Bristol Rovers F.C.
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Template:Football club infobox
Bristol Rovers F.C. 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 are black shirts with a diagonal gold sash and black shorts - reflecting the original Black Arab kit of 1883. This marks 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", originally 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 during a game against Plymouth Argyle in the fifties, 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 F.A 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 Division Two 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 QPR 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 F.A Cup, but he was sacked after the club narrowly avoided relegation to the Conference.
Bristol Rovers are still in the league's basement division but their future is looking brighter under current manager Ian Atkins.
Honours
- Football League Third Division South Champions 1952-53
- Football League Third Division Champions 1989-90, runners up 1973-74
- Watney Cup Winners 1972
External links
- The club's official website (http://www.bristolrovers.co.uk)
- "Black Arab" on-line fanzine (http://www.blackarab.co.uk)
- "Gasheads.com" fans website and forum (http://www.gasheads.com)
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