Life with the Robins and Beyond: The Geoff Merrick Story

Product Information

Nobody has ever scored more goals for Bristol City than Wiltshire-born John Atyeo, scoring a mammoth 351 goals in 645 games for the Robins between 1951-1966. All the pressure from the media made us feel like we were the people that ruined the team and that was something else that we had to live with for 40 years.

They were heroes and they haven't been treated like heroes. In many cases they've almost been treated like villains, and it's shameful. It was something I never dreamed could happen, and, quite frankly, I think for everyone involved it was devastating. I think it was a lot more difficult because I’d grown up as a City fan. When the eight players agreed to cancel their contracts on the morning of 3 February 1982, Bristol City were just minutes away from folding, with the club set to cease trading at midday.

On it was a list of eight names and Jim, who was one of those names, said 'we have to meet the board'." 'If you don't do this, the club dies' Ashton Gate, pictured in 1978, has been the home of Bristol City since 1904 As far as I know, unless somebody tells me, nobody from the Ashton Gate Eight ever heard officially from Bristol City for years and years. We were just put to one side and forgotten about. The way the whole thing was carried out was completely and utterly unfair, it was a scam. I think I had another year-and-a-half on my contract. That would give me some time to negotiate with another club and instead, all they gave us was two weeks wages. I wasn’t a man that saved a lot of money and didn’t earn a fortune. Those sort of bonds underpinned City throughout the 1970s - “wonderful players, wonderful people” - many having grown up together and then matured collectively as footballers and men. So, we go to the PFA and they more or less came down straight away. After that, it was just meeting after meeting saying the club’s going to go bust, you’re going to have to accept and then deadline after deadline. If you don’t do this everybody is going to lose their jobs and the club will shut down.

Yet, this narrative could not be further from the truth. The eight players were not responsible for the years of poor business decisions made by their club's board and ownership but still took it upon themselves to rescue the club. They agreed to discard their professional ambitions for the good of Bristol City.You can sign up to our dedicated Bristol City newsletter HERE, bringing you the latest from Ashton Gate Read More Related Articles The one thing which made Bristol City special at the time was that we had a team of wonderful people, not just wonderful footballers, and they were all very special. It was a laugh a minute.” What it boiled down to, you know, was calling their bluff. If we don’t do it, what will happen? Will the club go bankrupt? If it does, and it folds, then it will be seen to be our fault? Not anyone else’s fault. A rare Clive Whitehead goal early in the game on 20 April 1976 clinched the Portsmouth victory, who belied their already relegated status by putting up a mighty struggle, before Bristol City clinched their long awaited return to the top division of English football.

I find it laughable that he gets criticised for his views. The Rubber Soul critique I disagree with, but Geoff’s allowed to not like it much! I understand him more on the White Album. I don’t think it sounds as sonically or fresh as say, Revolver does. Of all the Beatles albums, it’s the one that’s benefited the most from Remastering (again, just my opinion). He’s allowed not to like it. Lennon dislikes And your Bird Can Sing, and is at best lukewarm on Abbey Road. Again, he’s also allowed to have these views! Despite earning "reasonably good money" while on the books at City, Tainton's departure from the club had a huge impact on his life. Crowds had dwindled from about 24,000 to 6,000 and gate receipts were, unsurprisingly, barely generating enough income to keep the club afloat.But we didn't want Bristol City to go out of business. We were all ardent City fans. We were kids who had grown up and spent all our life at Bristol City so, obviously, we sort of went along with it." It's a huge step and a great turnout. It's a great friendly atmosphere here. It's really well run and they've got the success they've deserved and built on it. All the people involved are very, very genuine."

His career went from strength to strength. He was referred to as the 'Second Division's Bobby Moore' due to his cool head under pressure and an ability to make things look so easy on the ball. We were far from confused and understood exactly what the club wished to do and needed to do if it was to be saved." I do believe the players understood it' - How Bristol City were 10 minutes from going out of business The first time the lights have been in Nailsea so that's about 50 years. It's a great success and development, this club," he said. Clive Whitehead: Winger who later won a promotion with Exeter City, before managing Yeovil Town and then coached Bristol City’s reserves. Later, he joined the PFA as a financial adviser.

Len Bond: Goalkeeper who helped Brentford win a promotion. He opened a newsagent’s in Exeter and now lives in Taunton where he runs a sportswear firm. It never got around to me turning it down. I did see Bobby Campbell at the end of that season and he asked why I hadn’t got in touch with him because they wanted to buy me. Nobody wants to see their business hung out to dry. I suppose who at the time would you point the fingers at? The administrators who were chasing the dream? It’s easy to think about those things. It was the biggest moment of my non-illustrious career,” he laughs. “It was something really special. I’m a Bristol boy, my parents were both Bristol City supporters and I first went when I was about seven. And nobody had seen them in the First Division for 60 years.