Early years and early successes (1894–1922) The club was founded in 1894 as Bristol South End and changed their name to Bristol City on adopting professionalism three years later when they were admitted into the Southern League. Finishing as runners-up in three of the first four seasons, in 1900 the club amalgamated with local Southern League rivals
Bedminster F.C., who had been founded as Southville in 1887. Bristol City joined the
Football League in 1901 when they became only the third club south of Birmingham (following in the footsteps of
Woolwich Arsenal and
Luton Town) to perform in the competition. Their first game in the Football League was on 7 September 1901 at
Bloomfield Road, when
Blackpool were beaten 2–0. Winning the Second Division Championship with a record number of points when they became the first club in Football League history to win 30 league games in a season (out of 38 played) as well as equalling
Manchester United's achievement of the previous season in winning 14 consecutive games (a record until 2018, also accomplished by
Preston North End in 1950–51). Nicknamed the Bristol Babe at this time, they finished as runners-up in their inaugural First Division campaign (1906–07) as the only southern club to finish in the top two prior to World War I. In 1909 they won through to their only FA Cup final, though they were somewhat fortunate that a last-gasp spot-kick saved them from defeat in the semi-final versus
Derby County at
Stamford Bridge. In the final at the
Crystal Palace (now the National Sports Centre) Bristol City lost to Manchester United 1–0. After a five-season stay in the top flight, despite winning 1–0 at
Newcastle at the start of the 1910–11 campaign, failure to beat
Everton in the season's finale brought City's first-ever taste of relegation and it was to be 65 years before top-flight status would be regained. Bristol City would then go on to stay in Division 2 until three years after the First World War had ended, and in that time they reached the semi-finals of the
1919–20 FA Cup before being beaten 2–1 by
Huddersfield Town and finished third in the Second Division in the
1920–21 season. However, in the next season they were relegated to the Third Division South.
The yo-yo era (1922–65) The 1920s were a rocky time as City bounced between the Second Division and the Southern Section of the Third Division. The season after City were relegated, they achieved promotion back to the Second Division, before being relegated back to the Southern Section of the Third Division again the following season. After successive high finishes in the league, they were promoted again in 1926–27. However, by the 1930s they had slumped into the lower division and stayed that way until over 10 years after the Second World War. During this stay in the Third Division South, they won the
Welsh Cup in 1934, beating Tranmere Rovers in the final. However, in the same year they also suffered their biggest ever league defeat, a 9–0 loss to
Coventry City The 1937–38 season was the most successful season for City since they were relegated to the Third Division, coming second in the league and reaching the final of the
Third Division South Cup, before losing 6–2 to Reading on aggregate. They then came eighth in the Third Division South in the final full season before the war, in which the Grandstand of Ashton Gate was destroyed by a German air raid. In 1946–47, City recorded a record league win by beating
Aldershot 9–0, although despite
Don Clark scoring 36 goals in the League, City failed to get promoted that season.
Harry Dolman became chairman in 1949, a post he would hold for over 30 years. An engineer who had bought out the firm he worked for, he designed the first set of floodlights installed at Ashton Gate in the early 1950s. The late 1950s were a better time for City, with a five-year stay in the Second Division, a league they returned to for a further spell in 1965.
Back among the elite (1966–80) In 1967,
Alan Dicks was appointed manager, and things gradually began to improve, with promotion to the First Division in 1976, ending a 65-year exile from the top flight. Between 1975 and 1981 City were regular participants in the
Anglo-Scottish Cup, winning the trophy in 1977–78, beating Hibernian in the semi-finals, and winning 3–2 on aggregate in the final against St Mirren (managed at the time by a relatively new manager, Alex Ferguson). St Mirren had their revenge two seasons later, with an aggregate 5–1 victory over City to become the only Scottish team to win the trophy. City's second stint in the top flight was less successful than the club's first, with thirteenth position in 1979 being their highest finish during this era. Stars of this era included
Peter Cormack,
Geoff Merrick,
Tom Ritchie,
Clive Whitehead,
Gerry Gow,
Trevor Tainton and
Jimmy Mann.
Financial difficulties and revival (1980–2000) In 1980, the City team went back to the Second Division in the first of three relegations, their debt mounted and their financial losses increased, with two successive relegations following. Thus, in 1982, they fell into the
Fourth Division, and were declared bankrupt. A new club was formed and BCFC (1982) Ltd acquired the club's player contracts. The highly paid senior players Julian Marshall,
Chris Garland,
Jimmy Mann,
Peter Aitken,
Geoff Merrick,
David Rodgers,
Gerry Sweeney and
Trevor Tainton, who became known as the 'Ashton Gate Eight', each accepted termination of his contract for half the amount due. The club's previous owners had failed to pay its debts to many local businesses. The resulting ill will towards the club made it difficult for the new owners to obtain credit. City spent two seasons in the Fourth Division before winning promotion under
Terry Cooper in 1984. They consolidated themselves in the Third Division during the latter part of the 1980s, and in 1990 Cooper's successor
Joe Jordan achieved promotion as Third Division runners-up to local rivals Bristol Rovers. There was a tragedy for the club, however, in that promotion campaign. In March 1990, two months before the club sealed promotion, striker
Dean Horrix was killed in a car crash barely two weeks after joining the club, and having played three league games for them. Jordan moved to
Heart of Midlothian in September 1990, and his successor
Jimmy Lumsden remained in charge for 18 months before making way for
Denis Smith. Smith's first signing was the 20-year-old
Arsenal striker
Andy Cole. He was sold to Newcastle United in February 1993 and later played for Manchester United, where he collected five
Premier League titles, two
FA Cups and the
European Cup. Meanwhile, City remained in the new
Division One (no longer the Second Division after the creation of the Premier League in 1992) and Smith moved to
Oxford United in November 1993. His successor was
Russell Osman. In January 1994 Osman led City to a shock 1–0 victory over
Liverpool at
Anfield in a third round replay in the FA Cup, a result that would cause the Liverpool manager at the time,
Graeme Souness, to resign. Osman was sacked within a year of taking charge. Joe Jordan was brought back to
Ashton Gate in September 1994, but was unable to prevent relegation to Division Two. Jordan remained at the helm for two seasons after City's relegation, but left in March 1997 after failing to get them back into Division One. Former Bristol Rovers manager
John Ward took over, and achieved promotion in 1998 as Division Two runners-up. But City struggled back in Division One, and Ward stepped down in October 1998 to be succeeded by
Benny Lennartsson, their first non-British manager. City were relegated in bottom place and Lennartsson was dismissed in favour of
Gillingham's
Tony Pulis, who lasted six months before leaving to take over at Portsmouth. During his time at Ashton Gate he was manager of perhaps the worst City side since the one that completed a hat-trick of successive relegations almost 20 years earlier. Coach Tony Fawthrop took over until the end of the season, when
Danny Wilson was appointed. Wilson was arguably the most prominent manager to take charge of a City side since
Denis Smith, as he had guided
Barnsley to promotion to the Premier League in 1997 and
Sheffield Wednesday to a 12th-place finish in 1999.
21st century In the early 2000s Bristol City were regular Division Two play-off contenders during Wilson's spell as manager. They just missed out on the play-offs in 2002, finishing 7th. The following year, Wilson almost took them to automatic promotion, finishing 3rd and winning the
Football League Trophy in Cardiff in 2003. The taste of the play-offs was bitter though, losing to rivals
Cardiff City 1–0 on aggregate in the semi-final. In 2004, they finished in 3rd place again, and this time they reached the play-off final, but lost to
Brighton & Hove Albion. He was sacked within days and replaced by veteran player
Brian Tinnion. City just failed to make the play-offs in Tinnion's first season as manager, finishing seventh, and he stepped down in September 2005 after a poor start to the season.
Yeovil Town manager
Gary Johnson was recruited as his successor in September 2005. Johnson led Bristol City to a 9th-place finish. after securing promotion in 2007 In the
2006–07 season, Bristol City finally achieved the elusive promotion that had evaded them in their 8 years in the third tier. Promotion to the Championship was confirmed on the final day of the season with a 3–1 win against already relegated
Rotherham United, securing the runners-up place in the division and resulting in automatic promotion. After a good start in the Championship, City established themselves as real contenders, sitting in 3rd place at Christmas. By the start of March, City were top of the Championship, making an improbable second successive promotion a possibility. However, a poor run ended City's chances of an automatic promotion place but qualified for the play-offs with a 4th-place finish, their highest finish since 1980. City overcame
Crystal Palace 4–2 on aggregate to progress to the play-off final at Wembley Stadium, where they were beaten 1–0 by
Hull City. After a poor start in the first half of the 2008–09 season, City recovered after Christmas, peaking at 4th place in late February. After a lot of draws, the season eventually petered out and City finished the season in tenth place. The
2009–10 season saw some good results in the autumn, but heavy defeats by local rivals Cardiff City (0–6) and
Doncaster Rovers (2–5) in early 2010 led to much dissatisfaction amongst fans, and Johnson left the club on 18 March 2010. Assistant manager
Keith Millen took charge as caretaker manager, and led a series of good results, resulting in a second successive tenth-place finish.
Steve Coppell became manager in 2010 but resigned after just two matches. Longtime assistant manager
Keith Millen was announced as Coppell's successor and City fell to a 15th-place finish in
2010–11. After a poor start to the
2011–12 season, Millen left the club in October 2011.
Derek McInnes was appointed next, but after a promising start, City fell into the relegation zone, eventually surviving in 20th place, their worst since promotion in 2007. This steady decline would continue and after a poor start to the 2012–13 season, McInnes was sacked in January 2013 with City bottom of the Championship. He was replaced by
Sean O'Driscoll, the club's fifth head coach in three years, but City were relegated to League One after six seasons in the Championship. O'Driscoll left with the team 22nd in League One.
Steve Cotterill joined the club when Bristol City were second bottom of League One. Cotterill guided the club to a 12th-place finish. Bristol City finished the season with 99 points, Bristol City eventually finished in 18th place. they sat second in the
Championship, whilst also knocking out
Premier League opposition in
Watford,
Stoke City,
Crystal Palace and
Manchester United to reach the semi-finals of the
League Cup. However, City would eventually finish in 11th place. Bristol City ended the 2018–19 season in 8th. The battle for the last play-off spot came down to the final day, before
Derby County managed to win their final game and clinch it. From March to June, the 2019–20 season was suspended due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Despite again challenging for the play-offs during the season, Johnson was sacked on 4 July 2020 after a run of just one win in 10 league matches. His long-time assistant,
Dean Holden, was appointed as his replacement on 10 August 2020. After suffering six straight defeats in all competitions, Holden was dismissed on 16 February 2021 after just six months in charge. He was replaced by
Nigel Pearson. On 29 October 2023, Pearson was sacked with Bristol City 15th in the Championship following a run of 5 losses in 7 games. Despite the poor form, Pearson had overseen year on year points increases in his time at the club and many fans felt he had been undermined by a loss of key players such as Alex Scott and a lack of reinvestment in the playing squad. On 7 November 2023,
Liam Manning was appointed as the new head coach of Bristol City, joining from
Oxford United. City ended the 2023–24 season in 11th place with 62 points, having also enjoyed some success in the FA Cup by knocking out West Ham in January after forcing a replay. In the 2024–25 season the club reached the play-offs for the first time in 17 years. City went on to lose 6–0 on aggregate to Sheffield United in the play-off semi-final. On 3 June 2025 it was announced that Manning would leave the club to manage
Norwich City. On 19 June 2025
Gerhard Struber was appointed as the new head coach of Bristol City. ==Club identity==