Red-Robbo

I lived there for 19 years and saw zero pub fights, whereas I've witnessed a fair few in the small country towns of Somerset since my return. Had me bike nicked in London, but then, had my car nicked in Bournemouth and flat burgled in Southampton before then. Crimes have increased at a slower rate in London than the English average, according to the ONS.

They also are used to justify the oppressive measures that football fans have to put up with at games. Heavy handed policing and in-ground restrictions. Whether it's near grounds or miles away in an organised tear-up, people fighting in the name of football teams tarnish the sport and harm its reputation with others. Even if no "civillians" are caught in the crossfire, those of us who go to watch football rather than to dress up as nondies and grapple with other men, suffer the consequences.

Lots of football violence is about rage due to supressed homosexual feelings if you ask me. They are trying to prove something to themselves in order to hide a part of their psyche they know exists but they cannot face.

As do Blackpool. Whose fans seem to get into more than their fair share of scraps: https://www.lancs.live/news/lancashire-news/blackpool-bolton-wanderers-fans-brawl-24302310 https://fanbanter.co.uk/wigan-and-blackpool-fans-have-punch-up-with-one-supporter-left-flat-out-on-the-ground/ https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2022-11-05/three-charged-after-trouble-between-rival-fans-at-football-derby-game https://www.lancasterguardian.co.uk/news/violence-in-lancaster-after-morecambe-v-blackpool-football-match-659073 https://www.burnleyexpress.net/news/football-hooligans-terrify-clitheroe-pub-staff-2589232 https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/10506966/blackpool-fleetwood-fans-fight-pitch-league-one/

Enjoyed a pint there on more than one occasion. And I didn't check, but I'd imagine the crisps weren't out of date either. ?

He's "Fernandes" and generally speaking that's one way to tell the two Iberian states apart: Spanish surnames that end in -ez end in -es in Portuguese.

Success begats success and should City enjoy prolonged time in the top flight, our shirts would be on sale in Sports Direct for "glory hunters" elsewhere and being exported by the tonne to China, Indonesia, Thailand, the US etc. It's not an attitude I understand, but I'm coming from a different place than many fans. My family's solid City, my roots are entirely local and our bond to the club is deeper than just as fans. But I look at a schoolmate of mine: dad from Cornwall, mum from Scotland, grew up in Somerset, 25 miles south of Bristol. Decided in his youth he was an Arsenal fan. But he lives in Leicester and has done for years, so once they get successful, he suddenly "follows the Foxes" and was all full of it in their title-winning year. Dunno if he's now re-finding his love of Arsenal. Some people are like that and just float about between clubs. Others pick clubs they have no geographical or family ties to: I remember ribbing a colleague from Hertfordshire who became a Southampton fan in 1976, when they won the FA Cup. "If I was hunting glory, do you really think I'd have picked Southampton!" was his retort, and fair point, he's stuck with them through thick and thin, unlike the Fox/Gooner hybrid I mentioned earlier. Both the guys I mention watch more football than me, read about football more than me, probably know more about lots of aspects of the game than me. So, who is the "real" fan? I have to agree with the thrust of your earlier argument that it does, indeed, take all sorts. The idea of just choosing a club from somewhere you have little connection to, based on their current success, seems alien to me, but not everyone is as rooted to their local side as I am. AFAIC whatever your reason for choosing City, we welcome your support.

My favourite Premier League team is whoever beats one of the "Big Six": if it's Leicester or Brentford or Brighton or whoever. I think supporting City all your life gives you something of an underdog spirit vis a vis the massive clubs and you always like to see them toppled. From within the "Big Six", I probably have the most time for Spurs. I watched them a couple of times in the 80s when I was a student and ironically, it's the fact that they are the least successful (in modern times) of those six (maybe seven now, with Newcastle's Saudi money) makes me more sympathetic to them. As I come from generation after generation of Bristolians, I have no real "claim" to any club from elsewhere though. Growing up in the early 70s, playgrounds were full of Somerset "Leeds fans" because "they are the best club". I never got that attitude.

Doubt it in the 50s, when - for example - Bristolians often went to City and Rovers games on consecutive weekends. Nowadays only @Robboreddoes that! ? But you're right. The 70s is when the real needle crept into football rivalries.

I love the sport, but there's no denying some football fans are the biggest arseholes you'd (never) care to meet.

Didn't happen in 1958. There were no motorways for one thing and I doubt football crowds back then would be so c-nty. Now, you get Hillsborough chants from Man U and Munich chants from Liverpool. Both as unpleasant as each other. Thank f-, City abandoned the frankly revolting Aberfan stuff you heard ages ago.

It's not even that it looks considerably poorer than Wells City's ground. Everything about the Mem seems to be crumbling or falling apart. Rusty, flaky, loose, dirty. And that's just the playing staff!

Sounds like a Half Man Half Biscuit song title.

Far too lightweight and tends to drift off. Good with crosses though. Seriously though, it'll be a testing few games without preferred options - and I'm as concerned by the lack of genuine defensive midfielders as I am about centre backs.

Sadly, making Scott and Sykes do defensive duties (well, DM duties for Scott) is a waste of Scott's creativity and Sykes' goal threat. And personally I'd have kept Bell on and partnered with Wells. Cornick just doesn't seem up to speed yet. I'm not writing the bloke off like some, but a shape change and 2-up would be my preferred. These are all "ideal world" scenarios. In the real world, the injuries made things very tough. The Williams-James partnership has worked pretty well. To use a cliche, they were the spine of the team and James generally most in touch with the defence, while Williams was more in touch with the attack, with both screening the middle of the park. Unfortunately, we don't really have anyone else who does their jobs quite like they do

Certainly hasn't clicked so far. It annoys me we take the sting out of our attack by bringing him on.

Perhaps Bristol City fans are a bit more sympathetic because of the memories of 1982, when our club was hours away from disappearing forever due to boardroom incompetence and greed. Owners and CEOs come and go but us fans are always there - and if it isn't us, it's our kids and grandkids. We are the club, no matter what executives may or may not have done.

TBH @MCFC OK I have no idea, and neither do you. That Indy story suggests that the earlier hearing just looked at whether Man City had broken the terms of entry to the Champions League and found they hadn't. It didn't adjuticate on whether they'd swerved PL (and for that matter HMRC) rules. And as to how can a financial entity "fool" international auditing firms; do you think the world financial crisis would have happened without that? I know these guys - it's "pay us the money and we'll sign whatever. We are too big and too connected to fail". For the sake of you and other Man City fans I hope it doesn't come to the worst predicted outcome. I'm a big supporter of my hometown club too. I realise if something dodgy has gone on at boardroom level it has nothing to do with the masses paying to watch: but they are the people who suffer from any penalty.

This article suggests it's a bit more serious than breaking fair play rules, Joe. It's about financial fraud. The club could find themselves in deep shite if any of these allegations are proved - and remember, Uefa as well as the Premier League seem to believe in the wrongdoing. https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/man-city-ffp-fraud-news-premier-league-b2279693.html

It did get a bit lairy after the 'Pool game. Blokes jumping up and down on vehicles and denting car roofs, police horses did a mini charge at one time. I wasn't used to seeing that in those days.

Yeah, probably true on average, but the huge Man City attendance that was quoted, along with the Charlton and Huddersfield records (and our record attendance if it comes to that) were all in the 1930s. It seems like the absence of H&S legislation meant that when clubs pre-war had a big game, they could really pack 'em in. I was one of 39,000 in Ashton Gate in '77 to watch us play Liverpool (probably quite a lot more than that there, actually, considering that half the attendance money used to get pocketed quietly at the turnstiles) and it was both awesome and a bit terrifying for a 13-year-old.

You had a stand out then, just as we had an Edwardian ground that wasn't fit for purpose until our current owner allowed a rebuild with increased capacity. As I say, we do OK for a Championship club. I doubt we'd ever attain Man City style crowds even if we gained promotion and consolidated on it, but you can perhaps understand why jibes about crowd sizes from the likes of some of your supporters win you no friends. Re: oil. I was referring to the business ethics and environmental impact of oil. The substance itself, not the people who live in oil-producing countries, which, let's face it, includes us! You support your club, are passionate about it and fair play to you. Your user-name suggests its local to you and perhaps, as BCFC is for me, a matter of birthright. Five generations of Robbos have all watched City. However, the cash you've splashed to gain your success means I'll never want Man City to win anything. I suspect most other neutrals feel the same. That's partly a thing about cheering for underdogs: who doesn't want Brighton to do well this season? But also, it's a riches thing. I didn't like when Chelsea bought their way to titles - or Blackburn Rovers either, for that matter. Sorry if that irks you. I'd have imagined you get used to it on your travels. Console yourself with all the success and the knowledge that it is the club folk don't like much, not its fans. Or its players come to that; it was nice to see such incredibly skillful, athletic footballers at Ashton Gate.

I take offence at Billy Big Bollocks Man City fans posting on their forum that we never get 20K, which is obviously nonsense. The Mancunians I met before the match, and some I've worked with, are fortunately not like that. I haven't tried to tar all their fans with the daft assertions of a few. I've also written that most Bristol City fans would love their level of success, however I personally would prefer it if it doesn't come at the cost of being owned by an autocratic state and having spent so much that even the Premier League feels the need to launch a FFP investigation. My apologies for not knowing what their attendances were in the 1930s. Transfermarkt only goes to 1949.

OK A) At no point did I say Man City have low crowds, although I did point out in one season in the 90s they averaged 22K. The context was Man City fans thinking we "never get 20k usually". Since the ground has been rebuilt to allow this, that figure has been exceeded on a fair few occasions. BCFC does OK for a Championship club. B) Criticising oil producers is "racist" is it? They aren't all in the Middle East, so don't talk bollocks. C) It's a despotic state, no ifs or buts, and one that funds some very dodgy causes and has some very unpleasant laws. D) The rest of your post is what I've said here and I don't dispute it. I'm getting rather bored with people selectively reading what I've written. Still the array of Bristolian arsekissers like "2015" on here must warm the, er, cockles of every Sky Blue heart.

Before-the-war attendances were massive at lots of grounds. Under circumstances you'd never be able to get folk in nowadays. I was talking about post-war attendances. It was almost like a different sport pre-1939. Charlton got 75K and Huddersfield 67K. Now, their stadium holds 24,000. But just to make clear: Things I haven't said: Man City have small attendances Bristol City have large attendances Bristol City attendances have been higher than Man City (at least in my lifetime) All Man City fans are dicks. We mostly seem to have good encounters with them I'm sure they are all happy for fans love-in with them here...