History of Bristol Rovers F.C.

The history of Bristol Rovers F.C. began over 120 years ago, in 1883. In that time the club has enjoyed limited success on the field and a turbulent, at times, history off of it. Bristol Rovers have enjoyed success, endured failure and faced homelessness on more than one occasion.

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For the 1899-00 season the newly renamed Bristol Rovers were admitted to the Southern League. During this first season in the Southern League, Rovers faced a Sheppey United team that featured future Huddersfield Town and Arsenal manager Herbert Chapman.

On 17 November 1900 Rovers faced Weymouth in an FA Cup qualifying match. With the score 5-1 at half time, Rovers went on to score ten goals in the second half, recording a 15-1 victory, a club record for the biggest win in a competitive first team match that still stands today. That win helped Jack Jones towards a total of nine goals in the 1900-01 FA Cup campaign, which is the most FA Cup goals scored by a Rovers player in a single season.

During the 1902-03 season Rovers won the Gloucestershire Cup for the second time after beating Bristol City 4-2 in the second replay.

Another landmark was reached during 1904-05 when Jack Lewis was called up to the Welsh national team, becoming the first Bristol Rovers player to receive an international cap while still at the club. 1904-05 was a successful campaign for Rovers, the season providing the first league title and third Gloucestershire Cup for the club.

Honours
*Southern League Division 1 - 1904-05
*Gloucestershire Cup - 1902-03 and 1904-05

The 1910s

Bristol Rovers' manager David McLean resigned on 17 September 1930. His replacement, Captain Albert Prince-Cox brought many changes to the club. One of his first actions as manager was to take the club on a mid-season tour of The Netherlands, and on 16 November 1930 Rovers beat the Dutch national team 3-2, just 24 hours after beating Coventry City 1-0 in the league.

The 1950s was the most successful decade in the history of Bristol Rovers. The club reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup twice, achieved their highest ever placing in the football pyramid, won a divisional title and had a player called up to the England squad. Geoff Bradford won his first and only international cap for England in 1955, when he played, and scored, in a 5-1 win over Denmark. This was the only time a Bristol Rovers player has ever played for England.

During the second world war, the Bristol Greyhound Racing Association had invested money into Bristol Rovers, and as a result the Greyhound Association had taken control of the football club's accounts and board of directors. In 1950, an FA commission, after examining the club's books, fined Bristol Rovers £250 and ordered the greyhound company to relinquish its controlling interest in the football club and banned club secretary Charles Ferrari from football club management.

In the 1950-51 season Bristol Rovers reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup for the first time. The quarter-final was against Newcastle United at St James' Park and was a 0-0 draw. The attendance at this game was 62,787, and it remains the largest ever crowd to watch a match involving Bristol Rovers. The replay at Eastville attracted an attendance of 30,074 to see Newcastle win 3-1. This season also saw the adoption of "Goodnight Irene" as a favorite song of Bristol Rovers fans. The song was sung at the Rovers fans by supporters of Plymouth Argyle before a match at Eastville, because a version of it was in the charts at the time, and again to taunt the Rovers fans after Argyle had taken the lead. Rovers went on to win the game 3-1 and replied to the Plymouth taunts by singing "Goodnight Argyle". The song remained popular with the Rovers fans, and over the years became the anthem of the supporters.

The first league title to be won by Bristol Rovers since the 1904-05 Southern League championship was the 1952-53 Division 3 (South) title. This was the first time Rovers had won promotion since joining the Football League in 1920.

The highest ever league placing by Rovers was achieved in both the 1955-56 and 1958-59 seasons, when the team finished in sixth place in the second tier of league football. In 1955-56, Rovers only missed out on promotion to the top flight by four points.

Perhaps the most impressive win in the history of Bristol Rovers was the 4-0 FA Cup victory over Manchester United, managed by Matt Busby, on 7 January 1956. Five of the United players on that day were later to die in the Munich air disaster. In the same competition during the 1957-58 season Rovers reached the quarter-final for the second time, where they lost 3-1 to Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Honours
* Football League Division 3 (South) - 1952-53
* Gloucestershire Cup
** Won - 1954-55 and 1955-56
** Shared - 1950-51, 1953-54 and 1958-59

The 1960s

Success in the league was achieved by Gerry Francis in his third season as Bristol Rovers manager. The team won the 1989-90 third division championship, clinching the title on 2 May 1990 with a 3-0 victory over local rivals Bristol City, who finished second and were also promoted. This match inspired the title of a former Bristol Rovers fanzine, "The Second of May". The championship winning season was rounded off by the club's first ever appearance at Wembley Stadium, where they lost 2-1 to Tranmere Rovers in the final of the Leyland DAF Cup. 32,000 Rovers fans travelled to Wembley for the match, which was also attended by cult band (and Tranmere fans) Half Man Half Biscuit, who later performed "Goodnight Irene" on John Peel's radio show as a tribute to the Bristol Rovers fans on that day.

The following season Rovers suffered a second fire at their ground. Ten years after the fire at Eastville, the main stand at Twerton Park was damaged on 16 September 1990 in what was later found to be an arson attack. Seven Bristol City fans were later tried and convicted of the crime.

Rovers' third season in the second tier of the league resulted in relegation. At the end of the 1992-93 season, Rovers were bottom of the division, now known as Division One due to the creation of the FA Premier League. The club made their most expensive signing ever during this season, buying Andy Tillson from QPR for £370,000.

A second appearance at Wembley was earned at the end of the 1994-95 season, in the Second Division play-off final. Rovers lost by the same scoreline as their only other game to be played there - 2-1. This time the opponents were Huddersfield Town, and the attendance of 59,175 is the second highest ever at a Bristol Rovers game. Also during this season, Rovers faced their landlords, Bath City, in the first round of the FA Cup. Rovers won the game 5-0, and unusually for a game involving a league team, there was no fan segregation.

During the 2006-07 season, Rovers reached the final of the Football League Trophy for the second time. The team were beaten 3-2 by Doncaster Rovers after extra time, having drawn 2-2 after 90 minutes at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. They also qualified for the playoffs, and will play Lincoln City. Rovers successfully qualified for the final at the new Wembley Stadium after a 7-4 aggregate win over Lincoln. In the final at Wembley Stadium they faced Shrewsbury Town. In front of 40,000 "Gasheads" and 20,000 "Shrews", Bristol Rovers won by three goals to one in what was a thrilling match. The game was marked by the home match atmosphere created by the huge Rovers' support and their almost endless singing of their signature song "Goodnight Irene". Rovers became only the second team, behind Chelsea to have played at both Millennium Stadium and Wembley Stadium in the same season.

Honours
* League Two Play-Off winners - 2006-07

2007-08 saw Rovers survive in League One as they finished 16th, but the big news of the season was a run to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, where they were finally eliminated by West Bromwich Albion.

References

*Byrne, Stephen & Jay, Mike (2003): "Bristol Rovers Football Club, The Definitive History 1883-2003". ISBN 0-7524-2717-2
*Rollin, Glenda & Rollin, Jack (2006): "Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2006-2007". ISBN 0-7553-1526-X
* [http://www.bristolrovers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/History/0,,10328,00.html The early days to the present day] from bristolrovers.co.uk. Retrieved 25 October 2006.
* [http://www.bristolrovers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/DatesHonours/0,,10328,00.html Dates and honours] from bristolrovers.co.uk. Retrieved 25 October 2006.
* [http://www.bristolrovers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/GasTestimonials/0,,10328~717717,00.html Geoff Bradford] from bristolrovers.co.uk. Retrieved 5 November 2006.
* [http://www.soccerbase.com/teams2.sd?teamid=388 Bristol Rovers] from Soccerbase. Retrieved 28 October 2006.
* [http://www.thefa.com/England/SeniorTeam/Archive/matchstats.html?m=298 Denmark 1-5 England, 2 October 1955] from thefa.com. Retrieved 4 November 2006.
* [http://cobweb.businesscollaborator.com/hmhb/Unreleased.htm#irene Goodnight Irene, by Half Man Half Biscuit] from hmhb.co.uk. Retrieved 7 November 2006.