The Bristol City team that represented the Robins in the last addition of Masters Football

Bristol City fans and former players are delighted as it was announced this week that Masters Football is back after an 11-year hiatus.

Every year, usually in the summer months, an indoor six-a-side football tournament would usually take place, which would feature players over the age of 35-years-old. You’d have a squad of about 10 players just to be sure whilst there were an unlimited amount of substitutions allowed.

It was an opportunity for some former players to wind back the years and represent clubs they had the joys of playing for during their careers.

Sports documentary streaming website 360 Sports TV will now give it a rebirth with a four-team format this year, whilst there is a full tournament planned for 2023 which could include City.

The Robins only participated in it for one season, which is a surprise given how long it ran for, but hopefully they’ll be able to take part again when it’s fully launched.

They competed in the Western Division along with city rivals Bristol Rovers, Severnside Derby rivals Cardiff City and Swansea City and it was held in the Cardiff Bay Ice Arena in June 2008.

City managed to win the group, drawing 2-2 with Swansea City, in which Marcus Stewart and Martin Kuhl found the net. They then beat Rovers 4-0 with Kuhl, Clayto Blackmore, Mickey Bell and current club coach Gary Rowers on target.

To top it off, they then defeated Cardiff City in the final with Stewart on target, as well as a brace from former loanee Sean McCarthy. It was a somewhat small medicine for the play-off heartache Robins fans had suffered at Wembley Stadium in a 1-0 defeat to Hull City a month before.

In September, when they travelled to Birmingham for the National Finals, they went on to lose to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the quarter-finals of the nationals.

So you must be wondering… who was part of that title winning side? So here’s the nine men who played a part in the last Masters Football tournament that involved City.

Dave Mogg

In goals for City was Dave Mogg, who was once managed by former England manager and now Watford boss, Roy Hodgson.

He very rarely played for the Robins and instead played mainly for Bath City, as well as playing for teams like Taunton, Weston-super-Mare and Chippenham.

Mogg was once manager of Yate Town.

Rob Newman

An academy product of Bristol City having been from Bradford-on-Avon, defender Robert Newman spent ten years at Ashton Gate as a player. Newman was part of a new-look team after the Ashton Gate eight ripped up their contracts but he remained at the club and won two promotions with the Robins as a player.

He would go on to make over 400 appearances for the club before being sold to Norwich City, which saw City pocket £600,000. Newman is now tasked with recruiting players for David Moyes’ West Ham United.

Clayton Blackmore

More known for his 12-years of service to Manchester United, Blackmore was a strange inclusion in the City side. The Welsh left-back, capped 38 times for his country, spent a short amount of time on loan at City after being loaned out by Middlesbrough and made five league appearances.

Given his experiences elsewhere, his placing in the City side was quite baffling but he still made an impact, scoring against Rovers.

Rob Edwards

Edwards was brought to Bristol City for £135,000 after signing from Carlisle. Edwards would spend eight years at City, making over 200 appearances in the league where he would become a Wales international during his time in B36.

He departed for Preston North End in 1999 and helped them get promoted, before joining their Lancashire rivals Blackpool where he spent two years. Edwards would spend five years of his playing career at Exeter City, becoming a first-team coach and then assistant manager. He had a brief spell in charge of Tranmere Rovers but was sacked after just 14 games, before taking up a role with the Football Association of Wales in August 2019.

At 49-years-of-age, Edwards is now the manager of the Welsh under-19’s team, coaching centre-back Callum Wood, who is on loan at Bath from City.

Martin Kuhl

Martin Kuhl played for a few clubs in his 19-year playing career and City were one of 10 English clubs, making 474 appearances. He joined in 1994 after leaving Derby County and spent three years at City, featuring 94 times in the league, scoring seven goals in the process.

He made the interesting move to Hong Kong to play for Happy Valley which inspired him to move into a coaching career. He was assistant to another former City player Gary Owers at Torquay United and also managed Basingstoke and Staines Town.

Gary Owers

Despite being born in Newcastle, Owers turned out for their North east rivals Sunderland and made 300 appearances for them, reaching the 1992 FA Cup final. Owers was brought to City in December 1994 for £250,000, spending four years at the club.

Ater  leaving City, he played for Sam Allardyce’s Notts County before featuring for the likes of Forest Green Rovers, Bath City and Weston-super-Mare. He remained in the area and managed all three clubs, as well as working as assistant at Aldershot Town, Plymouth Argyle and Gateshead. In 2017 he became manager of Torquay United and had former teammate Martin Kuhl work under him as assistant.

He’s used by BBC Radio Bristol as a match summariser and is also Head of Player Development in the National League.

His son Josh Owers is a midfielder like his father and plays for City’s under-23’s side, having had loan spells at Bath City.

Sean McCarthy

Another strange inclusion in City’s side given he only featured less than 10 times for City. Forward Sean McCarthy arrived at Bristol City on loan from Oldham Athletic in 1998 and scored one goal in seven appearances. He didn’t join the club on a permanent deal and instead joined Plymouth Argyle and then Exeter City before going into management with Truro City.

Mickey Bell

Full-back Micky Bell had a 22-year playing career and made more than 600 appearances in the Football League as well as the non-league. He was brought to City for £150,000 from Wycombe Wanderers and it would turn out to be a wise move as he’d make 345 appearances for City in what was an eight-year spell.

Bell would play for Port Vale and Cheltenham, but would return to the nearby areas to play for and manage Weston Super-mare and Clevedon Town.

Bell is at the club right now, working as a Professional Development Phase coach, helping get players through the academy into the first-team.

His son Sam, initially a striker by trade, was most recently deployed as a wing-back in the win over Middlesbrough.

Marcus Stewart

In his playing career, he’ll be remembered more for what he did in the blue and white quarters than what he did for City. Bristolian-born striker Marcus Stewart spent five years at nearby Bristol Rovers and became a centurion for them. He moved on to Huddersfield Town where he played regularly, as well as playing for Ipswich Town in the UEFA Cup. Another move then came to Sunderland where again he played regularly and was a centurion.

In 2005, Stewart achieved an ambition he had held as a lad, turning out for the team he supported, Bristol City, despite a strong playing affiliation to Rovers. Unfortunately it wasn’t the greatest of times for Stewart, who was loaned out to Preston North End and Yeovil Town, before winding down his career at Exeter City. He was development coach and then assistant at Rovers before following Darrell Clarke to Walsall.