Bristol City have announced five friendlies at the Robins High Performance Centre against Reading, Swindon Town, Oxford United, Newport County and Exeter City as their pre-season programme for the 2023/24 campaign takes shape.
The Robins had previously confirmed a match against Portsmouth at Fratton Park on Saturday, July 29 as their final friendly before the season kicks off over the weekend of August 5 but have now filled out the summer schedule.
After a camp at an undisclosed location in Europe where no official matches or open training sessions will take place - City visited Bad Radkersburg in Austria last summer - they will host Reading, now of League One, at the HPC on July 12 followed by games against Swindon Town, Newport County, Oxford United and Exeter City.
The latter fixture will also be a double-header with the opponent for the second game still to be confirmed. All games in Failand will be behind-closed doors with the option for fans to stream them live on Robins TV for £5 a game.
There have been understandable questions asked as to why matches can’t be staged at Ashton Gate and available for supporters to attend in person but, for the first time since 2014/15, a new pitch is being laid in BS3 and needs time for the surface to set in time for the start of 2023/24.
“The HPC is a training facility for City men and women’s first teams and Academy and is in constant use, with limited parking and public facilities,” said City in a statement.
“With Ashton Gate having a new hybrid pitch constructed and unavailable until the end of July, we are unable to have games in BS3 and therefore no spectator entry is available for home pre-season games.”
City will discover their fixtures for the 2023/24 season on June 22 with the Robins likely to be at home for the opening round of the season as the Balloon Fiesta falls on the following weekend.
City pre-season schedule
Wednesday, July 12 – Reading (Robins HPC, 12.30pm)
Tuesday, July 18 – Swindon Town (Robins HPC, 12.30pm)
Saturday, July 22 – Newport County (Robins HPC, 12.30pm)
Saturday, July 22 – Oxford United (Robins HPC, 3pm)
Tuesday, July 25 – Exeter City (Robins HPC, 1pm, opposition TBC, 7.45pm)
Saturday, July 29 – Portsmouth (Fratton Park, 3pm)
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