![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1_Rob-Atkinson.jpg\")
Bristol City defender Rob Atkinson(Image: EFL)<\/p>\n“I\u2019m really happy to be home and to get the deal done”<\/p>\n
12:24, 24 Jun 2025Updated 13:34, 24 Jun 2025<\/p>\n
Bristol City defender Rob Atkinson(Image: EFL)<\/p>\n
Bristol City defender Rob Atkinson said he is \u2018excited\u2019 for the new season at Ashton Gate after returning from a loan spell and penning a contract extension.<\/p>\n
The left-sided centre half made a comeback from a lengthy injury at the tail end of 2024, and was then sent on loan to Portsmouth in the January transfer window earlier this year to get back to full match fitness.<\/p>\n
He returned to Ashton Gate last month with just a year left on his contract, and said he was happy to sign on for another two years, meaning he\u2019s a City player until the summer of 2028.<\/p>\n
The decision by former boss Liam Manning to send him on loan in January seemed sensible at the time, but raised eyebrows in hindsight as City suffered a series of injuries in the defence with Haydon Roberts, Cam Pring, Luke McNally and Rob Dickie side-lined for various times in the run-in, leaving City with a makeshift back line for a large part of March, April and May.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Atkinson was proving a hit at Portsmouth – he played 15 games and shored up a Pompey defence that had consisted of former City midfielder Marlon Pack and former City youngster Riley Towler at the centre of defence.<\/p>\n
Atkinson even scored twice in one game, as Pompey managed to turn their season around and pull clear of the Championship drop zone.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Nahki Wells says goodbye to Bristol City<\/a>READ MORE: ‘Tough and consistent’ – the Plymouth verdict on Bristol City new boy Adam Randell<\/a><\/p>\n There had been hope in Hampshire that they could sign Rob Atkinson on a permanent deal, but the Bristol City<\/a> technical director Brian Tinnion said he was looking forward to seeing him back in red at Ashton Gate.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re really pleased that Rob has signed an extension and we\u2019re looking forward to seeing him in a City shirt,\u201d said Tinnion. \u201cHis loan spell with Portsmouth was a massive success as he gained vital minutes while also putting in some really impressive performances,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Atkinson signed for City from Oxford United in 2021, and had become something of a cult figure with the City faithful for his eye for goal and marauding breaks bringing the ball out from the back.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really happy to be home and to get the deal done,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m excited, I\u2019ve seen a few people today and the excitement for next season is starting to dawn on me,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Atkinson’s contract extension announced comes after the club announced veteran striker Nahki Wells was leaving at the end of his contract this summer<\/a>. Since City announced the arrival of new manager Gerhard Struber<\/a>, the club has also signed Plymouth Argyle midfielder Adam Randell<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“I\u2019m really happy to be home and to get the deal done” 12:24, 24 Jun 2025Updated 13:34, 24…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":211106,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[33936,381,2686,748,393,14590,4884,10002,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-211105","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-ashton-gate","9":"tag-bristol","10":"tag-bristol-city-fc","11":"tag-britain","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-football-league-championship","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-south-bristol","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114739855138927821","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_Rob-Atkinson.jpg\")
Rob Atkinson’s contract at Bristol City expired next summer(Image: Photo by Steve Bardens\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n