed between the two clubs if we are to both become at all successful. This means potentially pouring money into a joint academy, possibly in alliance with UWE as they seem bent on blowing their money on anything other than more computers, a better library or any actual educational facilities for its students. Since UWE are thick enough to fund a stadium I would hope that both teams could take the money off of their stupid hands and build a proper sports infrastructure in the city. It would also be nice to see a friendly match played by both teams every year, or even a friendly tournament with local teams played during the pre-season to get some revenue for all clubs involved. It would be nice for both teams to work together on and off the pitch a bit more, through loan/transfer deals, a possible joint sponsorship (both teams share the same major sponsor), joint academies until at least both teams are in the Championship or above and finally regular friendlies to bring the old derbies back to Bristol and get more people attending the games.
I follow Liverpool because of my family background but because i am more local to Bristol than Liverpool now i try and get to as many Home and away games as possible. Basically supporting my local team. Man Utd fans in Bristol should still come and see the reds because lets face it, they arn't going to travel to Salford for a game every other week and the standard (most of the time) is pretty good in the Championship.
