A football pilgrimage to Merseyside can stir many emotions but for Bristol City fan Neil Palmer it proved the genesis for an idea that could transform the area around Ashton Gate and across South Bristol.
Having visited Anfield and Goodison Park earlier this year, Palmer was struck by the sheer volume of street artwork celebrating heroes from Liverpool and Everton days of yore, marking their impact not just to their respective football clubs, but the community as a whole.
With a vision in his head, Palmer wanted to celebrate figures of the same significance to Bristol City and, on Friday afternoon, as the rain briefly abated around Southville, the first of what he hopes will be a series of giant murals was unveiled on the side of the Coopers Arms pub, barely 200 metres from Ashton Gate.
Chris Garland died in July this year at the age of 74. ‘The Golden Boy of Bristol City’ was a revered former player over his 11 years and 248 appearances in a Robins shirt and role as part of the Ashton Gate Eight in 1982, but also as a boy and man local to the streets that snake through BS3. Garland is the history of that area and the club and stadium so central to the community.
With members of the Garland family in attendance, former teammates such as Geoff Merrick and Paul Cheesley - celebrating his 70th birthday - and supporters, the curtain came down on the mural, envisaged by Palmer and painted so evocatively by street artist Spike Clark.
“Anfield was a little bit like Bedminster, or what it used to be - that working class sort of area, and I was absolutely blown away by the murals of Ian St John, Ian Rush, John Barnes, Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley - all through the eras, and it was everywhere,” Palmer tells Bristol Live,
“I just thought it was fantastic. So I crossed Stanley Park to Everton and was amazed it was exactly the same there where you have Colin Harvey, Alan Ball, Howard Kendall, people like that.
“And on the way back I remember thinking, ‘I would love it if we could do this in Bristol’ and I think that the only thing stopping it was that sometimes Bristol can be a bit of people going, ‘well, we can’t have that in Bristol’, just that sense of apathy and ‘that can’t happen’, but I thought I’m not going to be put off.
“These players are as important to City fans as those Liverpool players were in that part of their city.
“Bedminster and Ashton has some fantastic art but I’ve always been conscious that none of it has had any connection with the football club. I just thought it’s about bringing the club a little bit more in touch with the fans and it being very much a supporter thing.”
Palmer and Chris Bradfield scoped out possible canvases for the Garland memorial, dropping letters all over South Bristol detailing his plans and whether people would be interested in using their homes or business, with compensation offered. “They must have thought we were mad,” he chuckles.
Fortune struck when Martin Garland, Chris’ brother, who lives next door to the Coopers Arms was chatting with landlord Ian Bodman about Palmer’s grand idea and the proprietor of the much-loved establishment donated the use of the wall for free.
The whole project cost more than £2,000 and with funding secured among a small group of friends - including former City striker Kevin Mabbutt who now lives in America - after contacting the organisers behind Upfest who recommended Clark - a specialist in this field - they could get to work.
With the curtain carefully concealing Clark’s progress over the four days it took to complete, and regular anxiety from Palmer over how well it would be received, the day finally arrived this week and has been met with universal joy and emotion across the City community.
Palmer has already secured three other sites for similar murals and hopes they can complete one more before the end of the year, although he’s keeping the identity of the subjects a secret for now.
“It was really a case of starting to have a look at different sites, and we’ve secured four including Chris’ and I think it will be easier now to get more because what I’d love to do is fill in all around that area with City murals,” Palmer added. “I’m a bit of an old romantic where I imagine grandchildren looking up at these pictures like modern-day statues.
“We were laughing with some of the former players that you don’t necessarily have to be dead to end up on the side of a wall!”
As for those in attendance seeing the artwork for the same time, the moment was a truly special one as Patch Warner said: "The mural is fantastic. It is great that Chris Garland is now overlooking Ashton Gate as he did as a boy."
It’s a celebration of City fan culture, club history and the bricks and concrete that extend beyond Ashton Gate to make a matchday experience more than just watching 11vs11 on a Saturday afternoon. But ultimately it's about recognising Garland, what he did for the club and the legacy he left.
Bearing his quote, “my love for Bristol City developed into almost an obsession” Garland, who was born City, lived and breathed the club as player and fan, will remain an influential and inspirational figure for generations to come.
“As Geoff Merrick mentioned, it was a perfect site because they were the roads he played on, he lived around the corner, he went to school nearby, played in the park and there he is up on the wall,” Palmer said. “He was the golden boy of Bristol City and me, as a youngster, he was everything a footballer looked like; he was our George Best, he looked like a superstar.
“What I will always take away from Chris Garland was not only was he the player who ripped up his contract to save the football club, but he went back the Saturday to attend the Fulham game with his son and put money back into the club, and that says everything about him as a player and how much he loved the club.
“He’s an important part of the DNA of that place, and it should never be forgotten how important he is to Bristol City.”
SIGN UP: For our daily Robins newsletter, bringing you the latest from Ashton Gate
