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New Bristol City CEO Tom Rawcliffe(Image: Photo by Rogan\/Bristol City)<\/p>\nBristol 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)<\/p>\n
Saturday afternoon saw Championship football return to Ashton Gate as Bristol City<\/a> played out a stalemate with Charlton Athletic in front of a sold-out crowd. In truth, it wasn\u2019t quite the BS3 curtain raiser most will have been expecting after the fireworks on the opening day at Bramall Lane a week prior.<\/p>\n 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n Having been appointed as the Reds\u2019 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\u2019s departure, the appointment of Gerhard Struber, the summer transfer window, and much more.<\/p>\n 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n For now, we have picked out some of the stand-out talking points from the conversation and compiled them together in one notebook here…<\/p>\n READ MORE: Gerhard Struber makes ‘expectation’ point as Bristol City boss responds to transfer question<\/a>READ MORE: Bristol City confirm Joe Williams blow as midfielder suffers setback during injury rehab<\/a>New role as CEO<\/p>\n Prior to Tom Rawcliffe\u2019s appointment in July, Bristol City had been operating without a CEO since Phil Alexander\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n In the absence of a CEO, technical director Brian Tinnion<\/a> had overseen footballing decisions on the men\u2019s side of the club, alongside the head coach, Rawcliffe (who was COO), chairman Jon Lansdown, and Gavin Marshall.<\/p>\n However, as confirmed by Steve Lansdown in the release published when Rawcliffe\u2019s appointment was confirmed, the new CEO will lead the day-to-day running of the football club<\/a>. So far, however, he has noticed little shift in his daily responsibilities.<\/p>\n “Things won\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n “I\u2019ll probably do a little bit more with you, Rich, whether you like that or not. I\u2019ll be in here, good times or bad times. Internally, our staff won\u2019t 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\u2019s myself, it\u2019s Jon Lansdown, and Gavin Marshall. Either directly or indirectly, the rest of the staff at Bristol City<\/a> will report into me.<\/p>\n “I\u2019m 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\u2019m not seeing too much change there.”<\/p>\n Players heading into final year of contracts<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n At the time of writing, all of Max O\u2019Leary, Zak Vyner, Haydon Roberts, Mark Sykes, Anis Mehmeti, Sam Bell, Harry Cornick and Ephraim Yeboah are entering the final 12 months<\/a> of their respective deals, and unless extensions are agreed, this summer will represent the Robins\u2019 final chance to pocket a significant fee for their services.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n When asked about the players heading into their final year, City’s CEO said: \u201cWe\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n “Players with a year left on their deal, that\u2019s part and parcel of football. We will be looking at those, and we will be assessing those. Obviously, we\u2019ve got to get the transfer window sorted, we\u2019ve still got two weeks and two days and about four hours of that, not that I\u2019m counting down.<\/p>\n “It is a risk, but we\u2019ve got to take a pragmatic view on that and see where we\u2019re at and what we want to do with it.\u201d<\/p>\n Transfer window plans<\/p>\n Of course, we can\u2019t 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\u2019t go wild when it comes to incoming business, Gerhard Struber has made no secret of his desire to add another player or two<\/a> to his ranks before the September 1 deadline.<\/p>\n The new Reds boss set out that ambition ahead of Saturday’s clash with Charlton and suggested he had a “very good feeling”<\/a> that such additions would be made. However, as of the time of writing, no new signings have been confirmed by the club.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to support our head coach where reasonably possible, and if that includes a new player, that\u2019s something we\u2019ll absolutely look at,” Rawcliffe said. “Again, we\u2019ve got to work within the parameters that are set, we\u2019ve 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\u2019t unnecessarily block an academy product or an academy talent coming through.<\/p>\n “But we\u2019re always looking to improve the squad, so if that\u2019s another player coming in, then so be it. Equally, we have got a rather large squad.<\/p>\n “There\u2019ll be a squad of 20 here and there\u2019s probably a number missing through injury, so we have got depth in there. So if I\u2019m being more honest than you might expect, we\u2019ll have to look at outs as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Jason Knight’s future and being a ‘trading club’<\/p>\n While the fact that Bristol City will have to look to sanction exits between now and the end of the transfer window shouldn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n It would be safe to assume, however, that very few supporters would be crying out for Jason Knight<\/a> to be sold, given just how integral he has been to the Robins\u2019 success over the last two seasons. It is also safe to say that is a sentiment echoed by both Gerhard Struber and Tom Rawcliffe.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do remain a trading club, but I\u2019ll probably counter that by saying everyone outside of the top six in the Premier League is a trading club,” the Reds CEO said. “There\u2019s always bigger fish in the sea, and if a player wants to move on to a bigger and better club, then it\u2019s very difficult to stand in their way.<\/p>\n “Jason Knight is a star player for us; he\u2019s the captain and a very, very good player, but we are not actively looking to sell Jason Knight. He\u2019s got time left on his contract, I think he\u2019s quite happy here, and we\u2019re very happy for him to be here.<\/p>\n “Again, football\u2019s tumultuous, and if someone comes in with a ridiculous bid, you\u2019ll have to listen to it, but we\u2019re not at that stage, and there\u2019s been no bids for Jason Knight.”<\/p>\n Join Bristol City Live’s Whatsapp community for all the biggest Bristol City stories sent straight to your phone<\/strong><\/p>\n Bristol City Live<\/a> is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community.<\/p>\n 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 To join our community you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select \u2018Join Community\u2019.<\/a><\/p>\n No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Bristol Live<\/a> team.<\/p>\n 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 To leave our community, click on the name at the top of your screen and choose \u2018Exit group\u2019.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.<\/a><\/p>\n Click here to join our WhatsApp community.<\/a><\/p>\n Replica kits and away kit update<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cUltimately, it\u2019s not good enough, is it?” Rawcliffe replied when asked about the current supply of kits. “We want kits available. We\u2019re working very hard with O\u2019Neills, who are our kit manufacturer and supplier; they\u2019ve been fantastic. This is not an issue at their end.<\/p>\n “I\u2019d ask fans, and it\u2019s probably an unfair ask; be patient. It\u2019s great that the home kit is selling well, and we\u2019ve sold a lot of kits of that. The third kit obviously has a 100% record thus far, and the away kit, I\u2019m no fashionista, but I think it will be worth the wait.<\/p>\n “I\u2019d just ask for a little bit more patience. We\u2019re pushing to get it here ready for the next home fixture.\u201d<\/p>\n READ MORE: Radek Vitek on Championship challenge, ‘amazing’ Bristol City fans and Manchester United plan<\/a>READ MORE: Bristol City look to further strengthen academy pathway as Baraznowski named senior PDP coach<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bristol City CEO Tom Rawcliffe spoke to BBC Radio Bristol ahead of the Robins’ Championship clash with Charlton…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":357607,"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-357606","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\/115057271209313388","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357606","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=357606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357606\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/357607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_Cam-Pring.jpg\")
Cam Pring has been a regular starter for Bristol City when fit(Image: Photo by Ryan Hiscott\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_96544d5b-953f-4bca-8eb6-dfdb1be95dc9JPG.jpg\")
Gerhard Struber has had a positive start as Bristol City boss(Image: Rogan\/ Bristol City)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0_WhatsApp-Phone.jpg\")
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