Editing Bristol City F.C. (section)

===Early years and early successes (1894–1922)===
The club was founded in 1894 as Bristol South End and changed their name to Bristol City on adopting professionalism three years later when they were admitted into the Southern League. Finishing as runners-up in three of the first four seasons, in 1900 the club amalgamated with local Southern League rivals [[Bedminster F.C.]], who had been founded as Southville in 1887. Bristol City joined the [[English Football League|Football League]] in 1901 when they became only the third club south of Birmingham (following in the footsteps of [[Arsenal F.C.|Woolwich Arsenal]] and [[Luton Town F.C.|Luton Town]]) to perform in the competition. Their first game in the Football League was on 7 September 1901 at [[Bloomfield Road]], when [[Blackpool F.C.|Blackpool]] were beaten 2–0.<ref>Calley, Roy (1992). ''Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887–1992'', Breedon Books Sport</ref>

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|quote=A scheme has been informally approved by the parties interested for the amalgamation of the Bristol City and Bedminster Association Football Clubs. The leading conditions are that the name and colours of Bristol City shall be retained, that matches shall be played alternately on the ground of each club for one season, and that five directors shall be nominated by each club. This should lead to Bristol securing one of the strongest teams in the south.
|source=''Gloucestershire Echo'', 12 April 1900.<ref>{{cite news |title=Sporting Gossip |work=[[Gloucestershire Echo]] |date=12 April 1900 |access-date=15 December 2015 |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000320/19000412/057/0003 |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The announcement of the merger between Bristol City and Bedminster.
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Winning the Second Division Championship with a record number of points when they became the first club in Football League history to win 30 league games in a season (out of 38 played) as well as equalling [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]]'s achievement of the previous season in winning 14 consecutive games (a record until 2018, also accomplished by [[Preston North End F.C.|Preston North End]] in 1950–51). Nicknamed the Bristol Babe at this time, they finished as runners-up in their inaugural First Division campaign (1906–07) as the only southern club to finish in the top two prior to World War I.

In 1909 they won through to their only FA Cup final, though they were somewhat fortunate that a last-gasp spot-kick saved them from defeat in the semi-final versus [[Derby County F.C.|Derby County]] at [[Stamford Bridge (stadium)|Stamford Bridge]]. In the final at the [[Crystal Palace National Sports Centre#FA Cup Finals (1895–1914)|Crystal Palace]] (now the National Sports Centre) Bristol City lost to Manchester United 1–0. After a five-season stay in the top flight, despite winning 1–0 at [[Newcastle United F.C.|Newcastle]] at the start of the 1910–11 campaign, failure to beat [[Everton F.C.|Everton]] in the season's finale brought City's first-ever taste of relegation and it was to be 65 years before top-flight status would be regained.<ref>Bristol City The Early Years 1894–1915 by David Woods published by Desert Island Books 2004; The Bristol Babe by David Woods published by Yore Publications 1994; Bristol City The Complete Record 1894–1987 by David Woods with Andrew Crabtree published by Breedon Books 1987; David Woods the Official Bristol City Club Historian.</ref>

Bristol City would then go on to stay in Division 2 until three years after the First World War had ended, and in that time they reached the semi-finals of the [[1919–20 FA Cup]] before being beaten 2–1 by [[Huddersfield Town A.F.C.|Huddersfield Town]] and finished third in the Second Division in the [[1920–21 Football League|1920–21 season]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldfootball.net/schedule/eng-fa-cup-1919-1920-halbfinale/0/|title=FA Cup 1919/1920 – Semi-finals|website=worldfootball.net|date=12 June 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://melaman2.com/premierleague/championship/1920-21_english-football-league.html|title=Millennium 1920–21 English Football League Season & Lower Division Tables|first=Michael|last=Appert|website=melaman2.com}}</ref> However, in the next season they were relegated to the Third Division South.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://melaman2.com/premierleague/championship/1921-22_english-football-league.html|title=Millennium 1921–22 English Football League Season & Lower Division Tables|first=Michael|last=Appert|website=melaman2.com}}</ref>