Club histories

Bristol City

Also written as Bristol C.

The club

Bristol City were founded in 1894 as Bristol South End, taking the present name on turning professional in 1897. They have played at Ashton Gate, in the south-west of Bristol, since moving from St John's Lane in 1904; the ground is listed at 26,462 for 2026/27, though Wikipedia still carries an older figure of 27,000. The club are the Robins, also the Reds and the Cider Army, and have played in red and white since the 1890s, with a robin on the badge from 1976 to 1994 and again from 2019.

Recent seasons

City have been a Championship club since promotion in 2014/15, and 2026/27 is their twelfth consecutive season at that level. They were 12th in 2019/20 with 63 points, 19th in 2020/21 with 51, 17th in 2021/22 with 55, 14th in 2022/23 with 59 and 11th in 2023/24 with 62. In 2024/25 they were sixth with 68 points and reached the play-offs for the first time in 17 years, losing 6-0 on aggregate to Sheffield United.

2025/26 was a step back. Gerhard Struber, appointed on 19 June 2025 after Liam Manning left for Norwich City, departed on 27 March 2026 and Roy Hodgson took over as interim manager to the end of the season. City finished 12th with 62 points, 17 wins, 11 draws and 18 defeats, 59 goals scored and 59 conceded. Scott Twine top-scored in the league with 11, Emil Riis Jakobsen with 12 in all competitions. They went out of the EFL Cup 2-0 at Fulham in the second round and out of the FA Cup 1-0 after extra time at Port Vale on 3 March, having beaten Watford 5-1 in the third.

Honours and landmarks

City won the Second Division in 1905-06, the first club in Football League history to win 30 league games in a season, and finished First Division runners-up in 1906-07, three points behind Newcastle United. That remains their highest league finish. They also won the Third Division South in 1922-23, 1926-27 and 1954-55, League One in 2014-15, the Welsh Cup in 1933-34, the Anglo-Scottish Cup in 1977-78 and the Football League Trophy in 1985-86, 2002-03 and 2014-15.

Their only FA Cup final was in 1909, lost 1-0 to Manchester United at Crystal Palace. Relegation in 1911 began a 65-year exile from the top flight; they returned in 1976 for four seasons, a best finish of 13th in 1979, before three consecutive relegations took them to the Fourth Division by 1982, where the club was declared bankrupt. Eight highly paid senior players, the "Ashton Gate Eight", each accepted termination of contract for half the sum owed so a new company could continue. In 2017/18 City reached the League Cup semi-finals, knocking out Watford, Stoke City, Crystal Palace and Manchester United.

Record attendance at Ashton Gate is 43,335 against Preston North End on 16 February 1935; the largest crowd anywhere is 86,703 against Hull City in the play-off final at Wembley on 24 May 2008, lost 1-0. Louis Carey holds the appearance record with 646 between 1995 and 2014, passing John Atyeo, who made 645 and is the record scorer with 351 goals from 1951 to 1966. Record fee paid is £8m to Chelsea for Tomas Kalas in July 2019; record received £25m from Bournemouth for Alex Scott in August 2023.

Notable scorelines

Record league win: 9-0 against Aldershot on 28 December 1946. Record cup win: 11-0 against Chichester City in the FA Cup on 5 November 1960. Record league defeat: 0-9 against Coventry City on 28 April 1934. They also lost 6-0 at home to Cardiff City on 26 January 2010, the heaviest result in that derby. The best-remembered one-off is the 1-0 FA Cup replay win at Anfield in January 1994, after which Graeme Souness resigned as Liverpool manager. Last season's worst was a 0-5 home defeat by Derby County on 30 January 2026.

Head-to-head notes

Bristol City do not publish all-time head-to-head records, and for most 2026/27 opponents no reliable figures could be established. Two are published. Against Bristol Rovers, in 232 competitive meetings, City lead 105-65 with 62 draws; the clubs last shared a division in 2000/01 and last met on 4 September 2013, City winning 2-1 at Ashton Gate in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. Rovers are in League Two in 2026/27, so there is no league derby again. The Severnside derby with Cardiff City stands at 104 meetings, City 42, Cardiff 39, 23 draws, last played 15 February 2025, a 1-1 draw in Cardiff; they meet at Ashton Gate on 19 December 2026.

Last season City did the double over Portsmouth and Sheffield United and were doubled by Millwall, losing 2-1 at The Den on 29 December 2025 and 1-0 at home. They beat Middlesbrough 2-0 at home and drew 1-1 at the Riverside on 14 March 2026 before 34,988, the division's highest crowd. They did not meet Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, Cardiff City, Lincoln City, West Ham United or Wolverhampton Wanderers, all new to the division.

Right now (2026/27)

Michael Skubala was appointed manager on 29 May 2026 on a three-year contract, arriving from Lincoln City after leading them to promotion into this division. On 1 July Sam Greenwood arrived from Pogon Szczecin for £2m, with goalkeeper Sam Tickle from Wigan Athletic and Gibson Yah from Volendam, both undisclosed. Jed Wallace joined free from West Bromwich Albion on 3 July, defender Lisav Eissat from Maccabi Haifa for £2.13m on 10 July, goalkeeper Bradley Collins free from Coventry City on 11 July, and striker Lorent Tolaj from Plymouth Argyle for £4m on 20 July. Out on 1 July went Sinclair Armstrong to Goztepe for £2.16m and Ross McCrorie to Rangers for £900,000; Joe Lumley left free for Sheffield Wednesday, and Mark Sykes, released in June, joined Millwall.

In pre-season City lost 2-0 to Stockport County in Spain on 17 July, drew 0-0 with Newport County behind closed doors on 21 July, won 3-1 at Swindon Town on 25 July with two from Tolaj, and beat Newcastle United 4-1 at Ashton Gate on 29 July before 21,509, through Greenwood, Tolaj, Max Bird and a Sven Botman own goal. Friendlies at Plymouth Argyle and Exeter City are set for 1 August.

The Carabao Cup first round brings Walsall to Ashton Gate on Thursday 6 August 2026 at 7.45pm, moved forward a day to avoid the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta. The Championship season opens at home to Millwall on Saturday 15 August 2026 at 3pm, with a trip to Birmingham City on 22 August next.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_City_F.C. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Bristol_City_F.C._seasons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%9326_Bristol_City_F.C._season https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_Bristol_City_F.C._season https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%9326_EFL_Championship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_derby https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severnside_derby https://www.bcfc.co.uk/news/skubala-appointed-bristol-city-manager/ https://www.bcfc.co.uk/city-men-news/city-home-to-walsall-in-carabao-cup/ https://www.bcfc.co.uk/city-men-news/walsall-match-rescheduled/ https://www.bcfc.co.uk/city-men-news/2026-27-championship-fixtures-announced/ https://www.bcfc.co.uk/match-reports/report-bristol-city-4-1-newcastle-united-pre-season/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c5yrv03l7wxo

Researched and written for not4quarters. Where a fact could not be established from the sources read, this page says so rather than guessing.