Bristol City fans will flock to the Three Lions pub for the annual Flag Day to celebrate the beginning of the new season in the home game against Sunderland on August 6.
The Bedminster pub landlord Sean Donnelly revealed the information on social media last week, stating the pub will be open from 10am ahead of City's first home match of the season against the newly-promoted Black Cats.
Flag day, an ever-increasing popular event, has been going on for over 20 years with the numbers in attendance constantly growing. The first event saw around 20 people show their colours while thousands now flock to West Street to celebrate the season's curtain-raiser at Ashton Gate.
Although the event is way more than showing off flags and lighting pyros, it's a chance to bring the community together and also the opportunity to pay tribute to those City supporters who are no longer with us.
Donnelly said: "We used to do it at the end of the season but one of the main helpers, a guy called James 'Grizz' passed away at a young age, he was a huge part of it so we changed to do it at the beginning of the season which I think works better.
"Also, there was a season under Lee Johnson that was so toxic in the stands. I was thinking this is nearly coming to blows every week, some people were with him and some people weren't. I thought if I do a flag day in the next two or three weeks, they'll all be brawling.
"At the beginning of the season there's this huge enthusiasm and optimism. It's also in tribute for former fans Paul 'Scooter' Surridge, Mark 'Divvy' Saunders and many others.
"It's a celebration of the start of the season and there's a ridiculous amount of people come. Football's about camaraderie, it's a community thing, everyone brings their kids.
"We get Italian flags, the Dutch with our camaraderie with Willem II, German clubs, flags from countries - the only thing you won't get is a Rovers flag. Everything goes and every flag is welcome except Rovers."
Traditionally, there would be a group photo at 1pm before supporters would disperse as they make their way towards the stadium for the match. Last year's event was the first since 2019 after coronavirus prevented supporters from gathering.
What is Flag Day?
The day is a colourful and noisy affair with fans gathering inside and outside the Three Lions - the spiritual home of City’s most vociferous supporters - to unfurl their flags, gather, let off smoke grenades known by the fans as ‘pyros’, and sing City songs, before heading down to the match.
It has been running for decades at the Three Lions - in fact one of the earliest attendees was Game of Thrones actor Maisie Williams, who braved Flag Day at the age of just three, back in 2002 - as revealed here.
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