The Watford FanCast's Comedy Crammond looks at how his city of residence have surprised us all in the Championship promotion race, and predicts that Bristol may be set for yet another end of season party.
There is an energy here in Bristol, one that is quite contagious I have to admit. Many of you may know that I live in Bristol and travel down to watch the Golden Boys every other weekend. Despite that, I've always taken an interest in my local side, I was a Bristolian resident during last season's epic promotion (the last time this city had enjoyed promotion to the second tier of English football was 1998) and watched - with the locals - the fine FA Cup match against Middlesbrough that got everyone talking about Johnson's hardworking team.
This season everybody thought that the Robins' title charge would fall away at any point, except no-one told the locals. It's time we treat these cider-loving folk with some respect. It has been a while since Bristol have achieved anything in the game, the last piece of major silverware was the Welsh Cup in 1934. How they got into the Welsh Cup is anybody's guess, the Severn Bridge didn't even exist then! I imagine they bribed the native welsh some of that Somerset cider, which is their specialty down in these parts; either way, guess who they beat in the final? That's right, that very Welsh team of Tranmere Rovers.
Saying that, it would be fantastic for the area if they did gain promotion (not at the expensive of Watford of course!!!), Bristol has a Wikipedia population of 410, 500 people, yet Bolton, an established Premier League team has only 139, 000. Of course size doesn't matter (when it comes to football) as look at the Golden Boys with a Wikipedia size of only 80,000! These boys remind me of a certain Championship side that won promotion in 2005.
A series of relatively unknown players, tipped for the drop, and one of those "not a big club" tags. Bristol City are the Watford from two years ago and take teams by surprise with fast, brave and competitive football. I will disagree with Matt, Neil and Craig on the Watford FanCast and say that Bristol City are set for automatic promotion rather than West Bromwich Albion. The only question is; will the Hornets be joining the red and white half of Bristol in the top two at the end of the season? The answer is yes, of course....
To listen to the latest Watford FanCast, click here, as the Watford FanCast team reflect upon the weekend's draw at Turf Moor and ponder the Hornets promotion chances. And to listen to ex-City legend Brian Tinnion talk to the Championship FanCast about the Robins' promotion hopes, simply follow this link.