Bristol Rovers F.C.
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Categories: Current sports events | Bristol Rovers F.C. | English football clubs | Football League clubs | Sport in Bristol | Football (soccer) clubs established in 1883
Bristol Rovers Football Club is an English professional football team, based in Bristol. They currently play in Coca-Cola League One, after defeating Shrewsbury Town 3-1 in the League Two Play-Off Final at Wembley Stadium on May 26, 2007.[1] The club was founded in 1883 as Black Arabs F.C., and changed its name to Eastville Rovers in 1884. The name changed again briefly in 1897 to Bristol Eastville Rovers, before finally changing to Bristol Rovers in 1898.[2] The club's official nickname is The Pirates, reflecting the maritime history of Bristol. The local nickname of the club is The Gas, from the gasworks next to Eastville Stadium, their former home. Their main rivals are Bristol City, and according to a survey conducted in December 2003, Cardiff City and Swindon Town are considered the second and third biggest rivals.[3] Rovers currently play at the Memorial Stadium, where they have played since August 1996. The ground is due to be demolished in May 2008 and rebuilt as an 18,500 capacity all-seater stadium.[4] During the rebuilding process, the team will temporarily play their home games away from the city, at Whaddon Road in Cheltenham.[5][6] On February 16th 2008, Bristol Rovers reached the quarter finals of the FA Cup for the first time since 1958 with a goal by Ricky Lambert in a 1-0 win over Southampton. This completed something of a clean sweep for the club in the rounds of the competition that year, with the club gaining victories over teams from all top five divisions in English Football; the Premiership, the Championship, Football League 1, Football League 2 and the Football Conference.
HistoryThe club was formed following a meeting at the Eastville Restaurant in Bristol in September 1883. They initially went by the name Black Arabs F.C., the name coming from the Arabs rugby team and the predominantly black kits in which they played.[2] This name only lasted for the 1883-84 season, and in a bid to draw more fans from the local area the club was renamed Eastville Rovers in 1884. 
The club played only friendly games until the 1887-88 season, when they took part in the Gloucestershire Cup for the first time. They first joined a league in 1892, when they became a founder member of the Bristol and District League, which three years later was renamed the Western League. In 1897 Eastville Rovers joined the Birmingham and District League, and for two seasons played in both this league and the Western League.[7] At the beginning of the 1897-98 season, the team turned professional and changed their name to Bristol Eastville Rovers,[7] and on 17 February 1899 the name was officially changed to Bristol Rovers.[2] In 1899 Bristol Rovers joined the newly-formed Southern League, where they remained until 1920. For the 1920-21 season, the Southern League teams were moved into the new Football League Third Division, which became the Football League Third Division South the following season. They remained in this division for over 30 years, before winning the league, and promotion in the 1952-53 season.[2] Promotion has been won by the team on three other occasions, in 1973-74 from the Third Division to the Second Division, again in 1989-90 as Division Three champions and also in 2006-07 to the Football League One. The team have been relegated four times in their history - in 1961-62, 1980-81, 1992-93 and most recently at the end of the 2000-01 season, when the team were relegated to the fourth level of league football for the first time in their history. The only major cup competition won by Bristol Rovers is the 1972 Watney Cup, when Sheffield United were beaten in the final. The club also won the Division Three (South) Cup in 1934-35, as well as winning or sharing the Gloucestershire Cup on 32 occasions. The team have never played in European competition, the closest they came was when they missed out on reaching the international stage of the Anglo-Italian Cup in the 1992-93 season on a coin toss held over the phone with West Ham United.[8] They have twice reached the final of the Football League Trophy, in 1989-90 and 2006-07, but finished runners-up on both occasions. Colours and badgeBristol Rovers are known for their distinctive blue and white quartered shirts, which they have worn for most of their history. The current kit consists of a Dark blue and white quartered shirt, white shorts and dark blue socks. The away kit is green with a black trim, and the third-choice strip is rumoured to be a white shirt with black trim. The goalkeepers shirt for the 2007-08 season will be gold. The team began playing in black shirts with a yellow sash from their foundation in 1883 as Black Arabs F.C. until 1885, by which time they were called Eastville Rovers. For the next fourteen years, until 1899, the team wore blue and white hooped shirts. These were replaced by black and white striped shirts until 1919.[8]
When Rovers were admitted to The Football League in 1920 they wore white shirts with blue shorts. These remained the team colours until 1930, when the colours were reversed to blue shirts and white shorts for one season.[8] The blue and white quarters were first worn in 1931, when they were introduced to try and make the players look larger and more intimidating.[2] Rovers continued to wear the quarters for 31 years until they were replaced by blue pinstripes on a white background. The club will be reverting to the traditional dark blue/white square's strip for the 2007/8 season. 
Club badge used during the 1980s and 90s
Over the next ten years, Rovers went on to wear blue and white stripes, all blue, and blue shirts with white shorts before returning to the blue and white quarters in 1973, which have remained the colours ever since.[8] During the 1996-97 season, Rovers wore an unpopular striped quartered design, prompting fans to refer to it as the Tesco bag shirts[9] because of their similarity to the design used for the company's carrier bags. The change in design prompted the Trumpton Times fanzine to change its name to Wot, No Quarters?[10] The black and gold shirts were also used as the away kit for the 2002-03 season, the mark the 120th anniversary of the club. In 2007, the club reverted to a far lighter shade of blue, in recognition of their 1930's kits. In 2005, Rovers ran an April Fools' joke on their official website, stating that the team's new away strip would be all pink. Although this was intended to be a joke, a number of fans petitioned the club to get the kit made for real, and also suggested that funds raised through the sale of the pink shirts should be donated to a breast cancer charity.[11] Although the pink shirts were never used in a competitive fixture, they were worn for a pre-season friendly against Plymouth Argyle in 2006.[12] A pirate features on both the club badge and the badge of the supporters club,[13] reflecting the club nickname of The Pirates. Stadium
Rovers play their home games at The Memorial Stadium in Horfield, a ground they share with Bristol Rugby Club. The team moved to The Mem, as it is known informally, at the beginning of the 1996-97 season, initially as tenants but purchased it two years later.[14] When Bristol Rovers were known as Black Arabs F.C. in 1883, they played their home games at Purdown, Stapleton. The following year they moved to Three Acres, the precise location of which is not known, but is believed to have been in the Ashley Down area of Bristol, where they remained for seven years. This was followed by brief stays at the Schoolmasters Cricket Ground, Durdham Down and Ridgeway. 
For the majority of their history, Bristol Rovers have played their home games at Eastville Stadium, where they remained for a period of 89 years from 1897-1986. Financial problems led to the team being forced to leave Eastville, and they found a temporary home at Twerton Park, the home of Bath City. They stayed in Bath for 10 seasons, before returning to Bristol in 1996. Rovers have also played home games at Ashton Gate following a fire which destroyed one of stands at Eastville, and also for one match during the early days of the period spent in Bath. During World War II, some friendly matches were played in Kingswood, and in their early history some games were played at Parson Street, Bedminster[2] In January 2007 planning permission was granted for a new 18,500 capacity all-seater stadium to be built on the site of the Memorial Stadium.[15] Building work was originally intended to begin late in 2007, but delays set the project back to May 2008.[16] Rovers are still expected play their home games at Cheltenham Town's Whaddon Road as was originally intended.[17] Rovers will now be away from the Memorial Stadium from the start of the 2008-09 season through to the start of 2010. Supporter cultureThe team traditionally draws the majority of its support from north and east Bristol[18] and South Gloucestershire. Many towns and villages in the surrounding area are also home to significant pockets of Rovers supporters. The nickname given to Bristol Rovers supporters is Gasheads. The Gas was originally coined as a derogatory term by the supporters of Bristol Rovers' rivals Bristol City and was in reference to the large gas works adjacent to the old Bristol Rovers stadium, in Eastville, Bristol which wafted the sometimes overpowering odour of town gas across the crowd. Gasheads was adopted as a name by a splinter group of Rovers supporters in the mid-1980s to early 1990s. The chant 'Proud to be a Gashead' spread to regular fans and a fanzine was produced called The Gashead. The term 'Gasheads' is now universally accepted within the English media and football fraternity as referring to Bristol Rovers supporters. After the club's relegation to Football League Two in 2001, the club designated the squad number 12 to the Gasheads to signify them as the club's 12th Man in recognition of their loyal support. In the British film Hot Fuzz Danny Butterman played by Nick Frost is seen wearing a Bristol Rovers shirt Club songThe song which is synonymous with Rovers is "Goodnight, Irene", which was written by Leadbelly.[19] It is sung by fans in support of the team. Opinions differ as to how this came about but it is thought to have become popular in the 1950s 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.[20] Another theory is that it 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 began to leave early prompting a chorus of "Goodnight Argyle" from the Rovers supporters - the tune stuck and "Irene" became the club song.[2] Players
Current squad
The shirt number 12 is used by Gasheads to represent the fans as the 12th Man.[21] Out on loan
Notable players
ManagementManagement team
Notable managers
Youth AcademyThe Bristol Rovers centre of excellence is associated with the Bristol Academy of Sport, located at Filton College, which offers a college education along with football coaching.[25] Current squad members Sean Rigg, Tom Parrinello, Lewis Powell, James Palmer, Darren Mullings, Chris Lines and Mike Green all graduated from the Academy to earn a professional contract. Perhaps the most successful former member of the academy is Scott Sinclair, who was signed by Chelsea in 2005 for an initial fee of £200,000, with further payments to the club possible, depending on performance.[26] Women's TeamImage:BristolAvBirmingham.jpg
Bristol Academy v Birmingham City, October 2006
The club boast a successful women's team, formed in 1998 as Bristol Rovers W.F.C. and now known as Bristol Academy W.F.C.. They play in the top flight of women's football in England, the FA Women's Premier League National Division, and have won ten trophies since their formation, as well as reaching the semi-finals of the FA Women's Cup on five occasions.[27] Achievements
Image:BRFC 1904-05.jpg
1904-05 Southern League winning team.
RecordsScorelines:Image:Geoff Bradford.jpg
Bristol Rovers record goalscorer, Geoff Bradford. Picture taken in 1988, when he was 61 years old.
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