The Exiled Robin

My final article from Bristol City's matchday programme, Red Alert  for the 2011-2012 season, from the home game against Barnsley, on April 21st, that sealed our safety Having spent all season telling you all my views on social media, and in particular Twitter, I thought I’d hand this final page over to some of the #bristolcitytwitterfamily to tell you what they think.   I asked five questions and got nearly a hundred replies, thanks to all those that took the time and apologies if you haven’t had a mention. 1)       What’s the best thing about Twitter? One main themes came through on this one with the interaction with other City fans and fans of other clubs suggested by @Barnzy_BCFC , @kpcider , @AG_Gouldie , @JackCox83 and @Saxokid amongst others. The other key mentions included the speed of news breaking ( @McBCFC ) whilst two birds of a feather ( @Cucumber_Kid_71 & @Escobaraloplopp ) said they loved the ability to tweet whatev...

HELP GET BRISTOL CITY TOP #FANPOWERSTADIUM UPDATE  UPDATE UPDATE Keep going - we're still in the top three so CAN WIN THIS!! OK, so this nPower competition seems to have some traction and I've spent the last couple of days on Twitter doing my best to galvanise and get people tweeting.  This seems to have helped us rise from 5th to 3rd in the league standings but a number of people still don't seem to know much about what it all is, so I thought I'd explain, along with links to all the relevant bits -  THERE IS SOME REALLY REALLY  CRITICAL SIGN UP INFORMATION. nPower are running the competition, and the idea is to reward the winning club with upto £30,000. Details from City's offical site here: http://www.bcfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10327~2693634,00.html There are two ways to win money: Firstly (for £10,000): 'Grab a Seat' via Facebook and get everyone you know to do the same.  First club to 'fill' their stadium wins Secondly (for...

As an exclusive for my column on social media in football for Bristol City matchday programme ‘Red Alert’ , I recently asked for and got the opportunity to interview Commercial Director Kevin Smith. What followed was an enjoyable and informative hour on topics ranging from cider to Twitter, and Wembley to ticket pricing. The surroundings are not as glamorous as you might expect for the Commercial Director of a Championship football club. Standing outside the main entrance of the club on my arrival, I was surprised by a tap on the shoulder from behind me and even more so when I was led to the portacabin in permanent situ across the staff car-park. This is the man responsible for generating every penny of revenue for the football club (excluding transfer fees), yet at the back of a compact but bustling commercial headquarters is Kevin Smith’s working home, an office barely bigger than a dugout, but serving its purpose as he surveys the desks and telephones of a busy team of...

My latest article from Bristol City's matchday programme, Red Alert : Millwall, Jan 3rd (Slightly belatedly) At this time of year it seems every publication does some sort of review of the year that was.   To ensure ‘On the Social’ isn’t left out, here is the unofficial review of Twitter and football in 2011. What happened in 2011? 1)       Tweets, tweets and more tweets:   An explosion in users, particularly those who regularly tweet and an ever-increasing number of journalists, players and officials from across the footballing community.   I would hazard a guess that the vast majority of football clubs – if not all – now have an official account, whilst many also have key personnel such as their press officers, media managers and commercial managers tweeting officially. 2)       Ryan Giggs was outed as a love-rat:   This is probably the story more than any other that raised public awareness of how you can ...

My latest article from Bristol City's matchday programme, Red Alert : Nottingham Forest, Dec 19th This week I’m pleased to welcome Forest obsessive Pat Riddell to ‘On the Social’. Pat writes an excellent blog called Seat Pitch covering all things relating to twice European Champions, Nottingham Forest.   The website can be found here:   www.seatpitch.co.uk It’s safe to say you’ve had plenty to write about in the past nine months, with play-off disappointment, the appointment of a former England boss as manager, the resignation of said former England boss and the subsequent resignation of your Chairman. Can you quickly summarise your view of the recent club history? Billy Davies’ ongoing battles with the board saw his departure in June after two unsuccessful play-off campaigns — something which fans were seemingly split about (even more so now). He was swiftly replaced by Steve McClaren who proved to be an unmitigated disaster. Clearly he hadn’t done his homework and...