Five Key Points For 2016/17

August has a fresh and tough look about it

The first month of the new football season has thrown up a complete set of ‘newbies’ to the Sky Bet Championship. City will kick-off at home to Wigan Athletic, the League One champions, before travelling to Burton Albion, another promoted team, a week later. Then comes a run of the three teams relegated from the Premier League; Norwich away before back-to-back home games against Newcastle United and Aston Villa to end the month. What a start!

Home comforts to start and finish

For the first time since 2010/11, City will begin and end their campaign with home fixtures. That year Steve Coppell’s side lost an opening day game 3-0 against promoted Millwall (hopefully not an omen!) but Keith Millen was in charge by the time City brushed aside Hull City in May 2011 in Steve Lansdown’s final game as chairman. Last season it was the reverse of course, with a trip to Sheffield Wednesday to start and QPR away to finish.

Fans have a long wait for those much-anticipated away games

Ask any supporter what they were looking out for and most would say “Newcastle away and Villa away”. But neither of those fixtures appear in City’s diary until 2017. City’s first trip to Villa Park in 38 years arrives on Saturday, January 28^th, as long as neither side is involved in the Emirates FA Cup round four. A month later City head to St James Park for their longest away day, on Saturday, February 25^th – book your flights now.

Four international breaks for fans and players

City chief operating officer Mark Ashton recently described the Sky Bet Championship as “relentless”, and fixtures often build-up with “Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday” appearing no fewer than nine times in the new list (plus a Saturday, Monday, Saturday over the Easter weekend). But there will be international breaks in September (3^rd/4^th), October (8^th/9^th), November (12^th/13^th) and March (25^th/26^th).

Midweek away trips are long!

City have five midweek away trips, plus another one at Easter time and their destinations aren’t close to Bristol. Fans will be racking up the miles and piling up the holiday requests for midweek jaunts to Norwich City, Sheffield Wednesday, QPR, Leeds United, Preston North End and Blackburn Rovers.