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FOOTBALLCITY CHIEF READY FOR THE BIG TIME
Gary Johnson: Big responsibility Sunday May 18,2008 By Harry PrattBristol City chairman Steve Lansdown claims the £60million jackpot for winning the Championship play-offs is nothing compared with the honour and prestige of being back in the big time. Gary Johnson’s West Country men face Hull at Wembley next Saturday in football’s richest one-off showdown – with a place in the money-spinning Premier League up for grabs. Yet, after 28 years outside the top flight, City supremo Lansdown insists mixing among the elite once again – and putting Bristol back on the map – will mean far more than a bulging bank balance. Lansdown said: “I can’t help thinking about the money because that’s all anybody asks me about. But I’m fed up with people talking about this £60m and what we will do with it. “For me, if we can be playing the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea here next season, that’s what really excites me.
“If I can bring that back to Bristol and Ashton Gate, it will be absolutely fantastic. And who’s to say it won’t happen? “This city should have a top football club, but 28 years ago we were relegated from the old First Division and then went bust in 1982. We clawed our way back but we’ve been in the backwaters ever since. “To be honest Bristol City and football in the whole region has been a joke for many of those years. But now we’re no longer a joke.” While Lansdown’s cash has helped City survive the lean times off the pitch, the team’s sudden rise from League One to the brink of the Premier League is all down to Johnson.
Should City beat Hull in the final, the ex-Yeovil boss will become the first manager to achieve promotions at every level from the Conference to the Championship. But, like Lansdown, turning City’s top-flight dreams into a reality is the only thing concerning him right now. Johnson, who also managed Latvia, admitted: “I don’t think any manager has done it before, so, of course, it would be a great record to have. “But my responsibility is to win promotion for the players, the fans, the chairman and the board of directors. It is not about me. “And it’s a big responsibility because I know exactly what it will mean for all of them if we are in the Premier League.”
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