As the coronavirus continues to have an impact on the world economy, the relationship between sport and money has come under the spotlight recently. On the one hand, there was the news of Juventus players agreeing to take a pay cut during the crisis; conversely, it was also reported that nine players at Swiss club Sion were sacked for refusing to do follow suit.
Some may argue that the Juventus players were in a financially sound position when push came to shove, and that the players of Sion were not quite so comfortable. Yet when it comes to making career and financial sacrifices, surely nothing can match the story of the Ashton Gate Eight in 1982.
Previously, a player was bound to a club even after his contract had expired. But under new legislation he could now leave once his contract had expired. The selling club would still get a fee, but the ruling immediately changed the footballing landscape. Gary Collier, an important player at Bristol City, took advantage of the change.
“He took his chance to test the new system and walked out,” Dicks explained in January 1982. “The players who stayed heard he was being offered £500 a week by Coventry, which was certainly more than they were getting. I went to the board and said we should reward loyalty. We were in the First Division and it was essential to keep our best players.”
Securing players on long-term deals on relatively decent wages, Dicks and the Bristol City board were determined that there would be no repeat of the Collier move. Clive Whitehead signed an eleven-year contract, Gerry Gow and Tom Ritchie seven-years. With average attendances of 19,000 and First Division football, the future looked bright.
“Whitehead, Gow and Ritchie were all put on around £450 a week,” Dicks said. “I didn't think that was exorbitant for a First Division club.” Maybe not, but the gaping hole in the plan became evident when Bristol City were relegated in 1980. Declining attendances and players on lucrative deals was not a good combination.
On and off the pitch, the club was lurching from one disaster to the next. Dicks was sacked in September 1980, replaced by Bob Houghton, a manager who had led Malmo to the 1979 European Cup final. Assisted by Roy Hodgson, the pair were soon aware of the task they had on their hands. Unable to stop the rot, Bristol City were relegated to Division Three.
Spiralling out of control, rock bottom was not far away. Houghton departed in January 1982 with the club in the relegation zone yet, more importantly, the very existence of the club was in danger. Reportedly losing £4,000 a week, Bristol City were £850,000 in debt, owed the Inland Revenue £100,000, and still had to pay outstanding transfer money to both Newcastle and Malmo for Mick Harford and Jan Moller respectively.
There was seemingly only one way out of the hole; a new club would be formed – Bristol City Football Club 1982 Ltd – under a new board, and players who were on the long-term deals would be asked to tear up their contracts. Without these measures, the club would die. Enter the Ashton Gate Eight.
Geoff Merrick, Chris Garland, Trevor Tainton, David Rodgers, Gerry Sweeney, Jimmy Mann, Peter Aitken, and Julian Marshall were given an ultimatum to end all ultimatums. Either they agreed to have their contracts terminated, or the club would fold. No pressure then.
Discussions at the end of January were time consuming and stressful. With the new PFA Secretary Gordon Taylor fighting the corner of the players, pressure grew on the eight. The men may have been on deals worth between £20,000-£25,000 a year, but they were far from the wealthy footballers of the modern era.
Merrick, who had been at the club for over 15 years and was the club’s PFA representative, explained the predicament. “We have families and mortgages and are obviously reluctant to give up the protection of our contracts, although we appreciate the seriousness of City’s plight.” Taylor was firm on his position: “It is unfair that the eight should be sacrificed because of the mismanagement of the club over a number of years.”
Initially the eight players turned down a combined deal worth £58,000. “How can players be expected to go on the dole so that a club which has been badly handled can be given a second chance?” Merrick protested. But deep down the loyalty of the players involved was always going to pull at their heartstrings.
Merrick, Garland, Tainton, Sweeney and Mann had all played over 200 games for the club; Merrick, Tainton and Rodgers had been at Bristol City for their entire careers. As much as they wanted to protect themselves, the prospect of seeing the club they loved go under was too much to contemplate.
Another offer of £80,000 was rejected, as the scrutiny on the eight ramped up. “This is positively the last chance,” Ken Sage, a new member of the board indicated. “I think everyone believes we are kidding – but we are not. We have dug into our own pockets to spread a little extra money around and this is the final offer. If the players don’t take it by noon on Wednesday, the club folds.”
Finally, on February 3, the Ashton Gate Eight agreed a deal that would see Bristol City survive. Accepting around £10,000 each and gate receipts from a testimonial that was to be arranged in March between Ipswich and Southampton, the players had put the concerns of the club above their own interests.
“It’s wonderful to see the club survive and tremendously emotional for us at the same time,” Merrick announced. “There’s also got to be some bitterness at the way the eight players have almost been held responsible when everyone else seems to blame bad management.” Taylor was one of many to praise the men.
“My eight members have become sacrificial offerings to keep Bristol City alive. They’ve handled themselves with so much dignity.” The Football Creditors’ Act was one thing that did come out of the episode, meaning that players/other clubs would be paid before the other debts of a club going into administration. “The position is being looked at by many other clubs, but hopefully what has happened here will not happen again,” Taylor said.
Caretaker manager Hodgson battled manfully to keep Bristol City up, but to no avail. Yet the fact that the club survived was a victory alone. The match immediately after the good news broke saw the biggest crowd of the season turn up for the Fulham match, with Garland and Aitken amongst the 9,228 spectators.
The players were rightly lauded for their actions, but understandably their feelings were mixed. “We’ve been let down,” Merrick noted at the time. “Now I have no job and nothing coming in. I’ll have to go on the dole.” Merrick never played league football again; Tainton’s business that he had been running alongside his football career, was pushed into bankruptcy.
A plaque outside Ashton Gate commemorates the role the eight played in saving Bristol City. The sacrifices they made, and their actions will never be forgotten by supporters of the club, and rightly so. Footballers, past and present, have often received a bad press; the Ashton Gate Eight did at least do their best to redress the balance, and saved a football club in the process.
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