A piece of Bristol City history will be on show at the club today as a fans' group roll the clock back to times when the Robins competed with the best in the land.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of City's one and only FA Cup final appearance, and one Bristol resident is lending the Supporters Trust a precious piece of family memorabilia to help ensure the occasion is a special one.

Mike Reed, 65, is more likely to be seen watching Bristol Rugby than at Ashton Gate, but his grandfather turned out in the 1909 final, which Manchester United won 1-0 at Crystal Palace in front of 71,000 fans.

Fred Staniforth, who played on the right wing for Bristol City, made more than 140 appearances for the club – including the final – and his shirt has been passed down through the family ever since.

Most of the time it hangs in a special frame on the wall of the Reed household in Redland, but today it will be at Ashton Gate as the Supporters Trust outline their plans for a one-off match between fans of the two finalists in 1909 to mark the anniversary.

The shirt – City wore blue that day to avoid clashing with United's red – wasn't always so well protected. Reed recalls running round Redcatch Park in Knowle as a youngster wearing it during kickabouts with his friends.

"I suppose to us as a family it was more about my grandad rather than the football. We knew it was his shirt but the significance didn't dawn on us. It's only in the past few months as the anniversary has approached that other people have started asking about it.

"It's very small, and I think that might be due to it being shrunk in the wash by my mother. It used to be kept in a drawer at home but about 10 years ago I took it down to Ashton Gate to see if they wanted it.

"I took it in a Tesco carrier bag. I don't think the lady behind the desk could quite believe it."

The club kept it for a while but due to concerns for its safety, it wasn't kept at the stadium and was moved around a fair bit. Eventually it was decided Reed should take it back.

Staniforth joined City from Liverpool, and went on to play for Grimsby. He passed away when Reed was in his teens, and his grandson, who now works as a community nurse but was in the RAF for 15 years, remembers him as someone who rarely spoke about his days as a footballer.

"He came back to this area when his playing career was over because he married a Bristol girl. At one time he ran a pub in Bedminster called the Rummer, which is no longer there.

"We have toyed with the idea of selling the shirt once or twice but I've never had it valued, and I've got daughters and it's something nice for them to see, to know their great-grandad was a professional footballer.

"We used to have the shorts as well but I couldn't say what happened to them, they probably just gave up the ghost.

"At the time of the final Manchester United were top of the league and City were second, so it shows they had a decent side then."