{"id":217476,"date":"2025-06-27T02:38:21","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T02:38:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/217476\/"},"modified":"2025-06-27T02:38:21","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T02:38:21","slug":"ex-bristol-city-boss-parts-company-with-national-league-club-after-play-off-defeat-last-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/217476\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Bristol City boss parts company with National League club after play-off defeat last season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Steve Cotterill guided Bristol City to both the League One and Johnstone&#8217;s Paint Trophy title in his time in charge at Ashton Gate<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_GettyImages-2190603777.jpg\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Former Bristol City boss Steve Cotterill has left Forest Green Rovers(Image: Photo by Dan Istitene\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Former <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bristolpost.co.uk\/all-about\/bristol-city-fc\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Bristol City<\/a> boss Steve Cotterill has departed Forest Green Rovers after the National League club opted to terminate his contract following their play-off semi-final defeat last season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Cotterill spent just over two years in charge at Ashton Gate between December 2013 and January 2016. Having taken over in BS3 with the Reds in the third tier, he guided City to the <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bristolpost.co.uk\/sport\/football\/football-news\/steve-cotterill-football-strange-things-10017195\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">League One and Johnstone&#8217;s Paint Trophy title<\/a> in his second season, accumulating 99 points in the process.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">He then led the Reds into the Championship but after a mixed first half of the season, the decision was taken to relieve Cotterill of his duties following a run of just one win in 12 games. <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bristolpost.co.uk\/all-about\/lee-johnson\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Lee Johnson<\/a> was the man to succeed him in BS3 and the former midfielder managed to ensure City remained in the second tier.<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE: <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bristolpost.co.uk\/sport\/football\/football-news\/no-brainer-joe-lumleys-first-10294214\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">&#8216;No-brainer&#8217; &#8211; Joe Lumley&#8217;s first words as Bristol City make goalkeeper second summer signing<\/a>READ MORE: <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bristolpost.co.uk\/sport\/football\/football-news\/bristol-city-ever-present-zak-10291717\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bristol City ever-present Zak Vyner subject to interest from top-flight European side<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Spells at both Birmingham City and Shrewsbury Town followed for Cotterill before he returned to the West Country almost 18 months ago to take over the reins from <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bristolpost.co.uk\/sport\/football\/nigel-pearson-bristol-city-deeney-7673998\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Troy Deeney at Forest Green<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Despite showing signs of improvement under the former City boss, Rovers were unable to dodge the drop into the National League and ultimately finished bottom of League Two, three points adrift of safety.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">In his first full campaign in charge at the New Lawn Stadium, the 60-year-old guided Forest Green to a third-place finish in the National League, with his side ending up 19 points away from Barnet and the only automatic promotion place.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1744476931_129_0_WhatsApp-Phone.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/>Bristol City Live on Whatsapp<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">Join Bristol City Live&#8217;s Whatsapp community for all the biggest Bristol City stories sent straight to your phone<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bristolpost.co.uk\/all-about\/bristol-city-fc\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Bristol City Live<\/a> is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Through the app, we\u2019ll send the Bristol City news, live match coverage, team news, transfers, fixtures, analysis and more straight to your phone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">To join our community you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/chat.whatsapp.com\/GflLiLYDrCg7Ru58OCa39x\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">click this link and select \u2018Join Community\u2019.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bristolpost.co.uk\/\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Bristol Live<\/a> team.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">We also treat community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you don\u2019t like our community, you can check out at any time you like.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">To leave our community, click on the name at the top of your screen and choose \u2018Exit group\u2019.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">If you\u2019re curious, you can read our <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reachplc.com\/site-services\/privacy-policy\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Privacy Notice.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/chat.whatsapp.com\/GflLiLYDrCg7Ru58OCa39x\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here to join our WhatsApp community.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Cotterill&#8217;s side were then beaten by Southend United in the play-off semi-final on penalties before Kevin Maher&#8217;s side lost in the Wembley final against Oldham Athletic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Now, more than a month on from that play-off semi-final defeat, Rovers have confirmed that Cotterill will be departing the Gloucestershire club ahead of the start of pre-season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">In a brief statement s<a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fgr.co.uk\/news\/steve-cotterill-leaves-fgr\/\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">hared via the club&#8217;s social media channels<\/a>, Forest Green simply said: &#8216;Steve Cotterill and FGR have parted company following the club&#8217;s decision to terminate Steve&#8217;s contract.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8216;We wish Steve all the best for the future.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The date for both the release of the National League fixtures and the first weekend of the season has yet to be confirmed while <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bristolpost.co.uk\/sport\/football\/football-news\/full-bristol-city-fixtures-202526-10295376\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Bristol City have today learned their schedule<\/a> for the upcoming Championship campaign.<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE: <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bristolpost.co.uk\/sport\/football\/football-news\/full-bristol-city-fixtures-202526-10295376\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Full Bristol City fixtures for 2025\/26 Championship season as Robins start campaign on the road<\/a>READ MORE: <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bristolpost.co.uk\/sport\/football\/football-news\/strubers-early-chance-start-you-10296186\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Struber&#8217;s early chance and start as you mean to go on: Bristol City 2025\/26 fixtures in focus<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steve Cotterill guided Bristol City to both the League One and Johnstone&#8217;s Paint Trophy title in his time&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":217477,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,2686,748,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-217476","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-bristol-city-fc","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114753011979722983","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217476","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=217476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}