Latest news with #ChrisGarland
BBC News
23-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Trips to Leeds 'daunting' but often 'memorable'
City were humbled by Luton Town on Easter Monday yet remain in fifth position in the Championship thanks to Coventry slipping up at Plymouth and Boro coming away from Hillsborough with nothing - due in no small part, I'm sure, to ex-City player Tommy Conway missing a first-half penalty and then crashing a shot against the underside of the bar in the last minute of added City still remain odds-on favourites to qualify for the play-offs, they face the daunting prospect of a trip to Elland Road on Monday to face champions-elect Leeds United. They can only hope that the Yorkshiremen gave their end-of-season champagne performance in the 6-0 drubbing of Stoke over Easter, as they come up against opponents against whom they have an appalling record in recent years. This will be the 20th encounter since 2010, with Leeds racking up 15 wins and City winning just of encounters between the sides over the years, if you go back to 1968, there was an FA Cup tie which (naturally) Leeds won, the game memorable for the fact that goalkeeper Gary Sprake was sent off for unceremoniously knocking out City's Chris Garland. Roll the clock forward six years, and after a 1-1 FA Cup fifth-round draw at Ashton Gate, City made the national news headlines - such was Leeds' grandeur in those days - when a Donnie Gillies goal gave them a famous 1-0 victory in a game played on a Tuesday afternoon due to the three-day week and associated power cuts!One final game against Leeds sticks in the mind, although perhaps one should say one and a December 1976 it was a very foggy day as I walked across Ashton Park to the ground. Taking my place in the enclosure, on the halfway line, you could not see either goal. Surprisingly, the game kicked off with 36,000 people in the occasionally caught glimpses of the orange match ball and heard the "oohs" and "aahs" of the crowd from either end when there was penalty area action. It was farcical and no surprise when the game was abandoned at half-time with no refunds. The replayed game in May saw a Chris Garland goal secure the points as City scrambled to avoid can hear more from David Pottier on the fans podcast Forever Bristol City, external.
BBC News
20-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Easter 'crucial' to City's fortunes before
City got their Easter programme off to the start they hoped for with a 2-1 win against already confirmed fourth-placed Sunderland. The Easter schedule is less frenetic than it used to be when I first started watching City over 50 years ago. Back in the 1970s you played either Friday, Saturday and Tuesday or Saturday, Monday and Tuesday.I recall three years when Easter was a crucial time for City's fortunes. In 1971, City were in a battle to avoid relegation from the Second Division and faced Luton Town at Ashton Gate on Good Friday. On a quagmire pitch they trailed 2-0 at half-time, before storming back in the second period to win 3-2 thanks to two goals from Chris Garland and another from defender Dickie Rooks. The next day City took another step to survival beating Portsmouth 2-0 at Ashton 1975 City were battling at the other end of the table for promotion. I was amongst the fans who travelled to Southampton's old ground, The Dell, to witness a 1-0 win thanks to a goal from Donnie Gillies. Hopes were high for the Saturday game against Norwich City back at home but the visitors clearly benefitted from resting in a Bristol hotel while City battled on the south coast and won 1-0. The Tuesday fixture was a home game against Bristol Rovers which ended a year later City were again battling for promotion and in a much stronger position. Manager Alan Dicks had brought forward the Easter Saturday fixture which meant City didn't play in successive days and came away from visiting neighbouring Bristol Rovers on Good Friday with a point from a 0-0 draw. The Tuesday fixture was against Portsmouth and City went into the game knowing that victory would secure a return to the top flight for the first time in 65 years. They achieved that thanks to Clive Whitehead's goal securing a 1-0 win and a four-year stay in the then called First nine years on is this going to be our season to make that much awaited return?You can hear more from David Pottier on the fans podcast Forever Bristol City, external.
