In 1883 a club was formed on the eastern side of Bristol by the unlikely name of the Black Arabs. It went through several more name changes before emerging as Bristol Rovers in 1898, the year after it went professional and finally setled down in Eastville - a ground that was to last them 89 years. In 1899 they joined the Southern League and remained there, winning one championship, until becoming one of the founder members of the Third Division (which split into North and South the following season) in 1920. In the 1952-53 season they won their first ever promotion and spent nearly a decade in Division Two before going back down again in 1962.

In 1974 manager Don Megson took them up again from a runners-up spot but they were back in the doldrums through the eighties after relegation in 1980-81, with a constantly revolving managerial door until Gerry Francis arrived for his first spell in charge. By this time the consequences of a disasterous fire at Eastville, and a financial crisis, meant that Rovers were having to suffer the humiliation of being tenants at an embarrassing dump called Twerton Park. Supposedly of a temporary nature The Gas faithful had to endure the trek out to Barf for ten long years. Schemes to rennovate Eastville, or build a new stadium, came and went (the Pirates' fans swear to a man and woman that Bristol Council planning department is staffed entirely by City supporters) until in 1996 they found a new home back near their roots, at the Memorial Stadium with Bristol RFC. This they now own, the rugby club having become their tenants after hitting the financial rocks.

At first, Rovers only ever saw the Memorial Stadium as a temporary home again, and they continued to hunt for alternative development land in an attempt to create a stadium that looked a little bit more like a football stadium than some of the rather unorthodox-looking Memorial Stadium stands look. But eventually they began to focus in on the possibility of completely redeveloping the existing stadium. Once again the plans dragged until in January 2007, Rovers were given planning permission to build an 18,500 capacity all seater stadium at a cost of £35 million pounds, including an 84-room hotel, 105 student flats and all kinds of other additional facilities.

That development was meant to commence in January 2008, meaning that Rovers would relocate to Cheltenham Town's Whaddon Road ground, but that never happened with delays being blamed upon final contractual arrangements, although there were persistent rumours at the time that Rovers were struggling to fund the project, despite claiming that the hotel and flats would make the venture entirely self-sufficient. Despite that, in theory this is our last trip to the Memorial Stadium, with building now planned to commence in May 2008, with a completion date of December 2009 being set. Rovers hope to spend that 18 month period at Whaddon Road.

The DAS Stand, a mix of hospitality boxes, seats and terracing. Photo © 2003-04 Ciderspace

Anyway back to the main story.

Gerry Francis took Rovers to the play-off finals in 1989 and, although they lost that one, the following season he clinched the Third Division Championship. They also went to Wembley that year for the Leyland Daf Trophy Final. Then, after one season in Division Two, Francis departed for bigger things at his old stamping ground of QPR. Rovers went through a procession of four managers in two seasons. The last of these, John Ward, could only watch the club (now a Division 1 side through the re-structuring for the formation of the Premiership) go down again, before starting the rebuilding process. Ward got the Pirates to another play-off final in 1994-95, but they lost again.

Long-time favourite Ian Holloway was the next man to have a go. He also got Rovers to a play-off berth in his second season. This time they didn't make the Final. In 1999-2000 they were up near the top competing for an automatic promotion place for most of the season, but a disasterous run-in saw them fail to secure even a play-off slot. The writing was on the wall for Holloway and a less than inspired campaign saw assistant Gary Thompson taking over in the middle of the 2000-01 season. Rovers had slid into the relegation zone at Christmas, and just never strung enough results together to get back out. They finshed 21st and went down to the Third Division. Gerry Francis was brought back to restore the fortunes of The Gas. It seemed pretty clear that it wasn't a task he really wanted, but he answered the call. After a decent start things soon began to slide and, frustrated by the lack of resources, Francis made way for former Walsall boss Ray Graydon. 2002-03, their first full season under Graydon, saw the Gas mired at the wrong end of the table for most of the campaign, only a late surge taking them to 20th position, a mere 3 points from relegation to the Conference. During the season Graydon deemed a young striker/winger was surplus to requirements at the Memorial, the player eventually ending up at Huish Park where he went on to score 14 goals in 14 games to help the Glovers clinch the Conference championship title - thank you very much Gas for Kevin Gall, got any more like him you don't want?

Things had to get better in 2003-04? Although the table looked a little less desperate by the autumn Rovers were making redundancies. And then in the New Year all hell broke loose. Graydon was booted out / resigned (read it as you wish), the chairman later followed up with an extraordinary tirade on the club's official message board, and on a number of occasions publicly condemned his ex-manager as a liar. Phil Bater, assisted by Tony Ricketts, had taken over in a caretaking capacity but results did not really improve. A 4-0 massacre at Huish Park was the final straw and Bater was told he was out after the next game whatever. Kevan Broadhurst and Russell Osman were the next drafted in to keep the Pirates afloat, but meanwhile behind the scenes get another saviour was being tapped up. The trouble was he already had a job, as manager of divisonal rivals Oxford United. The full truth will probably never out as Bristol and Oxford continue to maintain very different stories. The long and the short of it was that Ian Atkins was officially named as Rover's new manager on April 26th 2004, though many suspected he had been pulling the strings for some weeks before that. Four or five (depending how you count) managers in one season........ Bristol Rovers probably did well to finish 15th considering.

The arrival of Atkins meant that things got decidedly more fruitier than it had been between Rovers and Yeovil Town. Prior to this, although the Glovers had done the double over Rovers, there wasn't quite the bite of a local derby to the two games, but all of that was to change radically. With Atkins having already wound up many at Huish Park with his dismissive remarks of Yeovil Town's footballing abilities following a 1998 FA Cup win over Northampton Town, it didn't take much for Glovers boss Gary Johnson's "history" with Ian Atkins, dating back to their Cambridge United days, for the proverbial hand grenade to go off. The match at the Memorial saw two Rovers players lose their cool in off the ball incidents, Atkins throw a cup of tea at Yeovil management in the dressing room area, and a barnstorming finish that saw Junior Agogo inspire an unlikely 2-2 scoreline with the nine men somehow pulling the rabbit out of the hat. Atkins ended up before the FA on a triple charge, whilst his persistent sniping in the press and rewriting of events at that game did nothing to cool down the situation.

By the return match in February 2005 at Huish Park, matters had reached fever pitch, and it seemed as though another bloodbath could be on the cards following more ill-advised words from Atkins, all until the man who had been building up a head of steam completely failed to show for his team's game! The official reason was that Atkins was suffering with flu, although oddly both pre and post-match interviews showed no sign of this ailment. The greater conspiracy theory though was that the Rovers manager had been told by a higher authority to stay clear of the match. Thankfully all 22 players kept their heads this time, but the result was still a four goal haul for the Glovers - sinking Rovers 4-2.

Yeovil were on their way to the League Two title, whilst Rovers were stalling badly under Atkins, and eventually he had the rug pulled from under him and in came Paul Trollope, titled as a Head Coach, with Lennie Lawrence following shortly afterwards as a Director of Football. Despite initial fears that this team would not work, and a team that looked to be doing little to trouble the League Two top seven places, Rovers hit form at exactly the right time at the tail end of the 2006-07 season. A Football League Trophy Cup Final defeat became an inspiration rather than a deflation for the Rovers camp, and they went on an impressive winning run that propelled them into the play-offs right at the death, leaving them as the in-form side going into the knock-out stages and resulting in success against Shrewsbury Town in the final and after a six year absence, promotion back up to League One for the start of the 2007-08 season.

Packed into a miserable corner - thankfully we've not got this pokey little area this time round. Photo © 2003-04 Ciderspace

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RECENT RESULTS

12/04/2008	AFC Bournemouth	Away	CCL1	L	1-2	6867		Lambert 56
15/04/2008	Walsall	Away	CCL1	W	1-0	5200		Lambert 34
19/04/2008	Gillingham	Home	CCL1	D	1-1	6614		Elliott 84
22/04/2008	Swindon Town	Home	CCL1	L	0-1	6102
26/04/2008	Brighton and Hove Albion	Home	CCL1	L	0-2	7590
03/05/2008	Leyton Orient	Away	CCL1	L	1-3	5132		Lambert 29

FORTHCOMING FIXTURES

CLUB GOALSCORERS

Name	LGE	FAC	FAT	LGC	CC	Total
Richard Lambert	13	0	0	0	0	13
Craig Disley	6	0	0	0	0	6
Steve Elliott	4	0	0	0	0	4
Andrew Williams	4	0	0	0	0	4
Richard Walker	4	0	0	0	0	4
Chris Lines	3	0	0	0	0	3
Craig Hinton	2	0	0	0	0	2
David Pipe	2	0	0	0	0	2
Josh Klein-Davies	1	0	0	0	0	1
Lewis Haldane	1	0	0	0	0	1
Byron Anthony	1	0	0	0	0	1
Joe Jacobson	1	0	0	0	0	1
Danny Coles	1	0	0	0	0	1
Sean Rigg	1	0	0	0	0	1
Own Goals	1	0	0	0	0	1

ATTENDANCE STATISTICS

Highest League Attendance: 11883, vs Leeds United, 14/09/2007
Lowest League Attendance: 4657, vs Northampton Town, 12/03/2008
Average League Attendance: 6937

CURRENT LEAGUE SEQUENCE STATISTICS

Games Without A Win:	4		Games Without A Home Win:	9
Games Without An Away Win:	1		Games Without Defeat:	0
Games Without A Home Defeat:	0		Games Without An Away Defeat:	0
Games Without A Draw:	3		Games Without A Score Draw:	3
Games Without A No-Score Draw:	7		Games Without Scoring:	0
Games Without Conceding:	0		Home Results Sequence:	LLDDLL
Away Results Sequence:	DDDLWL		Overall Results Sequence:	LWDLLL

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If coming from the M5 exit at junction 16 signposted A38 Thornbury and Filton. At the round-about head right, signposted A38 Filton and join the A38. Travel along the A38 (Gloucester Road) for 4.3 miles through the outer suburbs of Bristol. You'll pass Filton Airport on your right, the Royal Mail sorting office, an American Golf retail outlet on your left and the Royal George and Wellington pubs. At a set of traffic lights immediately past a small shop called Satellite Warehouse and before Polypipe Timber take an unsigned left turn into Filton Avenue where you'll see the ground almost immediately on your right.

By Rail

The nearest stations to the Memorial Stadium are Montpelier, about one and a half miles to the south, and Filton Abbey Wood about the same distance to the north.
From Yeovil Pen Mill the Wessex Trains to Bristol Temple Meads take around an hour and a half. Trains from Bristol Temple Meads up to Montpelier run at 53 minutes past the hour. At some times of the day there is an additional train each hour, usually around 22 or 23 minutes past. Alternatively a taxi between Temple Meads and the ground (about three and a half miles) should cost you a bit under a tenner.
From Yeovil Junction head for Filton Abbey Wood, changing at Salisbury, by South West Trains Total journey time is around two and a half hours, plus or minus depending on connections.
Taxis from Montpelier and Filton to the ground are under a fiver, but be aware cabs don't usually sit outside. Alternatively a taxi between Temple Meads and the ground (about three and a half miles) should cost you a bit under a tenner.

If coming from the South-East use First Great Western trains on the Paddington line out of London which are quick but expensive; or the cost conscious could use the cheaper but slower South West Trains out of Waterloo, changing at Salisbury. Direct trains to Bristol Temple Meads from Paddington depart at quarter to and quarter past the hour. Bristol Parkway is an alternative destination with departures from London on the hour and at half past, and is slightly closer to the Mem than Temple Meads. For the return journey the last train direct back to London from Parkway is at 10.04 however, whereas from Temple Meads you have until 10.45.

Local Buses

Numbers 70, 71, 72, 73, 82 and 83 all run past the Memorial Stadium. In the evenings and early mornings the relevant bus numbers start with a 5, i.e. 570, 571 etc.

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Local Pubs and Grub:

There are plenty of outlets in the area, as one would expect. Along Gloucester Road is probably the place for food and drink, with a goodly number of Indian restaurants - locals recommend the Ghurkhas. The Bristol Fryer is a chip shop also with a good reputation.

In Gloucester Road you'll find masses of pubs. We are expecting a large number of the ones nearer the ground to not allow admission to away supporters on the day due to past problems in games not involving the Glovers. Hence don't be offended if some of the nearer pubs turn you away, and just to be on the safe side, just exercise a bit of common sense if you do get into any of the closer ones. The pub officially recommended by the local police is the Sportsman public house in Neville Road.

Other nearer ones are The Wellington (to the north of the ground near the junction of Gloucester Road and Muller Road), the John Cabot Inn (to the south of the ground), the Prince of Wales further down towards Montpelier station in Bishopston, the Golden Lion, Goose at the Flyer, Hobgoblin, and closest to the ground The Victoria and The Gloucester Arms, are just some of them. Also in Bishopston and worthy of a mention is the Annexe Inn which stocks a good range of ales including the local Smiles brew.

In Ashley Down Road (south of the ground) The Foresters at No.64 and the Ashley Arms at No.112 are solid standard hostelries. The beer is nothing to get excited about but both are welcoming to fans and do bar food. Ashley Down Road also has a good fish and chip shop and a Chinese restaurant.

For pubs a bit further away and westwards the Kellaway Arms and the Beehive are unlikely to catapult straight onto your Best Ten Pubs Of All Time list, but you won't go too far wrong with them either.

If waiting for a train at Temple Meads, or thirsty having just arrived, the best pub close by is the Reckless Engineer (in Temple Gate right opposite the station). The beer range constantly changes and it is a bareboards pub for serious drinkers.

Annexe Inn: A community style pub which caters to a wide range of clients. There's pool and darts, TV sports coverage, disabled access, a large garden and conservatory. Children are welcome until 8.30 in the evening. Beers are Bath Ales' Barnstormer, Courage Best, Boddingtons, Smiles Best, Bass, and Marstons Pedigree, plus a guest from a smaller brewery. Food is served 12.00-2.00 weekdays and 12.00-7.00, and is of the filled rolls and whatever plus chips variety. Annexe Inn, Seymour Road, Bishopston, Bristol, BS7 9EQ. Tel: 0117 9493931. Website: Click Here. Map: Click Here.

Ashley Arms: Popular local off Gloucester Road and to the south of the stadium. Open 11.00-11.00. Standard selection of dull multi-national beers and lagers. Does bar meals and has pool, darts, TV and wheelchair access. Ashley Arms, 112, Ashley Down Road, Ashley Down, Bristol, BS7 9JR. Tel: 0117 9754010. Map: Click Here.

Beehive: Large two bar pub refurbished in 2000. There's a lounge bar with family area (children allowed until 9:30), function room and beer garden with play area. The Sportsmans Bar has a large screen TV for sports events and a dartboard. A skittle alley and car parking complete the main facilities. Ales are Bass, Courage Best, Marston's Pedigree, Young's Bitter and Smiles Best; keg is John Smith's Extra Smooth and Worthington Creamflow (frankly who cares); stouts are Guinness and Guinness Extra Cold; lagers are Foster's and Stella Artois; cider is Blackthorn. On Saturdays the pub opens from 12.00-11.00 with bar meals served all day. Beehive, 112, Wellington Hill West, Henleaze, Bristol, BS9 4QY. Tel: 0117 9623250. Map: Click Here.

Foresters Arms: A large street corner redbrick community pub just east of the Gloucester Road and convenient for the Memorial Stadium. Does Butcombe, Courage Best and bar meals. We've been told chidren are allowed in this pub until 8.00 p.m. There's a good fish and chip shop in the road. Foresters Arms, 94, Ashley Down Road, Ashley Down, Bristol, BS7 9JR. Tel: 0117 9243852. Map: Click Here.

Golden Lion: Previously Finnegan's Wake. No, don't laugh. There was a time, just a few short years ago gentle reader, when people still didn't think it humiliatingly pathetic to be seen in an Oirish Theme Pub. Tis hard to believe now, but some folks were indeed that stoopid. Now a pretty standard venue with pool tables and a football table in the back bar, sports on the TV, darts and a jukebox. Beers are Old Speckled Hen and Courage Best. Bar meals served. Golden Lion, 244, Gloucester Road, Bishopston, Bristol, BS7 8NZ. Tel: 0117 9245006. Map: Click Here.

Goose at the Flyer: Presumably the name means something to someone. Bit of a Wetherspoon clone revamped in 2001, with lots of beers at competitive prices and no musak. Bass, London Pride, Black Sheep Best and Highgate Special are the ales, Guinness and Murphy's the stouts, and Carlsberg, Carlsberg Export, Carling and Grolsch the lagers. Opening hours are 11.00-11.00 with bar food from 11.00-9.00. Goose at the Flyer, 95, Gloucester Road, Bishopston, Bristol, BS7 8BN. Tel: 0117 9421779. Map: Click Here.

Hobgoblin: As heavily trailed by the name this is a Wychwood outlet, taken over and renamed from The Gloucester in 2001. Might be worth suffering the studenty clientele the pub mainly attracts for the beer. Wychwood Brewery used to produce some fine ales, and though recently bought out by Refresh UK they've promised to maintain standards. Never heard that one before! Anyway the beers are Dog's Bollocks, Hobgoblin, Shires Bitter and Black Wych Stout, all from the Wychwood stable, with a guest thrown in. There's sports on the TV. There are now 30 pubs in the Hobgoblinn (just think how much fun a little group of marketing people had in coming up with that most witty of names) chain, and whilst I can't say I'm enamoured of the style of pub they've created the beer has still been fine in the ones I've been into. Hobgoblin, 69-71, Gloucester Road, Bishopston, Bristol, BS7 8AS. Tel: 0117 9401611. Map: Click Here.

John Cabot: Fairly recent name change from The Royal Oak, this pub is close to the ground but a bit more upmarket than the average 'footballing' pub. Has two bars and does Bass, Courage Best, John Smith's and Pedigree. There's parking and a garden. Children are welcome and get an outside play area. There's bar food and more substantial restaurant fare. John Cabot, 385, Gloucester Road, Horfield, Bristol, BS7 8TN. Tel: 0117 9240480. Map: Click Here.

Kellaway Arms: Village/suburb style two bar pub. Archer's Village Bitter, Wells Bombardier and Courage Best as well as standard keg, stout and lagers. Saturday opening is 11.30-3.00 and 6.00-11.00, with bar food 12.00-2.30. Used to be in The Good Beer Guide but has been dropped. Draw your own conclusions. Kellaway Arms, 138-140, Kellaway Avenue, Bristol, BS6 7YQ. Tel: 0117 9497548. Map: Click Here.

Old Fox Inn: Don't know much about this place. Convenient for the ground and reported to be friendly. Bass and Butcombe Bitter on draught. Pool, darts, a jukebox and wheelchair access. Two bars. Old Fox Inn, 301, Gloucester Road, Ashley Down, Bristol, BS7 8PE. Map: Click Here.

Prince of Wales: Close to Montpelier Railway Station and the restaurants of Zetland Road. Does Butcombe Bitter and Courage Direstors. There's sports on the TV and a jukebox. Unspecified food available. Prince of Wales, 5, Gloucester Road, Bishopston, Bristol, BS7 8AA. Tel: 0117 9245552. Map: Click Here.

Sportsman: On the corner of Nevil Road and Seymour Avenue, as the name suggests this is a big sports bar. Has thirteen pool tables, and big screens and televisions showing up to four different sports channels at a time. Also darts and a jukebox. Cask beer is only Courage Best and a guest, but you'll be thrilled to know it does John Smith's "Extra Extra So Incredibly Extra Smooooth and Extra Tasteless It's Like Swallowing Liquid Soap" Extra Smooth, and five different draught lagers that don't taste absolutely identical to any other five different draught lagers, oh no, not at all. Unspecified bar food is served from 12.00 until 7.00 weekdays and Saturday, and opening hours are 11.30-11.00. Sportsman, Nevil Road, Bishopston, Bristol, BS7 9EQ. Tel: 0117 9427525. Fax: 0117 9146649. Website: Click Here. Map: Click Here.

The Gloucester Arms: Bog standard pub convenient to the ground so busy on match days with home fans. Nothing decent to drink, but does food, has wheelchair access and parking, and shows sports. The Gloucester Arms, 635, Gloucester Road, Horfield, Bristol, BS7 0BJ. Tel: 0117 9514925. Map: Click Here.

The Reckless Engineer: For those taking the train: when arriving in Bristol by rail this has usually been my first port of call, but recently it's been undergoing a massive - and seemingly never ending - refurbishment. Well it has now ended. Bareboard single bar pub opposite Temple Meads Station. Live music (new acts and tribute) every Saturday and most Friday nights, jazz on Sundays. The real ale is Otter Bitter, Butcombe Bitter and a changing guest. Serves Addlestone's Cloudy Cask Conditioned and Blackthorn ciders. Also Guinness, Carlsberg and Stella Artois. Does food from 12.00 noon - 8.00 p.m. everyday. Opening hours 11.00 a.m. - 12.00 midnight Monday - Saturday, 12.00 noon - 11.00 p.m. Sunday. There's wheelchair access and children and pets are welcome. Hugely preferable to the Temple Meads Railway Station Bar! The Reckless Engineer, Temple Gate, Bristol, BS1 6PL. Tel: 0117 9220487. Map: Click Here.

The Victoria: Small redbrick hostelry on the A38 very close to the ground and popular with Rovers fans. Opens 12.00-11.00 on Fridays and Saturdays, with bar food from 12.00-2.00. Although mainly a drinkers pub children are allowed. There's wheelchair access and sports on the TV. The beers are London Pride, Old Speckled Hen and Courage Best, with two lagers for the ladies to mix with their blackcurrent. However pride of place goes to the three ciders on tap. Actually that's a complete lie. There are two fizzy apple flavoured pops in Strongbow and Scrumpy Jack. Inch's Stonehouse, which was a great cider used to be stocked, but presumably is no longer as those stinking vampires and leeches of the cider world, Bulmers, recently swallowed Inch's into its rapacious maw and presumably spat the usual adulerated shite it peddles back out. They've renamed the cider press Winkleigh and it is still operating at the time of writing, so there might be a faint hope Bulmers haven't f***ed it up quite yet, as they do everything else they touch, and something worth drinking is still available in this pub. The Victoria, 426, Gloucester Road, Horfield, Bristol, BS7 8TX. Tel: 0117 9873725. Map: Click Here.

The Wellington - no away fans......er, officially © Hugh Gleave The Wellington: More like it - this outlet was taken over by Bath Ales in 2002. Stocks Barnstormer, Gem, and Spa, plus Bath seasonal ales at the appropriate times of the year. There's also a guest. Lager drinkers are not neglected, with Becks, Foster's and Budweiser Budwar. Cider is Stowford Press. Opening hours are 12.00-11.00 and food, with vegetarian options, is available from 12.00-2.00 and 6.00-9.00, but don't bother unless you get there early. Hardly room to breathe from an hour before kick-off. The pub has a car park, and is wheelchair friendly. A short walk to the away end. A "No Away Fans" notice and security on the door - odd then one recognised half the faces in there!! The Wellington, Gloucester Road, Horfield, Bristol, BS7 8UR. Tel: 0117 9513022. Fax: 0117 9513022. Map: Click Here.

Likelihood the Natives Will Understand You :

Oh come on! This be the West Countree. If 'em carn't un'starnd us boyz in Brizzle what charnce bin thur anywhur.

Top-Tip :

Wanna make friends? Slag off the Robin sh*ts!

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[No responsibilty is taken for any inaccuracies. This page is entirely the product of bias and prejudice.]

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