Joe Williams, a teammate, has a chance to remain with City for the upcoming season.
While Joe Williams and Bristol City midfielder Matty James are still negotiating contracts, the Robins have revealed which players they will keep for the upcoming campaign.
James, a seasoned midfield midfielder, is among the players released from Ashton Gate at the end of their contracts, along with Andy King and Andreas Weimann. Additionally, Joe Williams’ contract expires at the end of the month, although the team says they are still in negotiations with him to extend his playing career at Bristol City.
Along with defender Duncan Idehen and goalkeeper Harvey Wiles-Richards, nine promising talents have also been released by Bristol City. Additionally, the club has revealed that loan signings Scott Twine and Dire Mabude have returned to their original clubs.
Bristol City honoured Matty James, who turns 33 in July and won the Premier League with Leicester in 2016. James signed with City in 2021 and made 115 appearances, scoring four goals. He joins Andi Weimann, who left in January to finish the final six months of his Bristol City deal on loan at West Brom, and fellow Leicester old boy Andy King, who announced his retirement last week.
Weimann joined City in 2018 and scored 51 goals in 216 games. His name will now be placed to the team’s record scorers wall at Ashton Gate.
“The players departing have all been fantastic servants to this club,” said manager Liam Manning. “They are all top professionals and have all made their mark at Bristol City. I wish them the very best for their future,” he added.
Two big questions remain for Bristol City fans – and the club – from the publication of the retained list. Can Bristol City persuade Joe Williams to sign a new deal, and will the club want to, and be able to, re-sign midfield playmaker Scott Twine on a permanent deal?
The latter rejoins his parent club Burnley, with the Lancashire team virtually certainly relegating to the Championship the following season. Obviously, Bristol City has no control over whether the player stays with Burnley or is sold, nor to whom.
Joe Williams may give the club additional influence. Bristol City merely stated in the release that “discussions with Joe Williams are ongoing.” After his frequent injury concerns subsided, the midfielder enjoyed a successful season at Ashton Gate. He played a significant role in the team’s four-game, nearly perfect Cup run against two Premier League teams, Nottingham Forest and West Ham.
Nine young players, including Ben Acey, Zac Bell, Mac Boyd, Marlee Francois, Callum Hutton, Duncan Idehen, Dylan Kadji, Harry Leeson, and Harvey Wiles-Richards, who were never truly included in the first team photo at Ashton Gate, have been released by the team. While some, like Dylan Kadji and Harvey Wiles-Richards, were able to get more traction with the starting lineup than others, they were all cut when their contracts expired.
The released and retained list in full is:
Players Over-24 released
Matty James
Andy King
Andreas Weimann
Players Under-24 released
Ben Acey
Zac Bell
McIntosh Boyd
Marlee Francois
Callum Hutton
Duncan Idehen
Players Under-24 released
Ben Acey
Zac Bell
McIntosh Boyd
Marlee Francois
Callum Hutton
Duncan Idehen
Under contract in 2024/25
Players Over-24
Rob Atkinson
Harry Cornick
Rob Dickie
Ross McCrorie
Cameron Moir-Pring
Kal Naismith
Max O’Leary
Mark Sykes
George Tanner
Lewis Thomas
Zachary Vyner
Nahki Wells
Players Under-24 (*denotes first Professional Contract, starting July 1st)
Zack Ali*
Tim Ap Sion*
Taine Anderson*
Raphael Araoye
Tommy Backwell
Stefan Bajic
Brandon Bak*
Sam Bell
Players Under-24 (*denotes first Professional Contract, starting July 1st)
Zack Ali*
Tim Ap Sion*
Taine Anderson*
Raphael Araoye
Tommy Backwell
Stefan Bajic
Brandon Bak*
Sam Bell
Ayman Benarous
Max Bird
Joshua Campbell-Slowey
Josey Casa-Grande
Kai Churchley
Tommy Conway
Joe Duncan
Taylor Gardner-Hickman
Calum Hewlett
Joseph James*
Jason Knight
Jamie Knight-Lebel
Jed Meerholz*
Anis Mehmeti
Elijah Morrison
Adam Murphy
Raekwon Nelson*
Ephraim Yeboah
Sebastian Palmer-Houlden
Billy Phillips*
Haydon Roberts
Marley Rose
Josh Stokes
Omar Taylor-Clarke
Archie Taylor*
Oliver Thomas
Callum Wood
