Bristol City Songs and Chants: From Drink Up Thee Cider to Keep the Red Flag Flying High

It is fair to say that various football clubs have supporters that know how to be self-deprecating. When it comes to taking the mickey out of themselves, though, few fans are going to come close to those that follow Bristol City. The Robins’ location in the city of Bristol is such that they are always going to be associated with the stereotypes that surround that part of the country. Rather than shy away from it and look to deny any links, Bristol fans very much lean into it and own it, with constant references to the likes of cider drinking and farming being at the top of their songbook.

As you may well imagine, Bristol Rovers are the main rivals of Bristol City, so more than a few songs are saved to make derogatory reference to them. Such songs don’t tend to pull their punches in the sense of the language used, which is something that it is worth bearing in mind before you look to let a young Robins fan in your life have a read of this page. Just because that kind of ‘industrial language’ is used in a football ground, though, is reason enough for us to include it here in all of its glory, even though it may be somewhat offensive to more delicate ears.

The nature of football as a sport is such that things are changing all of the time, meaning that some of the songs featured here may well be absolute by the time you manage to find your way onto this page. If you are reasonably sure that you’ve heard different songs from the Bristol City supporters of the years, the likelihood is that you’re absolutely right. The songs chosen here are designed to give you a taste of what sort of ditties are sung by the club’s supporters at Ashton Gate or when they’re on the road.

Drink Up Thee Cider

As mentioned, Bristol City supporters are experts in being self-deprecating, which this song is proof of. It is a tip of the cap to the idea that Bristol as a city is known as being in the centre of ‘Ciderland’, with Thatchers Cider being located nearby. Of course, a song about cider isn’t enough on its own to see it belted out by Robins fans when they head to Ashton Gate, so they also take the opportunity to have a dig at Bristol Rovers at the same time.

Here is what you will hear belted out:

Drink up thee cider!

For tonight we’ll merry be (merry be)!

We’ll go on down to Rovers,

To do the bastards over

And still pour cider in thee jar!

(Repeat)

My Garden Shed

On the list of songs that are nice and imaginative, which is something often lacking for most football supporters nowadays, sits My Garden Shed. This is a song all about making a joke at the expense of the team that is hosting Bristol City, whilst also adding a reference to the idea that people from Bristol are all farmers or the kind of people that do a lot of gardening. It adds to the atmosphere thanks to the call and response nature of it. This is how it goes:

My garden shed!

(My garden shed!)

Is bigger than this!

(Is bigger than this!)

Oh my garden shed is bigger than this!

It’s got a door and some windows

My garden shed is bigger than this!

I Can Drive a Tractor

Perhaps the most quintessential example of a Bristol City supporter song that is self-deprecating in nature comes in the form of this one, which is all about the fact that the fans singing it can’t do much, but they are able to drive a tractor. That is, to be fair, not a skill to be laughed at given its relative difficulty, but it is nevertheless something that people are liable to make jokes of Robins fans about, so they have decided to turn the table and just own it. Here’s how it goes:

I can’t read and I can’t write,

But I can drive a tractor!

I’m a Bristol City fan

and I can drive a tractor!

Interestingly, it is a song that actually has numerous versions to it, thanks in no small part to the fact that there used to be different lyrics that were sung in years gone by. Nowadays, younger supporters tend to sing the version above, but there are more than a few older folks who are liable to sing the following instead:

I cassent read,

I cassent write,

But that don’t really matter,

‘Cus I comes up from Somerset

and I can drive a Tractor!

The East End Arising

The song Bad Moon Rising is one that is often chopped and changed by football fans in order to make it relevant to their side. In the case of Bristol City fans, they have made it one that sounds vaguely threatening, whilst also offering strong support of the team that they follow up and down the land. The following are the lyrics:

I see the east end arising!

I see trouble on the way!

Don’t go out tonight,

Unless you’re red and white,

‘Cos I see trouble on the way!

Boys From the West Country

Another of the songs that is brought out when the Bristol City supporters are in a somewhat frisky mood is this one, which puts being violent front and centre of the lyrics. Thankfully, we have largely grown out of the era of hooligans, so the words are more aimed at the players on the pitch and the fact that they need to ‘fight’ for the shirt that they wear. Here is what you’re likely to hear:

Fight, fight wherever you may be!

We are the boys from the West Country,

And we don’t like you all, whomever you may be,

‘Cos we are the boys from the West Country!

Cider Army

Some songs and chants brought to bear by supporters are there because they are witty and amusing. Others are just about offering encouragement to the players as well as to provide a decent atmosphere. This is very much in the latter category, being decidedly easy to understand but also a song that lets the opposition know who it is that they’re up against:

Cider Army!

(Repeat)

City!

Another chant that fits into the bracket of being incredibly basic but able to offer a good atmosphere is one that you are also likely to have heard at other clubs with a two-syllable word in their name. From ‘United!’ to ‘City!’, this number isn’t original but is a good way of getting a message of support over to the players. Here is what the Robins fans sing:

City!

(Clap, clap, clap)

City!

(Clap, clap, clap)

City!

(Clap, clap, clap)

City!

(Clap, clap, clap)

City!

(Clap, clap, clap)

One For the Bristol City

One of the most famous exports from the area of Bristol is the Wurzels, so it isn’t all that surprising that Bristol City fans decided to adapt one of their songs in order to make it all about the football club. It is something of an old hat song now, so isn’t brought out all that often, but it is still worth having on the list for the times that it is brought to bear. Here are the lyrics:

One for the Bristol City,

Two for the boys in red,

Three for the fans down Ashton Gate,

We’ll follow ‘til we’re dead, me boys,

Follow ‘til we’re dead!

Down at Ashton Gate there’s Alan Dicks,

And the Red Red Robins too,

And if they win or if they lose,

We’ll follow them through and through!

We’ll spend a bit of time on a Saturday,

Getting ready for anything,

Spend an hour or two in a bloody great queue,

To get in the ground and sing:

One for the Bristol City,

Two for the boys in red,

Three for the fans down Ashton Gate,

We’ll follow ‘til we’re dead, me boys,

Follow ‘til we’re dead!

Keep the Red Flag Flying High

If you have been a keen supporter of football clubs like Manchester United, Sunderland and Oldham Athletic over the years, then the likelihood is that you will have heard your club’s own version of this song being belted out. This version is the one that is specific to Bristol City, which you will have been able to pick up on if you’d been paying close attention when it was sung, thanks to the reference within there of ‘Ciderheads’, which is a nickname given to fans of the Robins.

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Here is what they sing:

Flying high,

Up in the sky:

We’ll keep the red flag flying high!

Ciderheads until we die!

We’ll keep the red flag flying high!