Bristol Rovers F.C.
Bristol Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club in Bristol, England. The team competes in, the fourth level of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National League.
Rovers was founded in 1883 as Black Arabs F.C. and entered the Bristol & District League as Eastville Rovers in 1892. They moved to Eastville Stadium in 1897, when they joined the Birmingham & District League. Two years later, now called Bristol Rovers, they joined the Southern League. Rovers won the Southern League in 1904–05 and were admitted to the Football League in 1920. They were allocated to the Third Division South, and remained there until winning promotion as champions in 1952–53. They recorded their highest Football League position, sixth place in the Second Division, in each of the 1955–56 and 1958–59 seasons. Rovers were relegated in 1962. Promoted as Third Division runners-up in 1973–74, they spent another seven seasons in the second tier until relegation in 1981. Following the sale of the land at Eastville in 1986, the club spent ten years at Twerton Park in Bath. Rovers won the Third Division title in 1989–90, and spent three seasons in the second tier before relegation in 1993. In 1996, the club relocated to its current home venue at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield.
Another relegation took the team down to the fourth tier ahead of the 2001–02 season. Rovers won the 2007 Football League Two play-off final, but relegations in 2011 and 2014 saw the club drop into the Conference Premier. They finished second in the Conference under the stewardship of Darrell Clarke and immediately regained their Football League status with victory in the 2015 Conference Premier play-off final. They followed up this success by gaining promotion out of League Two at the end of the 2015–16 season. They were relegated from the third tier in 2020–21 but returned at the first attempt, claiming the final automatic promotion spot to League One in dramatic style. However, they were relegated back to League Two at the end of the 2024–25 season.
The club's official nickname is "The Pirates", reflecting the maritime history of Bristol, but they are known locally as "The Gas", derived from the gasworks next to their former home, Eastville Stadium. "The Gas" was originally a derogatory term used by fans of neighbouring Bristol City, but it was affectionately adopted by the club and its supporters. Matches between the two Bristol clubs are known as the Bristol Derby last being played in 2013, with Bristol City coming out victorious at Ashton Gate. Besides their various divisional titles and promotions, Rovers have won the Gloucestershire Cup 32 times. They won the Third Division South Cup in 1932, the Watney Cup in 1972, and have been Football League Trophy finalists twice.
History
Early years
The club was formed following a meeting at the Eastville Restaurant in Bristol in September 1883. It was initially called Black Arabs F.C., after the Arabs rugby team and the predominantly black kits in which they played. 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.Into the Football League
For the 1920–21 season, the Southern League teams were moved into the new Division Three of the Football League, which became Division Three the following season. They remained in this division for over 30 years, before winning the league, and promotion in the 1952–53 season.The team has won promotion on six other occasions: in 1973–74 from the Third Division to the Second Division, again in 1989–90 as Division Three champions, in 2006–07 to the Football League One, in 2014–15 to League Two from the Conference Premier, in 2015–16 to League One and then in 2021-22 to League One from League Two. The club has been relegated eight times—in 1961–62, 1980–81, 1992–93, 2000–01, 2010–11, 2013–14, 2020–21 and most recently at the end of the 2024–25 season.
The highest position in the football ladder reached by Rovers at the end of season is sixth place in the second tier, which they achieved twice; once in 1955–56, and again in 1958–59. The closest they came to the top flight was in 1955–56, when they ended the season just four points below the promotion positions. The lowest league position achieved by the club is twenty-third out of twenty-four teams in the fourth tier, which has occurred twice. In the 2001–02 season, relegation from the Football League was narrowly avoided on two counts; firstly they ended just one league position above the relegation zone, and secondly the rules were changed the following season to increase the number of relegation places to two, meaning that if Rovers had finished in that position one year later they would have been relegated. This position was matched at the end of the 2013–14 season, which this time saw Rovers relegated to the Conference for the first time. They returned to the league at the end of their first Conference season, with a penalty shootout victory over Grimsby Town in the play-off final. In February 2016, it was announced that a 92% stake in the club had been bought by the Jordanian al-Qadi family, and that Wael al-Qadi, a member of the Jordan Football Association, would become the president. Since 2016, the club has been owned by Dwane Sports Ltd, with 92.6% of the shares, while Bristol Rovers Supporters Club owns the remaining 7.4%.
In May 2016, the club recorded a second consecutive promotion by finishing in the final automatic promotion position in League Two after a 92nd-minute goal secured victory over Dagenham and Redbridge and Accrington Stanley failed to win on the final day of the season. It marked the first time Rovers had reached the third tier of English Football since relegation in 2011. In June 2020, it was announced that president Wael al-Qadi had bought a controlling stake in Dwane Sports Ltd, after he bought the shares of other members of his family, while it was also announced that the club's debt would be capitalised and a new training facility would begin construction at Hortham Lane, Almondsbury, which is close to the M5 motorway. Rovers have owned the site formerly known as 'The Colony' and re-branded by the club 'The Quarters' since 2017, and, in June 2020, the club announced that it would be ready for the beginning of the 2020–21 season.
On 3 August 2023, Kuwaiti businessman Hussain AlSaeed bought a controlling 55% share in Dwane Sports, the holding company for the football club, thus becoming chairman. As part of the takeover, all debt owed to the company was capitalised. On 22 November 2024, AlSaeed reached an agreement to purchase the remaining 45% of shares owned by both Wael and Samer al-Qadi, the acquisition to be completed over an eighteen-month period.
Cup competitions
The only major cup competition won by Bristol Rovers is the 1972 Watney Cup, when they beat Sheffield United in the final. The club also won the Division Three Cup in 1934–35, as well as winning or sharing the Gloucestershire Cup on 32 occasions. The team has never played in European competition; the closest Rovers 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.In the FA Cup, Rovers have reached the quarter-final stage on three occasions. The first time was in 1950–51 when they faced Newcastle United at St James' Park in front of a crowd of 62,787, the record for the highest attendance at any Bristol Rovers match. The second time they reached the quarter final was in 1957–58, when they lost to Fulham, and the most recent appearance at this stage of the competition was during the 2007–08 season, when they faced West Bromwich Albion. They were the first Division Three team to win an FA Cup tie away to a Premier League side, when in 2002 they beat Derby County 3–1 at Pride Park Stadium.
They have twice reached the final of the Football League Trophy, in 1989–90 and 2006–07, but finished runners-up on both occasions. On the second occasion they did not allow a single goal against them in the competition en route to the final, but conceded the lead less than a minute after the final kicked off.
Rivalries
Bristol Rovers's main rivals are city neighbours Bristol City, with whom they contest the Bristol derby. An in-depth report by the Football Pools in 2008 deemed this rivalry 8th fiercest rivalry in English football. The most recent encounter between the clubs as of March 2025 took place on 4 September 2013, which saw Rovers beaten by City in a Football League Trophy tie at Ashton Gate Stadium by a 2–1 scoreline. Other rivals are Newport County and mainly teams from the West Country, such as Swindon Town, Cheltenham Town, Yeovil Town and Forest Green Rovers.In the past, rivalries also emerged with Severnside rivals Cardiff City known as the Severnside derby. Rovers' most recent meeting against Cardiff was an EFL Cup defeat in August 2024. The last time Cardiff and Bristol Rovers were in the same league was in the 1999–2000 season in the Second Division.
The first time Rovers encountered Yeovil was a Football League Trophy match in October 2001, which Rovers won via a penalty shoot-out. The most recent encounter between the teams was in the EFL Trophy in October 2018, which Rovers won 2–0.
As of September 2024, Rovers last played Swindon Town in October 2022 in the EFL Trophy, Cheltenham Town in the 2023–24 League One season, a 3–1 victory, and Forest Green Rovers in the 2022–23 League One season.
Colours and badge
Bristol Rovers are known for their distinctive blue and white quartered shirts which they have worn for most of their history. The current home kit consists of a blue and white quartered shirt and blue shorts, the away kit is all black, while the third kit is a green and black quartered shirt and black shorts.During the 2008–09 season, a special third strip, which was black with a gold sash, and a reproduction of the original Black Arab shirt, was used for a single match to celebrate the club's 125th anniversary. The club released a similar kit marking the 140th anniversary which players wore in a match against Cheltenham Town in December 2023.
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.
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. The blue and white quarters were first worn in 1931, when they were introduced to try to make the players look larger and more intimidating. Rovers continued to wear the quarters for 31 years, until they were replaced by blue pinstripes on a white background.
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. During the 1996–97 season, Rovers wore an unpopular striped quartered design, prompting fans to refer to it as the Tesco bag shirts. The change in design prompted the Trumpton Times fanzine to change its name to Wot, No Quarters?
The black and gold shirts were also used as the away kit for the 2002–03 season, the club's 120th anniversary.
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. Although the pink shirts were never used in a competitive fixture, they were worn for a pre-season friendly against Plymouth Argyle in 2006.
A pirate features on both the club badge and the badge of the supporters club, reflecting the club nickname of The Pirates. Previous club badges have featured a blue and white quartered design, based on the quartered design of the team's jerseys.