How Bristol City’s intriguing opening day record compares to Championship rivals

Bristol City's 2023/24 Championship campaign will begin with a home match against Preston North End on Saturday, August 5.

The match hasn't been chosen by SkySports, which means a traditional 3.00 pm kick-off at Ashton Gate, for Robins and Lilywhites fans. It's the first time since 2021/22 that they'll open the campaign up at home, with a draw against Preston's Lancashire rivals Blackpool the last time they opened up a season in front of their home supporters.

A win on the opening day can sometimes set the tone for the season, there is expectation after a pre-season schedule, and in some clubs cases a raft of signings, that this can be a particular clubs year. In Bristol City's case, there's a feeling that under Nigel Pearson, the team can challenge for the play-offs this year, and that so far they are recruiting quality to help narrow the gap on the top six.

Rob Dickie, Ross McCrorie and Haydon Roberts have all joined from QPR, Aberdeen and Brighton respectively, whilst there is transfer interest in Derby County's Jason Knight, with two bids reportedly rejected. City's players return back for pre-season next week, before kicking off their pre-season schedule on July 12, in a behind-closed doors match with Reading at the High Performance Centre.

Seven matches will be played in total in pre-season, before their opening day clash with Preston, and then three more league fixtures are to follow in August, before rounding off the first block of fixtures before the international break, with a trip to Swansea City.

With that in mind, OLBG have crunched the numbers to see how Bristol City have fared in their past 10 opening day fixtures, and how their record compares to the rest of the Championship. Check out the table below...