Bristol City

[easty]

Last season they were in the 3rd tier of English football, this season they're in the Championship and buying a Brentford striker for £9m. You could probably sign every player in the SPL, excluding Celtc, for less than £9m combined.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33974678

[Cabbage East]

You can thank Sky for that. It's farcical.

[Bostonhibby]

Bristol City are a club with a pretty good investment strategy, they are modernising their ground and generating income from it as well, for example the egg chasing is being done now - their owner / chairman is a pretty shrewd cookie who so far is doing what he said he would. They cruised it last season but are struggling a wee bit just now hence the investment in the team? They are one to watch.

[johnbc70]

I had to do a double take when I saw it was Bristol City bidding £9M for a player - also had no idea who Andre Gray is but these days players seem to go for millions and I have never heard of them. Sign of the times I guess and the money will just keep flowing into the English clubs. I guess if he has a good season an they get promoted then £9M is probably nothing in the scale of things.

[NORTHERNHIBBY]

Of the nine million, at eight and half million of that is the going rate for a player in that league, because other teams know you have TV money. £500K is maybe what the player is worth on ability, and maybe what Bristol City could actually afford, if they operated on gates and income, which exclude TV deals.

[Michael]

16 in 45 in the English second tier last season (24 years old) and he's worth £9m?

Why don't we send Cummings down there on loan for a year? When he comes back we could have a £9m asset.

[Edinburgh Green]

Yeah just read this, absolute madness! The sooner football implodes on itself the better!

[E10 Rifle]

I thought teams in the football league were supposed to operate their playing budget at 60% of turnover in an attempt to stop clubs doing a Portsmouth. Maybe they need an American Football style wage cap instead.

[Pretty Boy]

I've always found it strange a big city like Bristol doesn't have a Premier League team. 6th most populous city in England and the surrounding metropolitan area has a population of well over a million. That should be capable of supporting better than a non league side and a team that floats between the 2nd and 3rd tiers.

[brog]

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I had to do a double take when I saw it was Bristol City bidding £9M for a player - also had no idea who Andre Gray is but these days players seem to go for millions and I have never heard of them. Sign of the times I guess and the money will just keep flowing into the English clubs. I guess if he has a good season an they get promoted then £9M is probably nothing in the scale of things.

Andre Gray has done really well last couple of seasons. He is another non league player made good, bring on Jamie Insall!
PS, money is still ludicrous though!

[Bristolhibby]

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I've always found it strange a big city like Bristol doesn't have a Premier League team. 6th most populous city in England and the surrounding metropolitan area has a population of well over a million. That should be capable of supporting better than a non league side and a team that floats between the 2nd and 3rd tiers.

This has always baked my noodle. Especially being so close to me. Bristol for its size should have a Premiership (possibly 2), and if not then a Premiership and a Championship team at least.

I put it down to the strength of rugby in the area. Infact, football is pretty poorly represented in the West Country in general.

My closest Premiership team is Southampton. Would gladly make some trips through to Bristol if there was some decent football on offer.

J

[bill the hibby]

Still find it very strange they are able to afford that amount of money, even though they make a hefty amount of money from the TV deal, it's still an incredible amount for a championship club to spend on one player

[Pretty Boy]

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This has always baked my noodle. Especially being so close to me. Bristol for its size should have a Premiership (possibly 2), and if not then a Premiership and a Championship team at least.

I put it down to the strength of rugby in the area. Infact, football is pretty poorly represented in the West Country in general.

My closest Premiership team is Southampton. Would gladly make some trips through to Bristol if there was some decent football on offer.

J

Ahh forgot about how big rugby is in the area right enough.

I went to a Bristol Rovers game a few years ago when I stayed in the city during Cheltenham, always meant to do a City game but never got round to it.

[Billy Whizz]

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Still find it very strange they are able to afford that amount of money, even though they make a hefty amount of money from the TV deal, it's still an incredible amount for a championship club to spend on one player

I thought they were also heavily in debt?

[E10 Rifle]

They've been bankrupt once. Hope he turns out to better than another big money signing they made on their way up - Tony Fitzpatrick

[weonlywon6-2]

If Hibs paid 9 million on a player he'd have to score 400 goals a season and win us the champions league

[Eyrie]

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If Hibs paid 9 million on a player he'd have to score 400 goals a season and win us the champions league

Sod that - I'd want the Scottish Cup!

[H18sry]

Ivan was well liked down there

[LancashireHibby]

The TV deal in the Championship is pretty poor, though the carrot of the huge one in the Premier League is what drives things on. The fee (and ability to pay it) will have much more to do with Bristol City's billionaire owner than anything else.

[NAE NOOKIE]

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The TV deal in the Championship is pretty poor, though the carrot of the huge one in the Premier League is what drives things on. The fee (and ability to pay it) will have much more to do with Bristol City's billionaire owner than anything else.

This is it ..... I watched a wee film about them a few months back, this guy has a real vision for not just the club but sport in general in the Bristol area, he is pumping loads of money into redeveloping Ashton Gate and the club has a long term plan which will end with it in the EPL, though according to him that does not include chucking his money into a black hole.

I wonder where all this leaves poor wee Bristol Rovers.

[Smartie]

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This is it ..... I watched a wee film about them a few months back, this guy has a real vision for not just the club but sport in general in the Bristol area, he is pumping loads of money into redeveloping Ashton Gate and the club has a long term plan which will end with it in the EPL, though according to him that does not include chucking his money into a black hole.

I wonder where all this leaves poor wee Bristol Rovers.

Happily living within their means and existing at the appropriate level, hopefully.

[bill the hibby]

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I thought they were also heavily in debt?

If not they will be soon enough

[LancashireHibby]

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Happily living within their means and existing at the appropriate level, hopefully.

They got something close to 10,000 for a couple of games last season on their way to being promoted out of the Conference. Suppose that just emphasises the point about the area being under-represented at the top table.

[Keith_M]

Bristol City were banned from the top league because of the negative association of their name within cockney rhyming slang.

In the sad event of them ever regaining their place, the pages of The Guardian will melt with rabid articles from feminist writers about misogny in football.


True story.

[KeithTheHibby]

Disgusting. I hope English football gets whats coming to it sooner rather than later.

[Bishop Hibee]

More Liverpool strips sold in Bristol than in Liverpool was a stat I saw a couple of years ago. Certainly the one guy I knew from Bristol was a Pool 'fan'.

The sooner English football implodes the better for Scottish football.

[Scouse Hibee]

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More Liverpool strips sold in Bristol than in Liverpool was a stat I saw a couple of years ago. Certainly the one guy I knew from Bristol was a Pool 'fan'.

The sooner English football implodes the better for Scottish football.

Sold maybe but not procured ;-)

[IberianHibernian]

Anyone remember when we played Bristol City in Anglo Scottish Cup semi ? Think it was 1v1 at ER ( I only remember Peter Cormack headbutting someone maybe Des Bremner - absolute animal , amazing to think he played for us after that - think Tom Hart labelled Bristol City as butchers ) and we lost 5v3 there . Was a small crowd and tournament was not prestigious but was a pity we didn`t make final and win it .

[CropleyWasGod]

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Anyone remember when we played Bristol City in Anglo Scottish Cup semi ? Think it was 1v1 at ER ( I only remember Peter Cormack headbutting someone maybe Des Bremner - absolute animal , amazing to think he played for us after that - think Tom Hart labelled Bristol City as butchers ) and we lost 5v3 there . Was a small crowd and tournament was not prestigious but was a pity we didn`t make final and win it .

It was indeed Bremner.

Norman Hunter also got sent off. Gerry Gow should have been as well....he went over the top on.......help me out someone?

[Nutmegged]

I absolutely detest English Football, can't even bare to watch it now