Bristol City 2016-17: Andrew Billingham relishing clashes with Championship big guns. Bristol City fans were able to reflect on a job well done by new head coach Lee Johnson (above), who steered the Robins to SkyBet Championship safety with something to spare after arriving amid a relegation scrap in February. Four wins – including hammerings of Bolton Wanderers, Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield Town at Ashton Gate – and three draws in their last ten matches saw City to an 18th-place finish in their first season back in the second tier, some 12 points clear of the trap door. With consolidation achieved, pushing towards the top half of the table will be Johnson's goal in 2016-17 – but Bristol Sport chief executive Andrew Billingham warned that next season will not be any easier. “I am sure it will be harder in the Championship because you have some great teams coming in like Aston Villa and Newcastle United, but there also lies the opportunity,” said Billingham. “With 27,000 seats to fill, my hope is that we can attract 4-5,000 away fans, which will then help to inspire the local Bristol community. We could then just fill the stadium for a Championship game for Bristol City. “Last season, attendances increased significantly, selling out more games than ever. Even with our reduced capacity due to the re-development, we were getting gates 4,000 higher than the previous year. Now we have to push on towards 20,000. We are trying to rejuvenate a generation of supporters here but that’s not going to happen overnight. Other clubs, like Derby County, Nottingham Forest or Brighton, for example, are ahead of us in terms of having those foundations. Look at their attendances and they are always in the mid 20,000s.” Yet for City, 2015-16 if nothing else demonstrated the fragility of progress in football. The preceding season, League 1 was won at a canter, the Johnson’s Paint Trophy was added to the cabinet and manager Steve Cotterill was undoubtedly 'Cock Robin'. However, by mid-January, anchored in the bottom three and with just two wins in their previous 16 matches, matters came to a head and Cotterill was sacked. A couple of weeks later, and after much fanciful speculation, Johnson arrived from Barnsley. Highs and lows then followed before City’s safety was eventually guaranteed by a 2-2 draw at Blackburn Rovers on April 23, the importance of which Billingham underlines. “Last season, job one was maintaining our status in the Championship yet at the end, form-wise, we could have been in the play-offs,” he said. “So the team has set higher expectations now. But the Championship will be a very tough league and we need to make sure we are better prepared for the coming season. “The market is also of course getting harder, which all flows down from the money in the Premier League, but Leicester City demonstrated what can be done and it doesn’t always all have to be about cash. Their budget was probably about a tenth of the budget of Manchester City yet they won the league by ten points. “From experience it’s very unusual for all the teams from the Premiership to get back at the first attempt. It’s generally only one. I think Newcastle will be strong but I don’t know about Villa. Sadly it was my boyhood club and my father is certainly not very pleased at the moment. But this year’s relegation means there are some fantastic fixtures to come here at Ashton Gate.” With the gleaming new West Stand now available City will be keen to promote their top matches and to remain competitive. Yet although fans will wish to see the quality of their close-season signings, such as star striker Lee Tomlin, Billingham is keen to emphasise that development is incremental. “In the last two years we have clearly moved forward and the stadium is the visible evidence of that but also a lot has happened behind the scenes. Steve Cotterell, was pre me, but he was a great appointment. When he came, the team were at the bottom of League 1 and he kept them up. Then he got Bristol City promoted and took them to a Wembley final. “In Lee Johnson we have a very-forward thinking, innovative, young, head coach who wants to embrace technology and use data and knowledge to improve his team. So in recruitment what we are doing here is looking at the whole DNA of the players we want, such as their physical and mental character, to ensure they fit into what we are trying to do. But then we have to give them the right support in terms of training, the right rest, nutrition and the right psychological support. “I went to watch Leicester City in January and I came away convinced they were going to win the league because there was such a sense of humble togetherness from pitch to boardroom from the terraces and the stands at the club. So it is about the team, about balance, and about having the right people in place. That’s what we have to replicate.” http://www.xtratimewest.co.uk/footb...ngham-relishing-clashes-championship-big-guns
Talks a lot of sencc,we need to move up a couple of gears,looks like it will happen this coming season.
I don't know how they will get more than 2,500 or so away fans due to their stupidity in allowing 1,000 City fans to stay in the Atyeo. It was a no brainer to leave that stand for away fans and no lost seats on segregation. Yet they caved in to the flag wavers who think they are the only true City fans. Or are they going to put some away fans in the Villa and Newcastle games in the top tier of the West Stand?
I think the rumour is on bigger away day followings like Newcastle, Villa and Leeds is to put them in the upper tier of the Williams/west stand. This is what I heard I think from Shiny so perhaps he can confirm this?
I and my family are in the Dolman so it does not affect myself, but having City fans, and a particular type in the Atyeo is based upon practicality. The decision was shaped by fans, fans in particular in the Dolman who did not want louder, more vociferous types alongside them. The South stand is the family stand. The West (Nat West?) stand the corporate stand so the Atyeo was a logical option.
It's the same at some other grounds, and the club have worked hard to make the other 3 sides of Ashton Gate as good as possible for home fans.
Yep same at other grounds there will be away and home support in the same stands. The Dolman stand was not all that with mammoth queues for toilets and drinks last season. Moving fans from the Atyeo into the SS or Dolman would not have worked well. Bristol City should have been thinking about this years ago and Bristol Sport have gone for what will cause the least disruption..
Its a healthy decision. Stands will cater for different demographics. I would have liked to have seen a wider spread of season ticket and pay on day prices.
Forced out of the Atyeo this year, so to speak, but the South Stand isn't too much more expensive so that's where we are next season- Silly money in the West Stand, would have liked to have gone there but that would have meant paying over £1,000 for our tickets whereas the South Stand cost us £690. Those remaining in the Atyeo prefer to stand. I have no objection to standing if everyone does. So dont think this would work in any other stand.
Forced out of the Atyeo this year, so to speak ... And originally there was going to be a large area set aside for fans who were moving from the Eastend - Williams and eventually South stand. That agreement did not stand (no pun intended). I am involved with a football charity. Parents of children I coach would think City's prices for kids and parents are far fetched and extravagant. Bristol Sport should have been more creative to fill these vacant seats. It will however provide space in the upper deck of the West stand when needed for away fans.
I think that over the years the whole club has done little to generate local interest by going into South Bristol schools to capture new generations of fans. So many empty seats over the years that could have been filled. An empty seat is an empty seat but giving away tickets to kids should be the norm especially when we were in L1. They'll still want a programme, and food and drink and their parents/guardians. I know the situation has got better over recent years, but a lot of time was also wasted doing little or nothing.
I was involved in taking 200+kids to one game last season. The community trust service provided was very very good, and enthusiastic. It was not particularly cheap. A comedy moment was having to wait an hour and a half with one group of eight year olds to meet three players due to Steve Cotterill giving the team a audible word or two. No excuses to not fill seats cheaply, or freely next season with thousands empty. Going into more schools is an area where some of Citys kids coaches do want to improve, they have stated so. Again this season I have seen little of City at kids football tournaments, I have done ten so far and seen an academy coach and George Dowling once. Work to be done. There is the possibility of a BCFC South Bristol coaching school, or non building based coaches away from the academy/Community Trust. That would be of benefit.
