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Emil Riis joined Bristol City as a free agent this summer(Image: Photo by Harry Trump\/Getty Images)<\/p>\nEmil Riis scored his first and second Bristol City goal in the Robins’ Championship win over Hull City at Ashton GateEmil Riis joined Bristol City as a free agent this summer(Image: Photo by Harry Trump\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Saturday, May 3, 2025 will be a day that lives long in the memory of Bristol City<\/a> supporters. What many initially expected to be a dead-rubber final day clash with Preston North End at Ashton Gate instead proved to be the afternoon in which the Robins ended their 17-year wait for a play-off finish.<\/p>\n Of course, the Reds didn\u2019t go about things the easy way. City found themselves two goals behind just 15 minutes into the second half, and falling at the final hurdle was a very real possibility. Fortunately, a Ross McCrorie brace<\/a> was enough to secure a point for the Robins; a point which they ultimately didn\u2019t need as results elsewhere in the division ensured Liam Manning\u2019s side finished sixth.<\/p>\n Immediately, the home support poured onto the pitch to celebrate the Robins\u2019 achievement. The magnitude of what the City achieved that day perhaps overshadowed the fact that with the point they secured, Preston dodged the drop into League One, with Paul Heckingbottom\u2019s side<\/a> finishing a single point above Luton Town and the relegation zone.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Gerhard Struber makes Radek Vitek Manchester United recall claim after strong Bristol City start<\/a>READ MORE: Bristol City contract state of play after Neto Borges loan signing and summer transfer window<\/a><\/p>\n The scorer of the Lilywhites\u2019 opener in that 2-2 draw? One Emil Riis.<\/p>\n While the now City forward had no idea he would be plying his trade in BS3 a matter of weeks on from almost derailing the Reds\u2019 top six push, that game helped make his decision simpler when looking for a new club this summer.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, for us, we didn\u2019t know if we were staying up or not,\u201d Riis explained when asked about that dramatic final day at Ashton Gate. \u201cI knew that I was leaving, but it was strange because all the crowd came on the pitch, and we just wanted to get off, and we didn\u2019t really know if we were staying up or not.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were all my mates playing in that team, so I didn\u2019t want to see them go down, so it was a strange feeling.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t know anything about [the interest] then,\u201d the forward continued to Bristol Live. \u201cIt was only the start of June that I was told of the interest, so I didn\u2019t know it at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cBut obviously, when I was told of the interest, I was looking back at the game and thought that they played really well as well. For me, it was an easy choice in the end. They talked me through the project, how they saw me, and how they saw me fitting into the team, the club, and what they wanted to achieve.<\/p>\n \u201cI liked the idea of all that, and that\u2019s why I chose Bristol.<\/p>\n Content cannot be displayed without consent<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been tough the first couple of months,” Riis admitted on the switch to the West Country. “I\u2019ve been in a hotel on my own, my Mrs has been back home with the dogs, so I\u2019ve been on my own.<\/p>\n “But the boys have been really great to take me in; they\u2019re so open and welcoming. I\u2019ve finally got a place now, my dogs are coming over, and my girlfriend is coming over, so finally getting back to my normal life again.”<\/p>\n After putting pen to paper on a three-year contract in south Bristol, a matter of days after Gerhard Struber was named City\u2019s new head coach<\/a>, Riis immediately got to work with his new teammates. The 28-year-old travelled to the Algarve for a warm-weather training camp with the rest of the Robins\u2019 first team and impressed over the course of pre-season, scoring twice against Plymouth Argyle and once against Real Valladolid at Ashton Gate.<\/p>\n Through a combination of that strong form over the course of the friendly fixtures and his status as a proven Championship striker, the former Preston man was given the nod in City\u2019s opening day win over Sheffield United<\/a>.<\/p>\n On his competitive debut for the Reds, Riis impressed as he played a crucial role in Ross McCrorie\u2019s first-half strike and picked up the assist for Anis Mehmeti\u2019s first of the season moments after the restart. However, the Dane missed a golden chance to open his own account for the season when he blazed over the bar from close range, fortunately, when City were already 4-1 up.<\/p>\n Similarly good performances followed against MK Dons, Charlton Athletic, and Derby County, but still, the forward\u2019s goal tally remained at zero… until Hull City visited Ashton Gate<\/a> on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n Having turned home his first in red and white from a McCrorie cut-back with 18 minutes on the clock, Riis grabbed his second 14 minutes later when he stole possession in the Tigers’ half before rolling a right-footed effort into the bottom left corner to really kickstart his City career.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s great to be off the mark,” the forward admitted. “As a striker, I want to prove myself, so to get off the mark on a day like this is great.<\/p>\n \u201cTo get the first goal in the season is almost the most important one,” Riis continued. “I wanted to leave that zero and get off the mark, so I\u2019m happy to do that.<\/p>\n \u201cTo get that zero out of the way, I\u2019m just hungry to get even more. That\u2019s why I came here, to score goals, and I just want to get more.<\/p>\n Although the new Championship campaign is only four games old, the Robins\u2019 early performances and results have ensured that the sense of optimism built over the course of last season has only grown further in the run-up to the September international break.<\/p>\n Struber\u2019s side are one of just four teams in England\u2019s second tier yet to taste defeat in the league<\/a>, have scored more goals than all but one of their Championship rivals – Coventry City, and currently sit sixth in the table with eight points to their name. Of course, how much league position matters at this stage of the term is more than up for debate, but the early signs are positive.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you would have said before the start of the season that we\u2019d be in the play-offs after the first four games, we\u2019d have definitely taken that,” Riis said on the opening block of fixtures. “But looking back, we could have got even more points in some of the games, definitely last week.<\/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 “But I\u2019m happy that we\u2019re unbeaten, and I think the boys are as well so we just need to continue like this. It\u2019s unfortunate there\u2019s a break now because you just want to continue the way we\u2019ve been playing.”<\/p>\n Most supporters are expecting the second tier to be a much more competitive division this term. Although all three relegated clubs, Ipswich Town, Southampton, and Leicester City, are being backed among the early favourites for promotion<\/a>, Championship newcomers Birmingham City and Wrexham are looking to compete at the top end of the division, given their financial backing.<\/p>\n As demonstrated by their approach to the summer transfer window, the Robins are not one of the league\u2019s big spenders. However, there remains a sense of confidence within the Reds\u2019 playing group that they can punch above their weight once more this time around.<\/p>\n When asked if this current squad could push for the play-offs this term, Riis replied, \u201cDefinitely. I wouldn\u2019t have come here if I didn\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n “That\u2019s my goal as well to be up there, and the team that we have now is definitely a good team, so I think we can be up there.”<\/p>\n READ MORE: Bristol City meet priorities with summer business but quiet deadline day leaves familiar risk<\/a>READ MORE: Transfer deadline day recap: Bristol City and Bristol Rovers round up summer business<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Emil Riis scored his first and second Bristol City goal in the Robins’ Championship win over Hull City…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":395649,"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-395648","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\/115142697285272175","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395648","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=395648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/395649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=395648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=395648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=395648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_JS379269502.jpg\")
Bristol City’s Emil Riis and Scott Twine celebrate in the Reds’ win over Hull City(Image: Photo by Harry Trump\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1744476931_129_0_WhatsApp-Phone.jpg\")
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