please log in to view this image So true...It happened that way for me, my son & daughter, my grandsons and it's still Ashton Gate thank god.
Great piece ! I still remember my first match v Brum. (It was a 0-0, but the sight of a full Dolman Stand remains with me to this day. I remember thinking that if somebody scored I might wet my pants. Mind you, I still think that sometimes ) Over-riding thought that day was so many colours !!
It's not the television contract and the plastic fans. Oh how the Premier League have decided that this isn't worth a toss.
Take a look back at our day at Wembley and tell me honestly that there lies the true face of football in all it's glory. Wallsall arrived never having been recognised before and what a day for their fans to savour so I'm sure for all of them it will be a lifetime footballing memory. When the final whistle blew and City had won a cup I just wanted to shout from the rooftops that we had just witnessed the grass roots of the game that has been destroyed by greedy players/agents and owners who are prepared to spend billions to bring in uncommitted mercenaries to do their bidding. The monies wasted, and misapplied, up at the so-called top of the pyramid could rebuild the entire rest of the Football League. When you consider Fulham just sent Mitroglu, who signed for 12 million in Jan 2014, off on loan to Benfica for the rest of the season, will be offered on a permanent basis for 4 million at season's end. I just hope we have the great fortune to sign a truly committed player like that - NOT. I'm glad that Bristol City are still a true football club and have not turned into a circus act with overpaid uncaring clowns running the show both on and off the pitch.
My first visit to Ashton Gate was sitting on my beloved Uncle Bobby's shoulders on the open terracing of the Atyeo end. He was clearly a wise man, in some respects, particularly when I realised he was using me as his umbrella whilst I was drenched. But here's the rub because the only reason we were at Ashton Gate was due to him being an away Ro**ers supporter so I decided at an early age that I really didn't like quartered shirts that always looked like someone forgot to wash the and iron them, and when my uncle decided he would (treat?) me to his version of the ultimate football prize which was a visit to Eastville it doesn't take an expert to know why I chose Bristol City red. That's what football should be all about and I doubt whether many of today's footballing youngsters will ever get the opportunity to experience those simple moments because I believe a large portion of them miss the entire world passing them by while they are buried in some anonymous tablet. Bah humbug to the connected world. Tweet tweet.
Mr Robsons words hark back to a world that barely exist anymore. Football is for some, and becoming a luxury due to its expense.
April 9th 1950. Good Friday so my Dad was off work and took me, aged 6 years and 8 months old, to the hallowed ground for a Div 3 (South) game with Aldershot. Just like Sir Bobby said, I fell in love with the atmosphere, the red and white and it is still anybody's guess whether I love City more or less than my wife. It is a close call but I know which!
Good man cidered, I'm with everybody who prefers the good old days when we respected the players and the team.
Cant remember who the first opposition team were at the Gate but the previous week I'd been taken to Eastville to watch the others beat Peterborough 3-1. That was in 1968/1969
