Family

Dad

My Dad is the assistant head teacher of St.Mary's RC High School Grimsby. He was formerly a professional footballer who started his career with Chelsea. His clubs in chronological order were Chelsea, Bristol City, Grimsby Town, Derby County, Scunthorpe United, Boston United, Scarborough, Goole. He has taught at Wintringham, Hereford and St.Mary's Schools in Grimsby.

Caught in Time

Bristol City promoted to the First Division, 1976

Greg Struthers

Bristol City’s rise to the upper echelons of football took 65 years of heartache and a goal from Clive Whitehead against Portsmouth at Ashton Gate on Tuesday evening, April 20, 1976. “The problem was, the goal was scored in the fifth minute, so we had 85 minutes to hold on and it got a bit edgy,” recalls Whitehead, a winger who had experienced the pain of missing promotion. “If we had not won then, we would have had to win our last match at home to Notts County.”

The Robins had flirted with a place in the First Division several times, only to fall away at Easter. This season was different. They beat Portsmouth 1-0, finished second behind Sunderland and returned to the top league, where they had last played in 1911.

“It was the culmination of three or four years of the team coming together,” says Whitehead. “A lot of the players had been in the team that reached the youth cup final in 1973. The big difference was Paul Cheesley as a striking factor.”

Cheesley was enjoying his role. Alan Dicks, the manager, had put together a hard-working combination with excellent team spirit. “As a team, we did everything together,” says Cheesley. “There were a few Scots, some Bristolians, a Brummie and a Geordie and it all seemed to work.”

Cheesley was the target man. “I had a presence in the air that helped. I clicked with Tom Ritchie up front. We only started playing together when injuries forced a change in a pre-season friendly. It was through luck.” The pair scored 33 league goals in the promotion season.

The return to the First Division in August 1976 started like a dream. Cheesley scored at Highbury on the opening day as Bristol City beat Arsenal 1-0. However, three days later he challenged for a corner with Stoke goalkeeper Peter Shilton, fell awkwardly and wrecked his knee and his football career. He played one more game.

The Robins stayed in the top division for four years, then went into freefall. They were relegated three seasons in a row, dropping from the First to the Fourth Division.

As bills mounted, the club sold its best players to pay off creditors. Then, in early 1982, the directors put pressure on eight players to tear up their long-term contracts and save the club from going under. Known as the Ashton Gate Eight, they bowed to pressure. Some had 10-year contracts. They took voluntary redundancy and rescued the club with only hours to spare.

1 Donnie Gillies

Signed from Morton, the Scottish-born fullback spent seven seasons at Ashton Gate, scoring 26 league goals. He joined rivals Bristol Rovers. He has a fruit and vegetable round and lives in Winford near Bristol.

2 Ray Cashley

One of only five goalkeepers to score from his own penalty area, Cashley played 227 league games in 11 seasons and was outstanding in the promotion year. He lives in Whitchurch and works for the promotions department at Weston-super-Mare AFC.

3 John Shaw

A Leeds United apprentice, he joined City in May 1974 and was in goal for 295 league matches. He has a wallpapering and decorating business.

4 Clive Whitehead

Born in Birmingham, the England youth winger joined City as a junior. He also played for West Bromwich Albion and Portsmouth. He is a financial adviser for the Professional Footballers’ Association

5 Alan Dicks

A modest centre-half as a player in the 1950s, he was manager at Bristol City for 13 years. He worked for a golf and snooker promotions company and coached in the United States. Retired, he lives in Bristol.

6 Paul Cheesley

Played for Norwich before returning home to Bristol for £30,000. He scored 15 goals in the promotion campaign. Runs the Knowle Hotel in Bristol.

7 David Rodgers

One of five players in the photograph who were part of the Ashton Gate Eight. An England schools player, he was a Bristol-born central defender whose father had also played for the club. He was a groundsman at Bristol Grammar School and is now a housemaster at Clifton College.

8 Tom Ritchie

He teammates called him “TV Tom”. Whenever the television cameras turned up, he played a blinder and scored. The Edinburgh-born striker notched 103 league goals in two spells at the club and found the net 18 times in the promotion campaign. He lives in Cleveden and is a postman.

9 Gary Collier

The Bristol-born central defender spent seven seasons at the club and then signed for Coventry in a £325,000 move but played only two league games. He coaches children in California.

10 Ken Wimshurst

After long spells as a midfielder with Southampton and Bristol City, he was coach at Ashton Gate when they won promotion. Scouts for the Saints in the Bristol area.

11 Les Bardsley

The club physio, he had a local practice. Now retired.

12 Mike Brolly

A Scottish schools winger, he had eight league games for Chelsea before spending two seasons with Bristol City. He also played more than 200 games for Grimsby, where he is a schoolteacher.

13 Jimmy Mann

A Leeds apprentice, he played 231 league fixtures in midfield for the Robins. One of the Ashton Gate Eight, he was a security officer and milkman. Now a jetty master for Associated British Ports in Bristol.

14 Brian Drysdale

A central defender signed from Hartlepool in 1969, he played in 282 league games. Still fit, he runs marathons and plays in charity games. A carpenter in Bristol.

15 Geoff Merrick

The Bristol-born defender played 367 league games for his home club. A member of the Ashton Gate Eight, he played non-league football until he was 47. Now involved in a construction business and his first love, farming.

16 Trevor Tainton

Was with the club for 17 years, playing 486 games in midfield. Another of the Ashton Gate Eight, he has spent 20 years as a security officer at the Oldbury nuclear power station.

17 Gerry Sweeney

Signed from Morton in 1971, the Scottish full-back clocked up 406 league matches before becoming one of the Ashton Gate Eight. Was assistant manager at Walsall and a coach at Bristol City. Lives in Portishead and is a postman.

18 Gerry Gow

A Glasgow-born midfielder, he spent 11 years with Bristol City. He joined Manchester City and played in the 1981 FA Cup final. Was manager at Yeovil and now works in the engineering trade in Dorset.

Go to top of page