Bristol City spent just two seasons in the Fourth Division and went on to win the Associate Members' Cup (Football League Trophy) in 1986.

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.

[1] A scheme has been informally approved by the parties interested for the amalgamation of the Bristol City and Bedminster Association Football Clubs.

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.

[7][8] 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 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.

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.

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.

[11] 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.

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.

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.

After a poor start in the first half of the 2008–09 season, City recovered after Christmas, peaking at 4th place in late February.

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,[12] and Johnson left the club on 18 March 2010.

[15][16] Longtime assistant manager Keith Millen was announced as Coppell's successor[16][17] and City fell to a 15th-place finish in 2010–11.

[18] 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,[19] but City were relegated to League One after six seasons in the Championship.

Steve Cotterill was relieved of his duties in January 2016 after a poor run of form which had seen Bristol City slip to 22nd in the Championship table.

[citation needed] On 7 November 2023, Liam Manning was appointed as the new head coach of Bristol City, joining from Oxford United.

About halfway through the 2007–08 season Bristol City manager Gary Johnson said in an interview that he hoped the team could get the whole ground bouncing.

[42] In 2002, the local council was looking at possible sites for a new 40,000-seat stadium which would house both City, Rovers and Bristol Rugby, but these plans were scrapped and it is widely accepted that this would not have been welcomed by the majority of supporters from all clubs.

Note: On 29 December 2013, Louis Carey broke Bristol City's appearance record when he came on as a substitute in the 4–1 win over Stevenage.

Their greatest achievement was reaching the semi-finals of the FA Women's Cup in 1994 and winning promotion to the Premier League under Manager Jack Edgar in 2004.

[70] The majority of the senior players, with coach Will Roberts, moved to the University of Bath in summer 2008 and now play as AFC TeamBath Ladies in the South West Combination Women's Football League.