‘We’re only getting started’ - Lansdown

Lansdown addressed the crowd during the half-time interval before joining in with the promotion celebrations at the final whistle.

And Lansdown says the success of this season has been richly deserved.

“I’m absolutely delighted,” he said. “I don’t think we should underestimate how tough it has been - the Championship has got some good players and some good teams in it, and in some games, we’ve been pushed very close.

“You take nothing for granted in life and you have to work for your success, and I think the success we’ve got this season has been deserved.

“The exciting thing is what we can look forward to – we’ll enjoy tonight, and so will the rest of Bristol - it’s what we come in for on Monday morning and we look forward to what we can achieve in the next 12 months.

“The great thing is that we’re back in the Premiership – we’re a Premiership side now, we can call ourselves that, and we go forward with strength.”

Lansdown also praised the immediate impact of head coach Pat Lam and his coaching team, following last season’s relegation from the Aviva Premiership, as well as the work of Mark Tainton, who took up the role of chief operating officer last summer.

“What Pat and Mark have done here has been tremendous,” he said. “The message is, more of the same really.

“When you have nights like this, you realise what you really want out of the game – you want success, you want to win trophies, you want to see smiles on the faces of the people in the stand and smiles on the faces of your family and young kids – that’s what it’s all about, that’s sport.

“You have many downs - if you think about it, many ordinary moments - but those high moments are special, and you’ve got to enjoy them.

“You then want to work for some more and I think everyone in that dressing room is keen to go out do it all over again.”