The £150k Bristol City bargain that became an Ashton Gate hero: View | OneFootball

There are some players throughout history that fans will just never forget, and Albert Adomah is one of those for a number of clubs across the EFL, but especially Bristol City.

The tricky winger is still plying his trade at boyhood club Queens Park Rangers at the ripe old age of 36, but some 14 years ago he was just about to start making waves in the West Country.

After impressing for Barnet in League Two, the Robins stumped up the cash to bring the future Ghana international to the club; with the fee to bring him to Ashton Gate said to be £150,000.

By the time he set sail for Middlesbrough three years later, that measly six-figure sum looked like quite the bargain, with the wide man tormenting defences up and down the country in his 100-plus appearances in a red shirt.

Albert Adomah's Bristol City career

Playing in a Barnet side that were battling for their EFL status, Adomah was the shining light as the Bees stayed up in League Two by the skin of their teeth in the 2009/10 season, with his five goals helping them finish four points above the drop zone in the fourth tier.

In his century of games for the London side he had earned plenty of plaudits for his slaloming runs and pace to burn on the flanks, leaving clubs higher up the pyramid ready to pounce on a bargain buy from the lower reaches of the professional game.

Adomah had proved he was a step above the level he was playing at during his time at Underhill, and as Bristol City came into swoop for his services, the £150,000 price tag was put on his head by way of a tribunal.

Those at Ashton Gate must have been rubbing their hands with glee after that decision; with a gem of a player at their disposal for peanuts, and it didn’t take long for him to showcase that talent on the bigger stage.

A cooly tucked away strike in a 3-3 draw with Barnsley got him off the mark in a red shirt, before following that up with the opener against Scunthorpe United two matches later.

It wasn’t just his early goalscoring exploits that got the crowd off their seats though; with the young winger’s direct playing style taking defenders out the game in an instant, while his ability to find Jon Stead or Brett Pitman in the penalty area with his crosses posed another threat altogether.

With five goals and eleven assists in that first season, Adomah had already proven himself to be a top operator in the second tier; something which he has proven to be the case over the course of the decade that followed with over 600 career appearances to his name.

Over 130 of those came for City, who needed all the help they could get in his second season at the club, with Derek McInnes overseeing a season that flirted with relegation into the third tier, only for an eight-game unbeaten run at the end of the campaign cementing their second tier status for another season.

Vital points picked up against the likes of West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Derby County all helped to rescue the Robins in that final stretch, with Adomah’s constant energy and willingness to put in the hard yards contributing to survival.

Whether he started a game or came off the bench, the former Barnet man could always be relied on to give his all for City, and when the chips are down that is exactly the sort of character people want playing for their club; an unheralded warrior who gets the job done.

You don’t play over 600 games in your career if you don’t have that sort of attitude, and Robins fans will have witnessed that relentlessness first hand over those three seasons, although the third campaign ultimately proved a bridge too far.

Having played in just about every game he was available for - save for a stretch at the Africa Cup of Nations representing his country - Adomah continued to plug away for a City side who struggled losing the likes of Pitman and Yannick Bolasie from the season before.

Relegation was to follow, leaving their star winger free to find himself another club in the second tier; with his performances never questioned despite his side’s lowly status for much of the campaign.

Albert Adomah's time at Bristol City moulded him into a very good Championship winger

Middlesbrough were the lucky side to get their hands on him, with the Teessiders shelling out £1 million for the guaranteed quality he possesses; with his position in a more attacking team seeing him record his best scoring figures of 12 goals during his first season on Teesside.

A popular figure wherever he goes, Adomah’s attitude constantly wins over the fanbase at whichever club he turns out for; something Boro and Aston Villa supporters can also vouch for.

As he plays out his senior years with his boyhood club in the Hoops of Queens Park Rangers, it is no surprise that R’s fans have also taken him into their heart, having also racked up more than 100 games for the Loftus Road outfit.

His longevity, his transfer fees, his universally well-liked status; they all go to show just how well thought of the winger is in the game, and it was Bristol City who saw that talent first and took the gamble to bring him to the Championship.

That risk most definitely paid off, and we can all be grateful for that with Adomah producing consistent quality for over a decade in the top two flights of English football, and he will always be well-remembered at Ashton Gate.