CHRIS HEWETT
THINKING ALLOWED

CRITICAL supporters of Bristol in the late amateur era believed their team was being straitjacketed by a rigidly traditional committee structure driven primarily by the pursuit of a better yesterday. This was only half-right. The Memorial Ground was not a complete desert when it came to progressive thought, but the hierarchy’s willingness to push the envelope was rarely matched by a functioning sense of direction.
For instance, the appointment of a director of coaching in the early 1990s – very trendy back then – would have landed ...