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NEWS UPDATE: CITY SET FOR SELL ON CASH?(30/06/2000) City chairman John Laycock has claimed that no player will leave Ashton Gate again without a sell on clause. The comment comes following rumours linking ex- City striker Ade Akinbiyi with a move to Premiership Leicester City. Akinbiyi left City at the beginning of last season for Wolves in a £3.5M move, but the deal also meant that any future sale would net City 20% of the fee. Now it is has been suggested that Peter Taylor is prepared to pay around £5m for the big man, nicknamed "The Black Bully" by Wolves fans. Leicester are not holding back with the money they received from Emile Heskey's £12m Liverpool move last season. They have already spent £3.5m on Birmingham City full back Gary Rowett, and have more recently been linked to Everton full back Michael Ball. Any cash from a move would come in very handy to City, who are trying to swell the transfer kitty as much as possible for Danny Wilson. City still have 20% sell on clauses on ex players Darren Barnard and Jim Brennan, however neither seem to be moving anywhere for the moment. Laycock has said that every player who moves out of Ashton Gate in the future should have a sell on clause after Andy Cole left without one in 1993. Cole went on to sign for Man United for £7M, but as part of the £1.75M deal with Newcastle, City were not entitled to any fraction of that money. FOR MORE NEWS + OLD STORIES CLICK HERE 
NEWS UPDATE: BROWN SIGNS 4 YEAR CONTRACT(30/06/2000) City have been boosted by the news that 16 year old striker Marvin Brown has signed a new 4 year contract, that ties him to the club until just before his 21st birthday. The England under 16 international hadn't made a reserve team appearance at the beginning of last season, but by mid September had made his first team debut, as sub against Nottingham Forest in the League Cup. Brown went on to make a handful of substitute appearances, despite being just 16. Brown, who turns 17 next week not only holds the record of being City's youngest ever player (debut aged 16 years 71 days), but also boasts a superb international record, 10 goals in 17 games. The younger brother of City's Aaron Brown joins fellow youngsters Kevin Amankwaah, Danny Coles, Kay Odejayi and Damian Spencer in signing long term deals at the club. All 5 played some part in the first team last season and all impressed many. Brown instantly got a boost by new manager Danny Wilson who said "Marvin is part of my plans for next season." Brown himself added "I really wanted to stay in Bristol and didn't want to leave so signing a four-year deal was no problem for me! "Now we have a new manager I have to prove myself all over again. But I'll be looking to play in as many games as possible for City and hopefully put myself in contention for an England under-18 spot." NEWS UPDATE: BOURNEMOUTH DATE CHANGED/ PLAYERS TO REPORT BACK(30/06/2000) Another date has changed on City's fixture list for the forth coming season. After the Rovers home game was moved for Sky, the Bournemouth game at Ashton Gate, originally planned for Saturday October 7th, has been brought forward by one day to Friday October 6th, with a 7:45PM kick off, as to avoid clashing with England's last ever game at Wembley. In the past City fans have been split between watching City or going to London or staying at home to watch England. Germany will be England's last ever visitors to Wembley, and the world cup qualifier is sure to attract a huge crowd, both at Wembley and on TV. Meanwhile City's players have less than two weeks left of their summer holiday's. On July 10th all the City squad have been asked t report for pre-season training. Pre season training is much disliked amongst many footballers as it often means monotonous, hard exercise in the heat. However all clubs realise how important it is, and in previous years the pre season training has been blamed for poor fitness levels throughout the season. Namely Benny Lennartson claimed that the pre season training the side received by John Ward was too easy and that many of the players didn't have the fitness levels the last the whole season. 
NEWS UPDATE: LAYCOCK AND WILSON BACK SEASON TICKET DISCOUNT EXTENSION(30/06/2000) City have extended the date to claim discount season tickets following the appointment of Danny Wilson as manager. Many fans had decided to wait to see who the new manager would be before they splashed out on their season tickets. However the saga dragged on past the 17th June discount deadline, and now that Wilson has been appointed many fans chose to renew or buy season tickets after all. The club however fear that fans that missed the deadline may not be willing to pay the full price and so have given supporters until the close of business on Thursday 6th July to claim their cheap season tickets. After the disappointment of last season many feared that the numbers buying season tickets this season would drop dramatically, however due to the frozen (and in some cases reduced) prices, the loyalty and optimism of shitheads and Wilson's appointment, last seasons number should be matched if not broken. Last season City sold over 6,000 season tickets and so far this season over 5,600 have been sold. The club now hope that City fans will take advantage of the extension and snap up tickets, and push the number past 6,000. Chairman John Laycock said "We have already achieved sales of 5,600 and we are grateful to all those supporters who have committed to the season ahead. "We hope the recruitment of Danny Wilson will have convinced all of our supporters of the desire we have to continue to bring success to Bristol City." Wilson also backed the extension "I already sense optimism for the season ahead and I am delighted to hear how well sales have gone to date. "It would be a great boost to moral and a tremendous way to start the season if we are able to break last season's figure. " 
NEWS UPDATE: WILSON TARGETS DEVINE (28/06/2000) Wycombe striker Sean Devine is being targeted by Danny Wilson. Wilson has renewed the City striker search started by Tony Fawthrop, and Devine is thought to be one of his main targets. Devine may make a move as part of an exchange involving City striker Steve Jones. It is thought that the two clubs are trying to agree a deal that would see Jones move to Adams Park, and Devine move to Asthon Gate, with City paying Wycombe around £300,000 as part of the deal. Devine signed for Wycombe in April 1999 for a club record £200,000 from Barnet. At Barnet Devine banged in the goals from his debut in 1995, (46 in 106 appearances) but following an alleged bust up with manager John Still he lost his place during the 1998-99 season. The 27 year old quickly stamped his mark on Wycombe when he saved Wycombe away from relegation with 8 goals in 12 games. Last season Devine set a record for the most goals scored in a season for Wycombe in the football league. He hit the back of the net 23 times in the league alone. City are keen to buy another striker to partner Tony Thorpe despite already having the choice of Peter Beadle, Steve Jones, Alex Meechan, Ben Wright, Damien Spencer, Kayode Odejayi and Marvin Brown. 
NEWS UPDATE: MATTHEW BOUND FOR CITY?/ EDWARDS TARGETED...AGAIN(28/06/2000) It is rumoured that new boss Danny Wilson is seeking a new central defender as part of the 'tweaking' process he thinks is needed to win City promotion back to the first division. The two possible targets mentioned so far are Swansea's Matthew Bound and Nottingham Forest's Christian Edwards. Wilson is keen to replace injured Shaun Taylor. Taylor impressed Wilson during the City Vs Sheffield Wednesday fixture last season in the FA Cup and the new manager believes it is vital that he is replaced. He said that to succeed in the second division you need big strong powerful defenders. Swansea's Matthew Bound is one of those Wilson is said to be tracking. The 27 year old joined Swansea from Stockport County for £55,000 in November 1997. The left footed centre back stands at 6ft 2in and can even take attacking free kicks. Also being considered by Wilson is ex-Swansea centre back Christian Edwards. Edwards, the 24 year old Nottingham Forest defender also stands at 6ft 2in, and has also played for the Swans. The Welshman moved to the City ground for £275k from the Vetch Field after 116 appearances for the Welsh club. Edwards, who has played for the Welsh B team, had an impressive, if short loan spell at City during the 1998-99 campaign. It was hoped that Edwards would make a City move then but nothing ever happened and City signed Vilmos Sebok instead. Then last season Edwards very nearly moved to City again. This time his transfer was agreed as part of the package that took Jim Brennan to Forest. Brennan went, but City waited for Edwards to recover from injury. Edwards never made the move but may still come to Ashton Gate. Should either player come they will stand stiff competition for places with Keith Millen and Andrew Jordan. 
NEWS UPDATE: SKY TO SCREEN BRISTOL DERBY(28/06/2000) The first Bristol derby of next season has been brought forward by one day to Friday 22nd December to accommodate the Sky TV camera's. The Christmas fixture at Ashton Gate will be screened live by the TV giants to a huge world wide audience and is sure to net City a big payout. It's not the first time the Bristol derby has been screened live on sky. The Ashton gate fixture is often live on Sky, who obviously see the Bristol derby as being as passionate as we all know it can be. Unfortunately after the crowd trouble that marred the 1996 encounter, Sky didn't return to City for some time. With City being the home side we can expect to pocket £30k, whilst Rovers could be in line for around £10k. I wonder whether Sky will spot us all wearing our "Santa is a City fan" and "Santa is a gashead" hats? 
NEWS UPDATE: HEWLETT OFF TO SWINDLE(28/06/2000) Former Bristol City midfielder Matt Hewlett may be on his way to arch rivals Swindon Town. The 24 year old was released by City at the end of last season by former manager Tony Fawthrop, but may stay in the second division thanks to the Wiltshire club. Hewlett had been linked to clubs in the third division and even the Football Conference, but had always insisted he stayed in league football at the highest possible standard. Now Hewlett has had contact with Swindon via his agent and may be set for a move to the County Ground. Bristol born Hewlett signed for City from a trainee in 1993 and his only other clubs have been brief loan spells at Burnley and Bath. Hewlett made his debut for City against Wolves in 1993 and represented England at youth level. In 1997 Hewlett was on stand by for the England under 21's game against Italy at Ashton Gate. However Hewlett's career at City has been far from spectacular. Despite spells in the first team Hewlett has never held down a firm central midfield role, and has been subject to criticism from the Ashton Gate boo-boys in the past. Hewlett managed to bounce back and briefly broke into the first team again last season. His popularity amongst fans grew over the years, as he eventually discovered some fight in his game. But when Hewlett's contract expired at the end of last season it was not renewed and 6ft 2in Hewlett was told he could leave Ashton Gate. Should Hewlett join Swindon we can expect to see him back at Ashton Gate in early September when Swindon visit. 
NEWS UPDATE: WILSON CONFIRMED AS NEW MANAGER(27/06/2000) Danny Wilson has been confirmed as Bristol City's new manager at a press conference at Ashton Gate today. The press conference held at Ashton Gate at 2:00 pm confirmed that ex Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley boss Wilson had signed a 12 month rolling contract on Tuesday morning. Wilson and new City chairman John Laycock were both present at the conference. The 40 year old said that he wanted to play attractive football "There's no reason why you can't win games by playing a certain way. I'm of the philosophy that if I'm watching a game of football I want to be entertained and I would hope that we can put out a team that does just that." and claimed that he'll do all he can to get City back into division one as soon as possible" I believe we have the nucleus of a team that is good enough to win promotion although there's no reason we won't tweak things here and there as most clubs will be doing at this stage in the year." Such promotion would be of huge benefit to Wilson who stands to earn a massive payout if he wins City promotion. Wilson succeeds disgraced Tony Fawthrop who resigned after just a few days in charge following revelations about his financial background, and becomes the fifth manager at Ashton Gate in less that two years. After unsuccessful periods under Benny Lennartson, Tony Pulis and Tony Fawthrop, City hope that Wilson can restore stability to the club following massive management and boardroom shakeups. Wilson has agreed to drop his wage demands to join City and now has few other options other than to stay out of work following the posts at Bradford City and Wigan being filled recently. He will have the players back for pre season training soon and has until 12th August to buy and sell players as well as appoint an assistant, who will probably be either Shaun Taylor, Brian Tinnion or Leroy Rosenior, though he insists he is in no rush to appoint an assistant "I feel it is important to give the staff here the chance to prove what they can do. I have no immediate desire to make sweeping changes." John Laycock said that the board would look on requests for extra transfer funds "sympathetically". 
NEWS UPDATE: MISFIT JONES ON WAY OUT (27/06/2000) City misfit Steve Jones may be on the verge of a move to Wycombe Wanderers after just 9 months at Ashton Gate. The Cambridge born striker never won over the fans and after missing a sitter on his debut, he went on to score just twice in 17 starts. £425,000 Jones was seen by ex boss Tony Pulis as the replacement for Ade Akinbiyi, but his lack of fitness, passion and skill soon showed and his lack of goals eventually led to him loosing his place in the side. Despite an offer of over £500k by Burnley before Christmas Pulis chose to hold on to the 30 year old, a mistake that Pulis later admitted after leaving. Jones' value has plummeted since his time in Bristol and if the transfer goes through City can expect just a fraction of what they paid for him last September. No deal will e done until after a new manager has been confirmed at Ashton Gate, but it is unlikely that Jones, who took time off last season claiming illness will ever play again for City. 
NEWS UPDATE: WILSON ON VERGE OF TAKING JOB (26/06/2000) A press conference has been called by Bristol City for 2:00pm this afternoon, and it is thought that at the conference ex- Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Wilson will be confirmed as City's 5th manager in 20 months. It is thought that Wilson will sign a contract today with new chairman John Laycock after Wilson agreed to take a huge pay cut to join City. At Sheffield Wednesday Wilson was believed to have been on £750,000 per year and it was thought that he was wanting around £4000 per week at City, but this maybe less as City have agreed to pay Wilson a huge bonus should we achieve promotion. The contract is thought to be for 12 months, but will automatically be renewed every 6 months as part of a rolling contract, similar to that of ex-manager Tony Fawthrop. If all goes to plan the contract will be signed this morning and announced to the media at this afternoons press conference. John Laycock said "We feel we have reached an agreement in principle and hopefully he will sign a contract tomorrow". The 40 year old ex Sheffield Wednesday manager will work with the current backroom staff, but will appoint either Leroy Rosenior, Shaun Taylor or Brian Tinnion as his assistant. Wilson stopped playing football in 1997 after a career that saw him earn 24 caps for Northern Ireland and play for Bury, Chesterfield, Nottingham Forest, Brighton, Luton, Sheffield Wednesday and lastly Barnsley. Wilson may have ended his playing career, but he soon hit the big time in management when he took Barnsley to the Premiership for the first time in their history. In July on 1998 the Lancashire born man took over at Sheffield Wednesday. He took them to 12th in the premiership before he was sacked last season shortly before Wednesday were relegated from the Premiership. Wilson caused much controversy in Sheffield last season after 4 Sheffield MP's called for his sacking. But many blamed a lack of money and the players (Paolo Di Canio and Benito Carbone) for the troubles. Danny Wilson picture from Sheffield Wednesday's Official Website 
NEWS UPDATE:EX-BOSS COOPER WANTS CITY JOB? Ex Bristol City boss Terry Cooper insists "The club urgently needs sorting out" and it is thought that he may want to job of doing it. 55 year old Cooper, an ex Leeds and England left back, insisted he still had a soft spot for City "I still have a soft spot for Bristol City and they and Leeds are the first results I look for. Although Cooper wouldn't confirm his interest he hinted "I enjoy what I do (European scout for Southampton), but do miss the buzz of the dressing room". However Cooper the appointment of Cooper would frighteningly similar to that of Tony Pulis just a year ago. Both are ex- Rovers and some may wonder who this sounds like "Things evidently need sorting out at Bristol City. It's crazy to have five managers in less than two years and they need someone to come in and pull it together, and do away with the ego's". Cooper had two spells at Ashton Gate as a player, (1978-79, 1982-84) accumulating 85 appearances. He took over as manager in May 1982, succeeding Roy Hodgson, and then had a successful spell that included promotion from the fourth division and two Freight Rover Final appearances at Wembley until he was succeeded himself by Joe Jordan in March 1988.  NEWS UPDATE: CITY REPORT SEASON TICKET SALES 'BOOM' City claim that season ticket sales for next season are well up on last season despite the current turmoil at Ashton Gate. Latest figures from Ashton Gate reveal that over 1,000 fans have purchased season tickets for the up and coming 2000-2001 season compared to just 650 at the same stage last year. In recent years the season ticket sales have been between 6,000 and 8,000, and despite the apparent shortfall this season staff at City remain confident that the sales are set to beat last season, with an expected rush between now and June 17, the deadline for discounts. Other local second division clubs like Swindon have actually sold more season tickets so far but still expect just 3,000 to be sold in total. City's marketing director James Worrall said "I'd say we've increased new custom by about 20 per cent and we have sold around 1,000 tickets, compared to 650 at this stage last year." City have introduced a whole host of new incentives this season as some well as major price reductions. With each season ticket fans now get a FREE video of City at Wembley 2000, as well as a 2 for 1 cinema pass. Along with the new and the old incentives, all prices have either been frozen or reduced. It's now £115 cheaper for 16-18 year olds in the Atyeo Stand. I hope to put up season ticket prices on this web site soon.  NEWS UPDATE: CITY IN SHOCK AS FAWTHROP RESIGNS The Bristol City board are now looking for their 5th manager in 19 months after Tony Fawthrop resigned as manager after just 10 days in charge. After spending Thursday and Friday locked in talks with the directors, Fawthrop resigned and cited family reasons for his resignation. Earlier in the week it emerged that the newly appointed boss was a director and guarantor of loans for a company, Sunrise Vehicle Hire Ltd, that had got itself over £200,000 in debt. Fawthrop may be set for court appearances and claimed that he was stepping down to protect his family. The 57 year old Yorkshireman, had signed a one year rolling contract with Bristol City just 10 days ago, and will now move to the position of football Co-ordinator. Fawthrop, nicknamed Flip Flop, who insists he has done nothing wrong and has no responsibility for Sunrise said "I need time to try and piece things together in my life." and also claimed that he wanted to stay on especially because the fans had supported him so well "The fans have been absolutely wonderful to me" but Fawthrop admitted "My family feel completely broken". Much liked Fawthrop, who took over as caretaker manager from Tony Pulis in January salvaged a poor season for City, claimed manager of the month award for division 2 in February, and led City out at Wembley, but most fans still wanted an outside appointment as manager, with Peter Taylor mentioned. His appointment caused a huge split in the board room, with the board split 4-3 as whether or not to appoint him, and at one stage it looked very likely that chairman Scott Davidson may walk out over the split after he publicly critisised Fawthrop's appointment "91 out of 92 league football clubs wouldn't appoint Tony" But he was appointed, much to the delight of many players at City. In his short time as manager Fawthrop reshuffled the backroom staff but made no player signings. Now, City must search for a new manager, with the players due to report back to training in about one months time. Despite all the confusion and apparent panic, the City board insist that they will not be rushed into a decision. So much for stability.  NEWS UPDATE: CITY STEP UP BENJAMIN BID City boss Tony Fawthrop is gearing himself up for the first real transfer battle in his career in management. Fawthrop is continuing his interest in England Under-21 international striker Trevor Benjamin who may be available for somewhere in the region of £1-£1.8M. But Benjamin has also attracted the interest of premiership sides Leicester City and Manchester City. Gary Harwood, the Cambridge director said that Cambridge are not looking to sell Benjamin and that two £1M+ bids have already been turned down. If City were to capture the 21 year old marksman, they are likely to smash their existing transfer record, that of £1.2M for a Mr. Ade Akinbiyi some two years ago. Benjamin is thought to be high on the list of possible targets, and the money is probably available for Fawthrop to use, but other players are also available and many that have been linked to City like Brett Angell (Stockport), David Reeves (Chesterfield) and Graham Fenton are all on free transfers. Both Reeves and Angell will have talks at Ashton Gate before the end of the week.  NEWS UPDATE: CITY CHASE LEICESTER STRIKER City were in talks yesterday with Graham Fenton, the Leicester City striker. The right sided striker signed from Blackburn Rovers for £1.1M in August 1997. Fenton was at one time built up to be a future England international after braking through to the England under 21's. The 5'10" hitman who turned 26 on Monday is available on a FREE under the Bosman ruling, and City boss Tony Fawthrop claimed that "we have talked to Graham". But other clubs are also thought to be interested. Fenton joins Trevor Benjamin (Cambridge), David Reeves (Chesterfield), Marc McGregor (Forest Green Rovers) and Brett Angell (Stockport) on City's wanted strikers list.  NEWS UPDATE: THE ASHTON GATE AFFAIR It emerged yesterday that new boss Tony Fawthrop is the director of a company that owes around £200,000. Fawthrop spent yesterday afternoon talking to City directors after confirming that County Court judgements totalling £139,000 have been made against him. Fawthrop became involved with the problem company, Sunrise Vehicle Hire Ltd, after he was invited to join it by ex City director Ivor Williams. Fawthrop's position with the company meant that he was the guarantor for the loans taken out to launch it back in November 1996. Fawthrop was taken to court by finance companies wanting their money back after the company defaulted on repayments. Fawthrop insists he was no more than a figurehead for the company and that he has never taken any money from it and that he held no responsibility for the running of it. "My role was to act as guarantor for the loans that were taken out rather than to be active as a director. I never made any money at all and perhaps I was a bit naive." City chairman Scott Davidson said: "We are obviously concerned about this matter, but can make no further comment until we have spoken with Tony. "We had no knowledge of his involvement with the company concerned." Click here to return to the main page |
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