Misplaced Pages

Bristol Rovers F.C.: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editNext edit →Content deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 20:11, 5 April 2006 edit80.175.202.33 (talk)No edit summary← Previous edit Revision as of 23:11, 5 April 2006 edit undo84.64.207.195 (talk) Manager HistoryNext edit →
Line 66: Line 66:
<table border=1 cellpadding=3 cellspacing=0 style="text-align:center"> <table border=1 cellpadding=3 cellspacing=0 style="text-align:center">
<tr style="background:#efefef"><th>Manager</th><th>From</th><th>To</th></tr> <tr style="background:#efefef"><th>Manager</th><th>From</th><th>To</th></tr>
<tr><td>Joseph Lines</td><td>]</td><td>]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Ben Hall</td><td>]</td><td>]</td></tr> <tr><td>Ben Hall</td><td>]</td><td>]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Andy Wilson</td><td>]</td><td>]</td></tr> <tr><td>Andy Wilson</td><td>]</td><td>]</td></tr>

Revision as of 23:11, 5 April 2006

Football club
Bristol Rovers
File:Brist Badge.gif
Full nameBristol Rovers Football Club
Nickname(s)The Pirates & The Gas
Founded1883
GroundMemorial Stadium, Bristol
Capacity11,916
ChairmanGeoff Dunford
ManagerPaul Trollope (first-team coach)
Lennie Lawrence (Director of Football)
LeagueFootball League Two
2004-05League Two, 12th
Home colours Away colours

Bristol Rovers Football Club is the oldest professional football team in Bristol, England.

It was formed in 1883 as The Black Arabs (taking the name the Arabs from a rugby team that played on an adjoining pitch and adding black because of their kit colour), and renamed Bristol Rovers in 1897 after briefly being called Eastville Rovers and Bristol Eastville Rovers. The club joined the Southern League in 1899, and were founder members of the Football League Third Division in 1920. They currently play in Football League Two.

The team traditionally draws its support from north and east Bristol and South Gloucestershire. Its colours are blue and white quartered shirts, white shorts and blue socks. Away colours for the season 2002/03 were black shirts with a diagonal gold sash and black shorts - reflecting the original Black Arab kit of 1883. This marked the club's 120 year existence.

The club's official nickname is "The Pirates" - reflecting the maritime history of Bristol. A pirate features on both the club badge and the badge of the supporters club. The local nickname of the club is "The Gas", (from the gasworks next to the old Eastville Stadium) hence Rovers fans are known as Gasheads.

The song which is synonymous with Rovers - sung by fans in support of (and often commiseration with!) the team is "Goodnight Irene", which was originally popularised by The Weavers and written by Leadbelly.

Opinions differ as to how this came about but it is thought to have become popular in the 1950's when a version of the song was in the British charts - the line "sometimes I have a great notion to jump in the river and drown" - seemed to be particularly apt when Rovers lost as the Bristol Frome flows alongside the old Eastville ground.

Another theory is that is was sung at a fireworks display at the Stadium the night before a Home game against Plymouth Argyle in the fifties. During the game the following day, Rovers were winning quite comfortably and the few Argyle supporters present begain to leave early prompting a chorus of "Goodnight Argyle" from the rovers supporters - the tune stuck and "Irene" became the club song.

Home games are now played at The Memorial Stadium, Filton Avenue, Horfield, Bristol, a ground they share with Bristol Rugby Club. Previously they have played at Purdown, Eastville Stadium, Kingswood (during WW2), Twerton Park in Bath for 10 seasons (having left Eastville due to financial reasons) and even some games at Ashton Gate following a fire which destroyed one of stands at Eastville.

Truly they can be said to have earned the sobriquet of "Rovers"!

Their main rivals are Bristol City although there is also some animosity with teams such as Swindon Town, Yeovil Town, Cheltenham Town, Cardiff City and Swansea City.

Modern Times

Bobby Gould was Bristol Rovers manager until the summer of 1987, when he moved on to Wimbledon and won the FA Cup in his first season as manager. He was replaced by Gerry Francis, the former QPR and England star. Under Francis, Bristol Rovers won the Third Division title in 1990 and achieved a mid table finish the following year. Francis then returned to QPR as manager and was briefly succeeded by Martin Dobson, who made way after just four months for Malcolm Allison, who in turn stepped down in March 1993 to make way for John Ward.

Ward was unable to save Bristol Rovers from suffering relegation to the new Football League Second Division in 1992-93, and he quit three seasons later after failing to gain promotion. His successor Ian Holloway lasted four-and-a-half years before being sacked as Rovers found themselves in a relegation battle. The battle was lost under returning manager Gerry Francis, and he resigned in December 2001 with the Pirates struggling near the foot of Division Three. Successor Garry Thompson guided the club to a shock 3-1 away win over Premiership club Derby in the Third Round of the FA Cup, but he was sacked after the club narrowly avoided relegation to the Conference.

Former player Ray Graydon was appointed to succeed Garry Thompson but another year and a half of poor performances resulting in his sacking in January 2004. His successor Ian Atkins lasted just over a year in the job before getting sacked in September 2005. The team was left without a manager following Atkins' dismissal, and veteran player Paul Trollope was appointed first-team coach, with Lennie Lawrence becoming director of football in a two-tier management structure.

Honours

Player Records

  • Most league goals in a season - 33 Geoff Bradford (1952-53)
  • Most league goals in total - 242 Geoff Bradford (1949-64)
  • Most league appearances - 546 Stuart Taylor (1966-80}


Manager History

ManagerFromTo
Ben Hall19201921
Andy Wilson19211926
Joe Palmer19261929
David McLean19291930
Albert Prince-Cox19301936
Brough Fletcher19381949
Fred Ford19681969
Bill Dodgin19691972
Don Megson19721977
Bobby Campbell19781979
Harold Jarman19791980
Terry Cooper19801981
Bobby Gould19811983
David Williams19831985
Bobby Gould19851987
Gerry Francis19871991
Martin Dobson19911991
Dennis Rofe19921992
Malcolm Allison19921993
John Ward19931996
Ian Holloway19962001
Garry Thompson (caretaker)20012001
Gerry Francis20012001
Garry Thompson20012002
Phil Bater (caretaker)20022002
Ray Graydon20022004
Phil Bater (caretaker)20042004
Russell Osman & Kevan Broadhurst (joint caretakers)20042004
Ian Atkins20042005
Paul Trollope 2005Present

External links

EFL League Two
Seasons
Clubs
2024–25 clubs
Former clubs
Competition
Statistics and awards
Finances
Sponsors
Associated competitions
Prospects
Categories: