40 Years On.

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wizered

wizered

Ol' Mucker
Staff member
Jan 25, 2011
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Bristol.City Land
Death threats, anger, betrayal and loyalty - Bristol City and the Ashton Gate Eight, 40 years on
Forty years ago today, eight Bristol City players made a decision to save the football club. A decision that caused hardship, anger and resentment but also made them Robins legends. This is their story.
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/bristol-city-ashton-gate-eight-6590914

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The Ashton Gate Eight, pictured in 1982: left to right (standing) Geoff Merrick, Jimmy Mann, Julian Marshall, Chris Garland (seated) Gerry Sweeney, Peter Aiken, Trevor Tainton and Dave Rodgers (Photo by Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix/Getty Images)
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Gerald Gow, Gerry Sweeney, Tom Ritchie, Donald Gillies
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Geoff Merrick in action against West Ham (Image: Photo by MSI/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)

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Geoff Merrick at his farm in Nailsea (Paul Gillis/Bristol Live)

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A youthful David Rodgers at Ashton Gate (Image: Photo by South West Picture Agency/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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David Rodgers pictured with his wife
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Gerry Sweeney with his City award (Image: Photo by Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)

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Bristol City's Chris Garland (Image: SWPA)/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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Jimmy Mann in action against Tottenham (Image: Photo by MSI/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)
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Trevor Tainton with his wife Glenda
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Peter Aitken (Image: Photo by Kevin John Berry/Fairfax Media via Getty Images)
 
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AshtonRed said:
You sound like my Dad, he used to say when he was younger the players went to the ground on a bike or a bus like the supporters, he thought they were paid too much in the Seventies, he’d turn in his grave at the eye watering amounts they’re paid these days.
Click to expand...

If true the alleged pre contract wages being offered by Real Madrid to Mbabbe truly take the football circus to another mind numbing level.
 
I love the old and new pic comparisons, Gerry Gow is in the backgroundof three shots, he wasn't one of the 8 but god help me what a barnstormer he looked, great piece all around.
 
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Used to have to catch the bus from Keynsham then walk or catch a bus from TEMPLE MEADS/ QUEEN SQUARE/ CENTRE not often until got a car could then car share as we all got one! used to park in side road OFF OF DUCKMOOR
 
Having left England in 1975 I was totally out of touch with the happenings surrounding the Ashton Gate Eight and their valuable part in the current existence of Bristol City. The news in those far off days was solely down to local coverage through the television and print media and those radio waves never hit Canada to keep me informed of what was happening with my team.

How grateful we all should be at the way in which these eight men sacrificed their personal gains for the benefit of the club and it's future but regrettably I doubt whether it could happen at all in today's greed based society where personal gain will always override club loyalty. In my earlier days of supporting Bristol City I used to hitchhike on the A38 at Edithmead (some stories there I can assure you) and would get dropped off near Parsons St station and walk down to Ashton Gate hopefully before kick-off. When I actually had money I would get the train from Highbridge to Parsons St and walk the same route down past the cinema and the warehouses to arrive quite some time prior to kick-off but it allowed me to watch the players arrive and chat with kids hanging around the stadium looking for autographs.

Many years later (50+) I took the same trip alone and was shocked at the attitude of the players arriving in their fancy cars with their ear buds well and truly in their lugholes so they could totally ignore the young ones just waiting for a word of acceptance or a nod of approval of their actual existence. I was disgusted at the player's attitudes towards their adoring public and regrettably the ignorance continues unabated to this day except they are all earning mega salaries.

The fact that the Ashton Gate Eight did what they did at the most critical time in our history speaks volumes about the difference between the players of yore compared to the pampered idiots of today's football world. Every Bristol City supporter from near or far should be rightly proud of what these eight did for the club's future and I wish I could be there in person to show my eternal thanks for their individual and group sacrifices to keep the Robins chirping.

:emoticon-0137-clapp:emoticon-0137-clapp:emoticon-0137-clapp:emoticon-0137-clapp:emoticon-0137-clapp:emoticon-0137-clapp:emoticon-0137-clapp:emoticon-0137-clapp
 
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