It's exactly seven years ago to the day since Bristol City appointed former midfielder Lee Johnson as their first-team manager. He had cut his cloth at Oldham Athletic and later Barnsley, and was tasked with keeping the Robins up.
He did just that, and guided them to safety with an 18th-placed finish, but a year later despite the tremendous form of Chelsea loanee Tammy Abraham, they had a finish of 17th, and confirmed their place in the Championship in the penultimate game of the season.
Johnson revolutionised City however, and after being allowed to spend a club record fee of £5.3m on Famara Diedhiou, the clubs fortunes improved with an 11th-placed finish. Players from abroad would continue to be recruited, whilst also scouring the lower league for the best young talent around. It was a campaign that was best remembered for reaching the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup, famously knocking out Jose Mourinho's Manchester United in front of a sold-out Ashton Gate. It would take eventual winners Manchester City to knock them out, with Pep Guardiola complimentary of Johnson's side.
A season later, Johnson, nearly matched the efforts of his father, who remains the closest to delivering the Premier League club to the West Country. He earned an eighth-place finish in 2018/2019, missing out by just four points to Frank Lampard's Derby County.
Unfortunately that would be the closest that City would get as the following season they finished 12th, and it would turn out to be Johnson's last at the club. He was sacked after suffering a Severnside Derby defeat to Cardiff City in the COVID-19 era, and later replaced by his assistant Dean Holden.
Since then, the club has changed with Nigel Pearson now at the helm, and a lot of the players Johnson brought in are no longer here. Several remain and are an integral part of the first-team picture whilst others are just hanging on. Here we take a look at those who came and went during Johnson's tenure in charge of City.
61. Nahki Wells
Wells joined near Deadline Day in 2020 from Burnley, and to date has 25 goals in 138 appearances for the club. He signed a two-year contract extension, keeping him at the club till 2025. | Getty Images Photo: Alex Burstow/Getty Images
62. Markus Henriksen
Henriksen joined on loan in January 2020, and made four appearances, before being allowed to leave Hull in the summer. Henriksen is back in his native Norway and plays for Rosenborg these days. | Getty Images Photo: Harry Trump/Getty Images
63. Filip Benkovic
Benkovic joined on loan from Leicester City in 2020 and made 10 appearances, before a year later joining Cardiff City. He later joined Udinese on a permanent deal and is now on loan at second tier Eintracht Braunschweig. | Getty Images Photo: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images