Apologies if this makes you feel old but it's been over 14 years since that play-off final defeat to Hull City when Dean Windass broke Bristol City hearts.
It's the hope that kills you sometimes and although Nigel Pearson is attempting to put the foundations in place to (hopefully) mount a Premier League push, the promised land continues to elude the club and city.
May 24, 2008 remains the closest City have come to reaching the Premier League following a fourth-place finish in the Championship under Gary Johnson. Like many clubs across the league, owner Steve Lansdown has pumped millions of pounds into the Robins with the hope of chasing the dream but their failure to do so meant they have been counting the costs ever since.
Whether Pearson manages to achieve the holy grail during his time as City manager, well, that remains to be seen but with the youngsters coming through the ranks the club are slowly but surely on the right trajectory.
In this feature, we take a look at the side who came so close and what happened to their careers after leaving BS3.
Adriano Basso
The charismatic Brazilian goalkeeper was a fan favourite at Ashton Gate and recalled his memories of his time with City during an interview with Bristol Live earlier in the year.
After leaving the Robins following the termination of his contract, Basso would represent Hull City, Truro City, FC United of Manchester and Radcliffe Borough. After hanging up his boots at the beginning of 2019, he joined Grantham Town as a goalkeeper coach before becoming first team goalkeeper coach at Sheffield Wednesday where he has remained.
Bradley Orr
Following 255 appearances with City, Orr joined QPR in the summer of 2010 before joining Blackburn Rovers. Loans at Ipswich, Blackpool and Toronto followed and his swansong in the MLS proved to be his last as a footballer before retiring in 2014.
He would launch sports agency company Rotunda Sports and Media management in 2015 and also open up a children's soft play centre with the genius name Cirque-d-play. Last year, he was fined £4,500 for keeping it open during Covid restrictions.
Louis Carey
A City legend, Carey holds the record for all-time appearances with 646. He ended his career with Western Premier League side Shepton Mallet and now remains an ambassador for the club.
Carey turned to coaching after his playing days and started with the Southampton Under-8s. Now he's Saints' PDP Transition Coach as he works with the Under-18s and helps create a pathway for young players into the senior set up at St Mary's.
Liam Fontaine
The central defender left City in 2014 after racking up 294 appearances and would head north of the border to play for Hibernian. He later signed for Ross County and Dundee and at the age of 36, he's still turning out for Scottish League One club Edinburgh, whom he joined in July.
In September, he had an interview with The Edinburgh News in which he said: "I'm turning 37 in January but I still feel as fit as ever and motivated to play league football."
"Fonts" has also started up his own football academy offering youngsters both group and one-to-one sessions.
Jamie McAllister
McAllister reunited with former boss Gary Johnson at Yeovil in 2012 before spending a handful of months as a player/coach for Indian Super League side Kerala Blasters. Following a season with Exeter, the 44-year-old would return to City to manage the Under-21s.
He later earned a promotion to become Lee Johnson's assistant in BS3 and has since followed him to both Sunderland and now Hibernian, where the duo remain.
David Noble
Scorer of THAT goal against Crystal Palace, Noble left City a year after the play-off final and enjoyed stints with Exeter, Rotherham, Oldham and St Albans City.
In November 2017, he became a coach of the club and following the sacking of Ian Allison in September, he took the role of Interim Head Coach. Following an impressive stint in charge, he was handed the position on a permanent basis in November. They currently sit sixth in the National League South.
Marvin Elliott
Elliott spent seven years with City and became an integral figure for the club making over 250 appearances including being named in the PFA Team of the Season. He joined Crawley and non-league side Whitehawk before a relatively short spell with Kingstonian.
During that time he took a break from the game to become a stockbroker and he was recently spotted at Bristol bar Bambalan as host for England's World Cup draw with the USA.
Nick Carle
The Aussie midfielder would join Crystal Palace before heading back to his native country to continue his playing days with Sydney FC. Following a knee ligament injury, he started coaching the club's academy before heading to SD Raiders to become the club's technical director.
Michael McIndoe
It's been a wild ride for McIndoe who was involved in an alleged fraud case and was declared bankrupt in 2014. Three years later, he released his autobiography 'Wildling: My Autobiography' where he wanted to share his side of the story.
McIndoe was never arrested or charged and insisted former footballers gave him personal loans which he was unable to pay back through gambling and failed business ventures.
In September, he was announced as the new manager of Gretna FC in the Scottish Lowland Football League.
Dele Adebola
Having left City in June 2009, Adebola played for Nottingham Forest, Hull, Rochdale, Wrexham and finally Rushall Olympic before deciding to call it a day.
He decided to remain in football by founding his own company Strike9 Training which specialises in corporate team football events. According to their website, they "are a community based and lead organisation that provides sport, physical activity and health programmes across disadvantaged communities in Birmingham, Solihull and Sandwell for children and young people."
Lee Trundle
Unbelievably, the striker is still playing at the age of 46 Ammanford following years of playing in the Welsh lower leagues. He didn't quite hit the prolific scoring heights at the Robins but Trundle enjoyed a successful club career and he would have inspired youngsters having coached Swansea youth players aged from nine to 19.
He juggles his time still playing and is also the club ambassador for former club Swansea.
Substitutes
Chris Weale
Weale only made 14 appearances for City over three seasons which also included loan stints both with Hereford and Yeovil Town. He became a regular between the sticks at Leicester and bounced around from club to club until retiring in 2019.
He spent time as goalkeeping coach at both Yeovil and Exeter and he's now Director of Football at Sherborne Private Boys School.
Tamas Vasko
The former Hungarian international spent just one season on loan with Bristol City and at the age of 38, he's still plying his trade with native side Csakvar who feature in the Hungarian National Championship.
Lee Johnson
A name that needs no introduction having returned to City to take the manager's job in 2016. After being sacked in 2020 he wasted little time getting back into the dugout with Sunderland - a tenure that lasted 13 months.
In May, he was appointed manager of Hibernian where he has won eight of his 20 games in charge.
Ivan Sproule
The winger moved to Scotland in 2011, with spells at Hibernian and Ross County, and then moved back to his native Northern Ireland in 2014 when he signed for Linfield. He retired from football following a spell at Northern Irish side Dergview and dipped his toes into management with the side up until 2021.
Darren Byfield
The former City striker retired from football in 2017 following a career that took him across 17 different clubs in total. He would later go into management with Redditch United, Stratford, Walsall Wood and Alvechurch and is now coach at Crawley Town.
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