Bristol Rovers Club Profile
Bristol Rovers : Quick Links
Click on the links below to go directly to the relevant parts of the guide :

Club Background; We've Met Before; Club News; Club Statistics; Club Information; Who are the Pirates?; Directions To The Ground; Web Resources; Food And Drink.


Bristol Rovers : Club Background
Back in ye olden non-league days, many folk living in the Yeovil area had a "favourite Bristol Club". It was a sort of a way of supporting a regional club that was apparently bigger than the Glovers yet could still give you that street cred of claiming "well at least I don't support a Premiership team that I've only ever seen on TV" whilst adopting a club that was playing at a middle level in the Football League and occasionally rubbed shoulders with the real big boys. So ask a Yeovil fan in the 1980s or 1990s and many of them would have professed to having an affinity with the blue half of the city or the red half of the city. How times have changed - there's not too many that would own up to that now. This is the story of the blue side of that city ...

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. At the end of the season they declared once again that they were off to ground share with Cheltenham. All the arrangements were made, the rugby club sorted out its own ground share in Newport, and season tickets were still being sold for Whaddon Road as the whole edifice came crashing down around their ears.

Despite initial claims it was all just a temporary 'blip' and the plans were still on, everything slowed down significantly. In October 2008 revised plans were presented that wouldn't require them to move to a temporary ground after all, but without any actual firm commitment as to when things would be recommenced. The big announcement was due in March 2009, but on the last day of March, all Rovers could tell its fans was "things will be ready to start as soon as the agreements are finalised. We were expecting to be able to make a further announcement around now ... hopefully we will be able to tell you more in the coming weeks." That was the last update on the subject on their official site. A total of 21 months after the development was due to commence, little appears to be happening and it's now become a case of don't bother holding your breath on this one.

The view Rovers fans have of Yeovil Town is a schizophrenic one. On the one hand they try to be patronising, say they have no regard for a little village side, and our meetings mean nothing to them. On the other hand it clearly irks them badly that our current record against them sits so impressively for such a village side.

The West Stand
The West Stand, a mix of hospitality boxes, seats and terracing.
Photo © 2003-09 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.

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 continued 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 fruitier than they 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 side 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.

After a six year absence it was promotion back up to League One for the start of the 2007-08 season. An impressive F.A. Cup run to the Sixth Round married to a solid enough mid-table finish in the league built up hopes that the Gas would be pushing on during the following season, however another midtable finish followed with 2008-09 landing them in 11th. The view was that Rovers were a one man team, overly reliant on the goal scoring form of Rickie Lambert, signed for £200,000 from Rochdale. When he was sold to League One rivals Southampton for around one million pounds, that represented a nice bit of financial business, but the spectre of how Rovers would survive without their talisman reared its ugly head. At the time of writing, they've surprised a few people by actually flourishing since his departure. Cementing themselves as a top six side so far during 2009-10, they've been one of this season's surprise packages, and although October 2009 sees them on a bit of a blip, they will still be hoping that they can hold their current position and grab one of the play-off slots at the end of the season.

Away Terrace
Packed into a miserable corner - and yet one hears Gas fans whining about the facilities they get at Huish Park.
Photo © 2003-09 Ciderspace


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Bristol Rovers : We've Met Before
Previous Results for Yeovil Town First Team vs Bristol Rovers

29/11/1924HomeFAC1L2-46600Hayward, Gardner
03/08/1988HomeFrndL2-3
07/03/1989HomeFrndL2-3
16/04/1992AwaySPCF1W2-1457McDermott, Spencer
07/05/1992HomeSPCF2L0-21370
22/07/1997HomeFrndL0-21018
25/07/2000HomeFrndL1-21002Poole 27
31/10/2001AwayLDVD1-14301McIndoe 27
13/12/2003AwayDIV3W1-09812Crittenden 43
13/03/2004HomeDIV3W4-08726Lockwood 16, El Kholti 43, Williams 49, Miles 72
19/10/2004AwayCCL2D2-29295Terry 27, Williams 57
12/02/2005HomeCCL2W4-29153Jevons 26, 53, 64, Tarachulski 72
20/10/2007AwayCCL1D1-17726Rose 62
29/03/2008HomeCCL1D0-06654
20/09/2008HomeCCL1D2-25748Skiverton 6, Roberts 45
17/02/2009AwayCCL1L0-38049
24/10/2009AwayCCL1W2-17812Obika 61, Forbes 64


Results Summary For Yeovil Town First Team vs Bristol Rovers

HomeAwayOverall
WDLFAWDLFAWDLFA
2261720331995572629


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Bristol Rovers : Club Statistics

RECENT RESULTS

15/02/2010Charlton AthleticHomeCCL1W2-17624Elliott 14, Hefferenan 64
20/02/2010GillinghamAwayCCL1L0-15302
27/02/2010Colchester UnitedHomeCCL1W3-26023Blizzard 16, Kuffour 67, Lines 79
02/03/2010Stockport CountyHomeCCL1W1-05322Hughes 30
06/03/2010Swindon TownAwayCCL1W4-0Kuffour 25, Hefferenan 39, Lines 45, Hughes 61
13/03/2010Tranmere RoversHomeCCL1D0-06477


FORTHCOMING FIXTURES

CLUB GOALSCORERS
Name LGE FAC FAT LGC CC Total
Chris Lines10000010
Jeff Hughes900009
Jo Kuffour900009
Darryl Duffy300205
Chris Dickson400004
Paul Heffernan200002
Andrew Williams200002
Steve Elliott100102
Aaron Lescott200002
Dominic Blizzard100001
Richard Lambert100001
Danny Coles100001
Own Goals100001

ATTENDANCE STATISTICS

Highest League Attendance: 11448, vs Leeds United, 27/10/2009
Lowest League Attendance: 5322, vs Stockport County, 02/03/2010
Average League Attendance: 6978

CURRENT LEAGUE SEQUENCE STATISTICS

Games Without A Win: 1Games Without A Home Win: 1
Games Without An Away Win: 0Games Without Defeat: 4
Games Without A Home Defeat: 4Games Without An Away Defeat: 1
Games Without A Draw: 0Games Without A Score Draw: 26
Games Without A No-Score Draw: 0Games Without Scoring: 1
Games Without Conceding: 3Home Results Sequence: LLWWWD
Away Results Sequence: LDLDLWOverall Results Sequence: WLWWWD


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Bristol Rovers : Club Information
The Memorial Stadium,
Filton Avenue,
Horfield,
Bristol,
BS7 0BF.
(click for map)

Telephone Number : 0117 9096648
Fax : 0117 9074312

Chairman : Nick Higgs
Club Secretary : Rod Wesson
Safety Officer : Dave Harper
First Team Coach : Paul Trollope

Capacity : 11,626
Seated : c. 4,000
Covered : Not known.
Record Attendance : 11,433 v Sunderland, Worthington Cup R3, 31.10.2000.

Nickname : The Pirates; The Gas
Colours : shirt - blue and white quarters; shorts - white; socks - blue
Ticket Prices : You have a choice of two areas in the ground to consider. The Visitors Terrace is a small paddock situated on the left side of the main stand. It is open terracing and the experience of many is that it does not offer great views unless you get there early or happen to be taller than most on the terrace. The other option is the South Stand, which is a 'temporary' seated area, with a rather odd marquee-style roof, situated behind one of the goals. Prices for 2009-10 are unchanged from last season and are as follows:
Terracing: Adults: £15.00; Concessions: £8.00.
South Stand: Adults: £17.50; Concessions: £9.50. (UPDATE: seating SOLD OUT.)

(Concessions are defined as Under 16s, 65 and over and NUS Students carrying a valid membership card.)

Theoretically tickets are available on the day of the game at two pounds extra, but you are taking a bit of a gamble there, given that the away tickets could well easily sell out before you get to the turnstiles. If you're travelling without a ticket, pay close attention to the news page and if travelling a long distance, give the Rovers ticket office a ring. You have until Thursday at 5.00p.m. to purchase from the Huish Park Ticket Office.

Disabled Info : Both wheelchair disabled and ambulant disabled supporters are admitted for £8.00 with an assistant admitted free of charge.

Given the disgraceful treatment of our disabled supporters on 2007-08 trip to the Mem, for which Bristol Rovers eventually had an apology dragged out of them after the media got involved, it's disappointing that the Rovers official site still appears to give no useful details concerning admission and facilities for disabled supporters. There's no indication as to who, if anyone, is responsible for matters concerning disabled supporters, nor any indication of the quality of facilities or stadium access. Ian Holtby, Stadium Manager, on 0117 9524049 is probably your best bet.

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Bristol Rovers : Directions To The Ground
General

We'll presume you know where Bristol is.

By Road

The best bet is to get on the M32. From the M4 this is Junction 19; from the A37 go past Temple Meads station onto Temple Way, third right onto Newfoundland Road, and that takes you onto Parkway and the M32.
Exit the M32 at Junction 2 on the B4469 (signposted Horfield). At the round-about turn right ( for A38 Eastville and Eastgate Shopping Centre ). Immediately, where the road divides, bear right (signposted Southmead B4469 ). This is Muller Road. After 1.4 miles turn left at the lights into Filton Avenue. The next two turnings on the left lead to the car parks at the Memorial Stadium. Whether you'll get in is another matter. Expect to have to hunt down an on-street parking space.

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.

Parking

There is no parking provision at the stadium for visiting fans. The Memorial Stadium is in a mainly residential area, so it's a hunt for on-street parking. Immediately around the stadium is normally coned off on matchdays so you'll be tracking down side streets further away. The closer to kick-off you arrive the further away from the ground you can expect to end up. Expect a ten minute walk if you turn up before the masses, fifteen to twenty if you leave it late.

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 and from there you can get a connection to Montpelier station. Alternatively a taxi between Temple Meads and the ground (about three and a half miles) should cost you something 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.

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. Bristol Parkway is an alternative destination, and is slightly closer to the Mem than Temple Meads.

Local Buses

Numbers 70, 73, 75, 76 all run close to the Memorial Stadium.

By Taxi

A selection of Bristol taxi companies can be found here.

Bristol Rovers : Web Resources
Web Sites

Bristol Rovers Mad
From the footy.mad stable of sites. Not at all recommended.


Bristol Rovers Official
Bristol Rovers Official site is another PTV site with registration required to view articles. This is one of the better official sites (and there aren't a lot of those under the PTV umbrella) - even on a quiet July 2nd they managed to fill out their news page with six articles. Not everything on the site is brilliantly maintained - we've found the Reserve and Youth sections have gone by the wayside in recent years - but it's still worth a go for their pre and post-match coverage of first team games.


Bristol Rovers Supporters Club
Official website of the BRFC supporters club, as you'd probably guessed. Well worth a browse, contains some thought-provoking and interesting articles.


Bristol Rovers Vital
Newish Rovers site that is part of the also newish Vital franchise/network of football sites. Most of the franchise sites suck as they are maintained by company staff with no interest in the club itself. This one is thankfully manned and has recently done a fine job of annoying the Rovers top brass by printing articles that were truthful, but as Al Gore would say, an inconvenient truth.


Eastville Remembered
Site dedicated to memories of Rovers old ground. No (working) photos, which is a shame.


Goodnight Irene
And goodnight Irene it was, all the way back in 2003 when this site was last updated. This is a sportsnetwork site and unless you want to know what ex-manager Ray Graydoom was doing whilst Yeovil were still a non-league club, this is definitely not recommended.


Web Message Boards

Bristol Rovers Official Forum
Bristol Rovers official forum - one of few message boards linked from club official sites. As a result, the moderation can be quite heavy-handed at times, but it is busy and also includes separate sections for conversing with club officials which can be both entertaining and enlightening. Bad news though - you have to register to even view postings!



E-Mail Mailing Lists and Newsletters



Local Press

Bristol Evening Post
On-line pages of the Bristol Evening Post, updated daily. Whilst Yeovil Town don't generally get coverage in the Western Daily Press's sister paper, Bristol Rovers do on a regular basis. The BEP even provides occasional video coverage of press meetings. These days, this site appears to consume both BEP and WDP articles. The City and Rovers online coverage is good and daily, with updates published during the day as it happens and during the matches. The Yeovil Town coverage on their web pages has nosedived badly and at times is non-existent.


Up The Gas
Dedicated press site that compiles all the WDP and BEP newspaper articles that reference Bristol Rovers. Certainly enlightening in highlighting the volume of coverage that the Bristol clubs get compared to the Glovers. Again whilst this site is updated regularly, the Yeovil equivalent is often left abandoned.



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Bristol Rovers : Food & Drink
At The Club :

The food inside the ground is typical football fare, though the Cornish Pasties are well above average in our opinion.

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 close to the County Cricket Ground and a moderate walk to the Mem, which caters to a wide range of clients. There's pool and darts, TV sports coverage, disabled access, a conservatory and large garden with smoking area. Children are welcome until 8.30 in the evening. Beers are Courage Best, Bass, Greene King Abbot, Shepherd Neame Spitfire and Wye Valley HPA, plus several changing guests from smaller breweries. Opening is 11.30 a.m. to 11.30 p.m., with food served lunchtimes and evenings.
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
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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Bristol Rovers : Local Amenities
Local Guesthouses and Hotels

Go to A1 Tourism's Online Guide to find Guest Houses/Hotels in Bristol and surrounding areas.


Tourist And Other Local Attractions

Bristol is famed for its nightlife, and as one would expect of one of the larger cities in the UK there are numerous things to see and do if you make a day or two of it. The website @ Bristol is a decent starting-point for ideas for the visitor.

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

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Last Updated : 21st October 2009
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