BCBristol City

Club history

Bristol City's origins lie in Bristol South End, a club founded in 1894, which turned professional and was renamed Bristol City in 1897. In 1900 the club merged with local rivals Bedminster, retaining the Bristol City name, red-and-white colours and the "Robins" nickname that has identified the club ever since. Bristol City settled at Ashton Gate in 1904, and the ground has remained their home for over a century, now with a capacity of around 27,000.

The club's finest era came in the early twentieth century: City won the Second Division title in 1905-06 with a then-record points haul, finished runners-up in the First Division in their very first top-flight season of 1906-07, and reached their only FA Cup final in 1909, losing 1-0 to Manchester United at Crystal Palace. Relegation in 1911 began a long decline, and the club spent most of the mid-twentieth century in the lower divisions, with occasional promotions and relegations between the second and third tiers.

Bristol City's darkest hour came in 1982, when reckless spending on player contracts during a brief First Division return in the late 1970s left the club on the brink of extinction; the club went into liquidation, and eight first-team players -- the "Ashton Gate Eight" -- famously agreed to tear up their contracts to help save it, allowing a phoenix club to be reformed to continue playing at Ashton Gate. Bristol City spent decades rebuilding through the lower leagues before local businessman Steve Lansdown took control in the 2000s, investing heavily in the club and redeveloping Ashton Gate. Promotion from League One in 2015 restored Championship football, where City have remained a competitive, if trophyless, established second-tier club.

Sources

• Wikipedia
• The Beautiful History - Bristol City

Runner-up finishes (1)

• 1906-07

See the full english top-flight champions list for the winner each of these years.