Bristol City CEO Tom Rawcliffe spoke to BBC Radio Bristol ahead of the Robins’ Championship clash with Charlton AthleticNew Bristol City CEO Tom Rawcliffe(Image: Photo by Rogan/Bristol City)

Saturday afternoon saw Championship football return to Ashton Gate as Bristol City played out a stalemate with Charlton Athletic in front of a sold-out crowd. In truth, it wasn’t quite the BS3 curtain raiser most will have been expecting after the fireworks on the opening day at Bramall Lane a week prior.

However, there were still positives to take, both on and off the field. One of those positives came prior to kick-off as supporters got to hear from new CEO Tom Rawcliffe for the first time in an external interview as he sat down with BBC Radio Bristol in the build-up to the 0-0 draw.

Having been appointed as the Reds’ new chief executive officer in July, after spending the previous four years in the West Country as both head of finance and chief operating officer, Rawcliffe discussed a range of topics, including Liam Manning’s departure, the appointment of Gerhard Struber, the summer transfer window, and much more.

With the interview lasting the best part of a quarter of an hour, this article would go on for pages and pages if we were to cover every single point Rawcliffe touched on. If you wish to listen to the chat yourself, you can do so via BBC Sounds here.

For now, we have picked out some of the stand-out talking points from the conversation and compiled them together in one notebook here…

READ MORE: Gerhard Struber makes ‘expectation’ point as Bristol City boss responds to transfer questionREAD MORE: Bristol City confirm Joe Williams blow as midfielder suffers setback during injury rehabNew role as CEO

Prior to Tom Rawcliffe’s appointment in July, Bristol City had been operating without a CEO since Phil Alexander’s departure was confirmed in 2023. The former Crystal Palace chief had replaced the popular Richard Gould in the role after he took on the position of CEO for the England and Wales Cricket Board, but Alexander only remained in post for eight months.

In the absence of a CEO, technical director Brian Tinnion had overseen footballing decisions on the men’s side of the club, alongside the head coach, Rawcliffe (who was COO), chairman Jon Lansdown, and Gavin Marshall.

However, as confirmed by Steve Lansdown in the release published when Rawcliffe’s appointment was confirmed, the new CEO will lead the day-to-day running of the football club. So far, however, he has noticed little shift in his daily responsibilities.

“Things won’t change too much for me personally,” Rawcliffe told BBC Radio Bristol. “But the decision was made to have a figurehead so externally, supporters, yourselves in the media, and potential investors can see who is at the top of the club and have that interaction there.

“I’ll probably do a little bit more with you, Rich, whether you like that or not. I’ll be in here, good times or bad times. Internally, our staff won’t see much of a change in terms of what I take on in terms of day-to-day responsibilities. The composition of the board will remain the same: it’s myself, it’s Jon Lansdown, and Gavin Marshall. Either directly or indirectly, the rest of the staff at Bristol City will report into me.

“I’m not going to go looking at everything in minute detail. I should have a good idea from previous roles, both operations and finance, give you a really good opportunity to look across the business, but day to day, I’m not seeing too much change there.”

Players heading into final year of contracts

Naturally, the summer transfer window is a hot topic among supporters currently, with just a matter of weeks until the September 1 deadline. However, some fans already have one eye on next summer due to the fact that a number of Bristol City players are heading into the final year of their contracts at Ashton Gate.

At the time of writing, all of Max O’Leary, Zak Vyner, Haydon Roberts, Mark Sykes, Anis Mehmeti, Sam Bell, Harry Cornick and Ephraim Yeboah are entering the final 12 months of their respective deals, and unless extensions are agreed, this summer will represent the Robins’ final chance to pocket a significant fee for their services.

Having seen Tommy Conway depart BS3 for a smaller than expected fee last summer, fans are keen to see the Reds agree extensions with the members of the above list who are first-team regulars. While Tom Rawcliffe understands the current situation is a risky position to be in, he feels City have to be “pragmatic” in their approach.

When asked about the players heading into their final year, City’s CEO said: “We’ve managed to do that with a few of the names you mentioned: George Tanner, Rob Atkinson, and Cam Pring. They were all signed up in the early part of the summer, looking ahead.

Cam Pring has been a regular starter for Bristol City when fit(Image: Photo by Ryan Hiscott/Getty Images)

“Players with a year left on their deal, that’s part and parcel of football. We will be looking at those, and we will be assessing those. Obviously, we’ve got to get the transfer window sorted, we’ve still got two weeks and two days and about four hours of that, not that I’m counting down.

“It is a risk, but we’ve got to take a pragmatic view on that and see where we’re at and what we want to do with it.”

Transfer window plans

Of course, we can’t avoid talking about the summer transfer window forever. While the messaging from the Bristol City hierarchy since before the end of last season has been that the Robins won’t go wild when it comes to incoming business, Gerhard Struber has made no secret of his desire to add another player or two to his ranks before the September 1 deadline.

The new Reds boss set out that ambition ahead of Saturday’s clash with Charlton and suggested he had a “very good feeling” that such additions would be made. However, as of the time of writing, no new signings have been confirmed by the club.

While Tom Rawcliffe is eager to match Struber’s ambition in the final two weeks of the transfer window, he is also aware that one or two players may have to depart south Bristol given the size of the current squad at Ashton Gate.

“We want to support our head coach where reasonably possible, and if that includes a new player, that’s something we’ll absolutely look at,” Rawcliffe said. “Again, we’ve got to work within the parameters that are set, we’ve got to work within the situation and what type of player we want to bring into the football club, and again, making sure we don’t unnecessarily block an academy product or an academy talent coming through.

Gerhard Struber has had a positive start as Bristol City boss(Image: Rogan/ Bristol City)

“But we’re always looking to improve the squad, so if that’s another player coming in, then so be it. Equally, we have got a rather large squad.

“There’ll be a squad of 20 here and there’s probably a number missing through injury, so we have got depth in there. So if I’m being more honest than you might expect, we’ll have to look at outs as well.”

Jason Knight’s future and being a ‘trading club’

While the fact that Bristol City will have to look to sanction exits between now and the end of the transfer window shouldn’t come as a surprise to supporters, fans will likely have their own individual preferences when it comes to just who they would like to see depart Ashton Gate.

It would be safe to assume, however, that very few supporters would be crying out for Jason Knight to be sold, given just how integral he has been to the Robins’ success over the last two seasons. It is also safe to say that is a sentiment echoed by both Gerhard Struber and Tom Rawcliffe.

Naturally, given their position as a “trading club” in the English football pyramid, there will be a price at which City would simply have to consider their options. At this stage, though, there hasn’t been any suggestion that anyone is planning to meet that valuation or even test the Robins’ resolve.

“We do remain a trading club, but I’ll probably counter that by saying everyone outside of the top six in the Premier League is a trading club,” the Reds CEO said. “There’s always bigger fish in the sea, and if a player wants to move on to a bigger and better club, then it’s very difficult to stand in their way.

“Jason Knight is a star player for us; he’s the captain and a very, very good player, but we are not actively looking to sell Jason Knight. He’s got time left on his contract, I think he’s quite happy here, and we’re very happy for him to be here.

“Again, football’s tumultuous, and if someone comes in with a ridiculous bid, you’ll have to listen to it, but we’re not at that stage, and there’s been no bids for Jason Knight.”

Bristol City Live on Whatsapp

Join Bristol City Live’s Whatsapp community for all the biggest Bristol City stories sent straight to your phone

Bristol City Live is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community.

Through the app, we’ll send the Bristol City news, live match coverage, team news, transfers, fixtures, analysis and more straight to your phone.

To join our community you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select ‘Join Community’.

No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Bristol Live team.

We also treat community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out at any time you like.

To leave our community, click on the name at the top of your screen and choose ‘Exit group’.

If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.

Click here to join our WhatsApp community.

Replica kits and away kit update

We will wrap up this notebook with an off the pitch matter. While it may not be quite as significant as transfers, changes of manager, or contract extensions to some people, Bristol City’s lack of away kit and the limited of stock of both the home and third kit ahead of the first home league game of the season have been a topic of conversation amongst supporters over the last few days.

The Robins are yet to unveil their change strip for the 2025/26 season, despite the fact that we are now heading towards the third round of Championship fixtures. While they have announced both their men’s home and third kit, the men’s red and white strip has proven to be rather popular, with incredibly limited stock now available both in the Ashton Gate shop and on the online Bristol Sport store.

City updated fans with a statement on Friday afternoon that explained further stock would be supplied ahead of next weekend’s home game against Hull City. Although Tom Rawcliffe understands supporters’ frustrations, he explained the basic details of the issue and called for patience over the coming days and weeks.

“Ultimately, it’s not good enough, is it?” Rawcliffe replied when asked about the current supply of kits. “We want kits available. We’re working very hard with O’Neills, who are our kit manufacturer and supplier; they’ve been fantastic. This is not an issue at their end.

“I’d ask fans, and it’s probably an unfair ask; be patient. It’s great that the home kit is selling well, and we’ve sold a lot of kits of that. The third kit obviously has a 100% record thus far, and the away kit, I’m no fashionista, but I think it will be worth the wait.

“I’d just ask for a little bit more patience. We’re pushing to get it here ready for the next home fixture.”

READ MORE: Radek Vitek on Championship challenge, ‘amazing’ Bristol City fans and Manchester United planREAD MORE: Bristol City look to further strengthen academy pathway as Baraznowski named senior PDP coach