Bristol City v Blackpool: Updates as Seasiders kick off their Championship campaign at Ashton Gate

After a minute’s applause for former Bristol City player and manager Terry Cooper, Grant Ward gets the game underway.

What a noise inside Ashton Gate!

And kick-off is just moments away.

Can the Seasiders get their season off to a winning start on their return to the Championship? We won’t have long to find out.

Up the mighty Pool!

And the atmosphere is really beginning to ramp up now - in both ends of the ground.

Around 1,100 Seasiders are expected to make the trip to Ashton Gate today. They’ll be well outnumbered by their home counterparts, who are expected to pack out their home ground.

Either way, it promises to be a special occasions with an electric atmosphere.

Neil Critchley hands debuts to four of Blackpool’s summer signings.

Callum Connolly starts at right-back, Richard Keogh is preferred to Marvin Ekpiteta in the centre of defence and Tyreece John-Jules is given a role just off Jerry Yates in attack.

Reece James, meanwhile, is named in central midfield alongside Grant Ward and will come up against his brother Matty.

Only five of Blackpool’s starting XI were also starters at Wembley back in May - Chris Maxwell, James Husband, Luke Garbutt, Keshi Anderson and Jerry Yates.

The Seasiders are without a host of first-team names through injury, namely Daniel Gretarsson (shoulder), Matty Virtue (ACL), Kevin Stewart (ankle), Kenny Dougall (knee), Demetri Mitchell (knee) and Gary Madine (groin).

Elsewhere, Teddy Howe, Oliver Sarkic, Bez Lubala and Joe Nuttall are all left out.

This will be the third time the Seasiders have faced the Robins on the opening day since 2000, losing both previous outings.

Ahead of the curtain raiser, The Gazette has taken a look back at Blackpool’s recent record in opening day fixtures - and it’s fair to say it’s been a bit of a mixed bag.

Since the turn of the Millennium, the Seasiders have lost 10 of their 21 opening day fixtures, winning eight and drawing the other three.

The Seasiders’ record was noticeably poor in the early 2000s when they lost six opening day fixtures on the bounce between 2001 and 2006.

Their 5-0 drubbing at the hands of QPR back in 2003 was a particular lowlight, although they did bounce back with three straight wins.

Pool’s most memorable opening day win of course came in 2010, when the Seasiders enjoyed a 4-0 thrashing of Wigan Athletic on their Premier League debut - momentarily sending them to the top of the table.

The memorable victory at the DW Stadium was the first of four consecutive opening day wins between 2010 and 2014.

Despite going on to win promotion last season, Neil Critchley’s side began the campaign with a 1-0 defeat to League One newcomers Plymouth Argyle.

While Pool were dominant on the day and deserved to win, never mind draw, it just goes to show the opening day fixture is not the be-all and end-all.