Bristol Rovers 'Independent' Supporters

Kit Confusion

2008-05-26T09:45:00.022Z

There seems to be a lot of confusion coming from BRFC/BRSC regarding the new kits, so let's try to make some sense of it.

GREEN AWAY KIT

In June 2007, BRSC confirmed that the green away kit would become the 3rd kit for season 2008-09.

Clive Farquar said "I have checked and can confirm that the new green away shirt will be the 3rd shirt for the 2008-09 season"

Then in May 2008, Pirate News showed 2 new Rovers kit designs - a new home kit and a new green away kit.

Yet BRSC fans Director David Brain claimed "Unless there has been a change we are retaining last years green kit as our second kit"

David's comments seem to be at odds with what Clive Farquar had said back in June 2007, and what is shown in Pirate News.

Looking at the designs in Pirate News, it is clear that the new away kit is not the same as the 2007-08 green away kit.

See here: http://file043a.bebo.com/7/large/2008/05/23/12/7234157a7815734174l.jpg

So according to BRFC/BRSC we have:

A. The green Away kit from 07-08 becoming the third kit
B. The green Away kit from 07-08 staying as the away kit
C. A green Away kit, plus a green 3rd kit
D. A new green Away kit to replace the green Away kit from 07-08

The new green Away kit design can be found on the Errea website shown as one of their basic designs called 'Maglia Antares' - the type used by amateur clubs.

See here: http://217.56.125.139/ins/fotografie/immagini_upload/%7BA839452F-C2D8-4F04-B874-8E48131B54F1%7D_B230.jpg

Yet David Brain claims "The kit manufactures, utilising their market experience, present a number of options which are developed in consultation with the club retails staff, management and directors."

But we can show that the green away kit design is just a basic Errea design with a sponsors logo, club badge etc. slapped on it.

In addition, it does not make commercial sense to launch another green kit, as people who purchased the one from last season are unlikely to buy another the following season.

UPDATE: On the 3rd of June 2008 Rovers continued the farce by saying "the away shirt in its new format will not go on sale to supporters."

And yet David Brain was defending their commercial expertise.

BLACK ARAB

Fans had been expecting the launch of a Black Arab style kit for season 2008-09 to mark the 125th anniversary of the club.

However, according to BRSC fans Director David Brain, it isn't yet the anniversary - so it seems that we will have to wait until the actual date of 1/12/2008 before it is launched.

It seems a bit pointless to release a kit 5 months into the season, and for it not to be the first or second choice kit. I guess they hope everyone will rush out and buy one for Christmas - but then again they would have missed out on more than 5 months worth of sales and of the players wearing it.

But there's more...

On May 23 2008, David Brain confirmed Rovers "will launch a commemorative 125 year kit on the anniversary later in the season."

Then just 2 days later he said "As for the BA kit I am not yet sure when it will be launched."

It is no wonder that Rovers fans are baffled about what is happening... or isn't happening.

Ironically, Errea already produce a Black Arab style shirt for other clubs, but not for Rovers.

NEW HOME KIT

The light blue colour seems to be a lot less popular with fans than a traditional royal blue colour.

Regardless, Rovers claimed the reason they have changed the colour of the blue on the shirts to a "lighter shade of blue" is "to match the colour of sponsors Cowlin's new logo".

Not mentioned is that having the shirt in the same colour as the logo reduces the printing costs.

However, the shade of blue used for the sponsors logo can't be that big of an issue as it is shown in white on the green away kit.

COMPLAINTS

Fans Director David Brain said "We have a retail manager and commercial director who consider what they believe fans want and what are the best commercial choices."

What he fails to mention is that the Rovers Commercial Director is Barry Bradshaw who also has the Errea South-West franchise.

So, does Barry Bradshaw make "the best commercial choices" for BRFC or Errea?

It is a conflict of interests, so he should be replaced.

EXCUSES EXCUSES

David Brain said "It should also be borne in mind that whilst the shirt design is very important the board, supporters club and football club have been somewhat distracted by the ground development and move to a temporary home and temporary retail and office premises which continues to be very time consuming."

Also See:

http://br-isc.blogspot.com/2007/06/what-no-quarters.html

http://br-isc.blogspot.com/2007/06/thumbs-down-for-commemorative-shirt.html

Rovers Still Paying Football Agents

2008-02-14T14:43:00.002Z

Rovers Fees To Agents:

£71,500 1 July 07 to 31 Dec' 07 (33 transactions - av. = £2,167)
£31,500 1 July 06 to 30 June 07 (42 transactions - av. = £750)
£35,500 1 July 05 to 30 June 06 (45 transactions - av. = £789)
£33,000 1 July 04 to 30 June 05 (46 transactions - av. = £717)

Back in January 2006, Geoff Dunford had claimed "We don't normally pay agents apart from in extreme circumstances".

"Like the rest of the clubs in the Football League, we are doing all we can to wean ourselves off payments to agents."

And then Rovers continued to make payments to football agents.

Colin Williams

2008-01-23T15:25:00.000Z

Colin Williams has been a Rovers fan for over 40 years.

During the years when Rovers struggled at Twerton Park, his company 'Roman Glass' stepped-in to help by sponsoring Rovers shirts.

He later became a Rovers Director investing a lot of money into the club.

Colin Williams was the man who came up the idea of how Rovers could finance a new stadium. It was his vision and he was a key part of the project.

He even bought 2 houses next to The Mem to help Rovers get planning permission for the new stadium.

At one stage, Colin Williams (and others) loaned money (interest free) to Rovers so that Rovers could afford to pay the players wages.

Along with some other Directors, Colin resigned as a Rovers Director in 2006 as he wasn't happy about the way the club was being run behind the scenes.

At The Mem, Colin was also the person who organised the doorman of the Directors guest room, and the steward for the guests seating area - without cost to the club. Despite this, Colin was later refused permission by Rovers to visit the guest room.

The Directors Guest Room is free to invited guests. Life Vice President Vernon stepped-in and invited Colin to be his guest so that Colin could be with his elderly mother and her partner (former Rovers player Bill Roost) who used the room.

Roman Glass recently contacted the commercial department of BRFC and expressed an interest in bidding to become the new shirt sponsors when Cowlin's contract expires at the end of the season.

At least one director spoke to Colin Williams, director of Roman Glass, to confirm that he was indeed interested.

Several weeks later Roman Glass were advised that Cowlin's would be extending their sponsorship at the end of the season despite Roman Glass not being asked how much they were willing to pay.

Colin and his wife were also due to attend the Valentines Dinner at The Mem but the booking for the table was blocked by Rovers.

Despite Rovers making him feel unwelcome, Colin continued to support the Rovers.

Colin signed the S106 agreement so that the new stadium development could finally go ahead. Just a few days later he received the letter below:

Bristol Rovers Football Club 11th January 2008
Dear Mr & Mrs Williams,
Following a review of the use of the Club facilities it has come to light that you have been using both the Directors Guest Room and West Stand Car Park, and on occasions sitting within the Directors Guest Seating area.
Our records show that you have purchased Seats D45 and D46 in the West Stand. These seats do not entitle you to use the above mentioned facilities. I should be grateful if you would, with immediate effect, use only those facilities that you are entitled to. All staff have been notified of this notice.
Yours sincerely
A Watola
For and on behalf of Bristol Rovers Football Club

Colin's response:

I signed the '106' on Monday to enable Bristol Rovers to have a new stadium- on Saturday I received this letter.

Many thanks to Ron Craig and the Board.

Colin

Fans would like to hear Rovers side of the story as to why he has been treated in such a way, rather than thanking him for the great things that he has done for the club.

There needs to be a thorough investigation into the actions the club has taken against Colin Williams.

It is thought that Rovers may now need his help again, as Rovers revised stadium plans could mean that the S106 agreement will need to be signed by Colin once more.

A Big Week

2007-11-19T13:46:00.000Z

A big week coming up for Rovers - PT has recently expressed the need for new additions to the squad, and the window for loan signings is due to close.

One of the great managerial sins is not spending every last penny a board gives you. Spend their money; it's your name, your career, your reputation on the line - splash the cash before the axe falls.

And if you've splashed all their cash, go back for more... Question their ambition first in private and then in public. Those are the basics of dressing room-boardroom politics. Squeeze them for every last drop. And then squeeze some more.

Don't ask and you don't get.

If LL & PT keep asking then they will get. They will get because that's the way for the board to win back some supporters hearts; to increase ticket sales; to secure Rovers' League One status.

It is, likewise, the way for recently appointed Board members to prove that they are in that boardroom for more than just the stadium redevelopment ride.

The recent bid to sign Jermaine Easter suggests there is still some money available to the management. Shifting out a couple of players could increase that amount further.

On the age-old basis of deeds speaking louder than words, who arrives this week may well start to tell everyone the substance to Barry Bradshaw's "Let's go for it" rally call.

Against this pressure to spend, the Board require financial prudence to keep the club in business. The difference being, of course, that such 'spin' actually comes with real substance.

Against this backdrop we also have the mysterious S106 signing - or rather lack of S106 signing. Rovers received planning permission back in January but the situation has been dragging on and on against claims by the Board that there were no problems. Deadlines, and extensions of deadlines have been and gone.

Fans are quite rightly concerned about the situation and rumours are rife due to a lack of information from the football club. Let us hope that the next week will bring some positive news on the stadium front.

Bristol Rovers: The Bert Tann Era (Hardcover) £14.99

2007-10-29T15:13:00.000Z

A new Rovers related book is being launched at the Bristol branch of Waterstone's in The Galleries on Saturday, November 3 (11am-noon).

A number of former players will be there to autograph copies, including Bill Roost, Ray Mabbutt, Josser Watling and Bryan Bush.

'Bristol Rovers: The Bert Tann Era' is written by Former Evening Post journalist Edward Giles who covered the club during those years and tells the story of Tann's reign from 1950 - 1968.

The book is priced at £14.99 and anyone who wants an autographed copy can contact the store on Bristol 925 2274.

Alternately, you can pre-order a copy of the book via the Amazon Gas Store:

http://astore.amazon.co.uk/gas-store-21

Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: Desert Island Books (1 Nov 2007)
ISBN-10: 1905328370
ISBN-13: 978-1905328376

Happy Easter

2007-10-29T14:04:00.000Z

Striker Jermaine Easter has revealed that he had been all set to sign for Bristol Rovers until Plymouth Argyle came in with a late offer for him.

Easter revealed "I was preparing to sign for Bristol Rovers this week so it came out of the blue."

Easter continued: "I think Bristol Rovers put in an offer for me on Tuesday. I don't think Plymouth put in their offer until Thursday.

"As far as I was concerned, I was going to speak to Rovers, but Plymouth came in at the last minute."

Plymouth are expected to pay £210,000 for the striker at the start of January and he will remain on-loan until then.

If Rovers had a similar bid accepted then there seems to be plenty of money available to sign new players.

Rovers are thought to be looking for a striker and a central defender.

Section 106

2007-10-16T13:52:00.000Z

Rovers fans are still waiting for news as to when the Section 106 agreement will be signed.

Once the Section 106 agreement has been signed, the planning permission given by the city council in January can take effect.

It was originally due to be signed by the 17th of July 2007 - the same day as Geoff Dunford claimed in the BEP that any problems had been "resolved" - and the same day that Rovers were given a 2 month extension.

UPDATE: On the 7th of August 2007, Ron Craig claimed there was a "slight delay".

When the extension was due to expire, the Bristol Evening Post reported on the 18 September 2007, that the S106 was "expected to be signed in the next fortnight".

UPDATE: It is now the 16th of October - 3 months have passed since Geoff Dunford claimed that problems had been resolved.

UPDATE: From the BEP (18th Oct 2007)

"Nick Higgs, vice-chairman of Bristol Rovers, told the Post he expected the section 106 agreement to be signed tomorrow (which will be the 19th of Oct '07) and that he was not against residents and ROSE members being on a stadium monitoring group. A council spokesperson, however, said the agreement was not due to be signed until November 12."

So what happened Nick?

UPDATE: From BRSC AGM (1st Dec' 2007)

Fans were told it would be signed 'early' this week.

UPDATE: Monday & Tuesday (4th December 2007) have passed without any news at all from BRFC.

Mastermind - Captain Gas

2007-09-20T16:28:00.001Z

Evening Post Sack Gasheads

2007-09-19T01:06:00.000Z

After just 6 weeks, the Bristol Evening Post has sacked two Gasheads who were writing a 'Fans View' column for the Evening Post's Green Un.

Rovers season ticket holder Rick Johansen explained:

"I met with the Sports Editor today and he told me that our presence in the Green Un was causing a rift between the newspaper and the football club and we were to be axed "with immediate effect".

"I was told there were no issues with quality nor content."

The newspaper was happy with their work, so who wanted them sacked?

Last season, Geoff Dunford had asked BRFC programme editor Keith Brookman to sack Rick & Steve Slade from the Rovers programme.

In addition, Rick & Steve's names were recently deleted from the 'Credit & Thanks' page on the Rovers official website. See: http://br-isc.blogspot.com/2007/08/thanks-but-no-thanks.html

Some Gasheads are already planning to stop buying the newspaper in protest.

UPDATE: The following is from the Rovers offical forum:

My name is Mike Norton. I’m the editor of the Evening Post. As I am the person who made this decision, let me give you some facts about it.

1. These two columnists caused absolutely no rift between the club and Evening Post.

2. The club did not put any pressure upon me to “sack” them. In fact, as they are not employees of the paper, I’m not sure how they could be “sacked”.

3. They are being replaced by someone who I know to be independent, a lifelong Rovers fan who is also a journalist and who worked at the Evening Post for many years.

4. In other words, the new columnist is certainly not “board-approved”.

5. The Evening Post is – and will always be - editorially independent of both Bristol Rovers and Bristol City.

UPDATE: The above explanation by the editor fails to explain 'Why were they sacked?' and seems at odds with what the Sports Editor said to Rick.

UPDATE: Rick regarding the comments from the editor "I have never met him or spoken to him".

Rovers 0 - 3 Leeds Utd

2007-09-16T11:06:00.000Z

Charlie Clough

2007-09-04T02:10:00.000Z

Wales Youth International midfielder Charlie Clough has signed a 2 year contract with Rovers on his 17th birthday. Although Rovers offered him a deal months ago, he couldn't sign it until he was 17.

He has joined the club from the Centre of Excellence, and is thought to be highly rated by the senior Welsh management team.

Yet More Ticket Sales Problems

2007-09-02T13:50:00.000Z

On Friday, Rovers fans trying to purchase tickets on-line reported that they couldn't because they were "sold-out" for the Nottingham Forest and Leeds Utd home games. Disappointed Gasheads had thought that the game had been "sold-out, told their friends, and made other plans.

However, someone at the club had made a mistake, and tickets were still actually available.

On Friday night at 6:23pm it was announced on the official website that the game was not now all-ticket and fans could pay on the day.

This decision was far too late, and most fans would not have known about the change in policy.

Even if they had by chance read the official website, fans were advised to be at the stadium early to avoid disappointment. This gave the impression that there were very few tickets left.

This would have put some people off - for example those with a family and don't want to risk not getting into the stadium, those who have to travel a distance to get to the stadium, or those who work on Saturday morning.

The website claimed that the club had been closely monitoring ticket sales - well obviously not closely enough because there were thousands of empty places in the stadium, and the decision to allow fans to pay on the day was too late for it to be widely known. If the decision had been made a couple of days earlier, then there would have been a higher attendance - and so made more money for BRFC.

Time and again there are problems with ticketing for Rovers games, and it does not inspire confidence in the way things are done.

http://br-isc.blogspot.com/2007/08/more-ticket-chaos-at-rovers.html

http://br-isc.blogspot.com/2007/08/fan-fails-to-receive-response-from-club.html

http://br-isc.blogspot.com/2007/07/season-ticket-discount-deadline.html

http://br-isc.blogspot.com/2007/06/st-form.html

http://br-isc.blogspot.com/2007/05/will-rovers-directors-get-prime-seats.html

http://br-isc.blogspot.com/2007/05/gasheads-are-reporting-huge-problems-in.html

Cowlin Sold For £52m

2007-08-30T15:05:00.000Z

Rovers main sponsors Cowlin have been bought by Balfour Beatty for £52m.

Rovers Vice-Chairman Nick Higgs is/was the CEO of Cowlin and believed to have owned around 34% of the company.

The current sponsorship deal with Cowlin will run to the end of this season. We do not yet know if there will be any further implications for the football club.

Mr Higgs said that he has "no plans" to use the windfall (thought to be worth about £17m) to boost the coffers at Bristol Rovers.

UPDATE: According to the Bristol Evening Post - Cowlin's order book included "the £35 million redevelopment of the Memorial Stadium"

This important news had never been disclosed to Rovers fans by the football club. This order would have helped to boost the value of Cowlin.

So, now we have:

Chairman Ron Craig & Geoff Dunford - who have given 50,000 shares (25,000 each) away to Nick Higgs. The value of which would cost a fan 1 million pounds to purchase (at £20 per share).

Vice-Chairman Nick Higgs - who has been gifted shares (to the value of £1m) from Ron Craig and Geoff Dunford, and the new stadium project awarded to Nick's company 'Cowlin'. Plus his Company has been involved with Filton College.

Geoff Dunford, who built the Beeches training complex and charged Rovers many hundreds of thousands of pounds to use it - and also denied that he was aware that Rovers needed their own training ground - even though he and his father were on the Board when Rovers were training at a factory.

Not forgetting that he also put players up at his hotel and then charged it to the football club. Whilst Chairman of BRFC (1883) his company Pro-5 sponsored Bristol City (& Rovers).

Geoff Dunford's Pro-5 now operates twelve 5-a-side pitches at Filton College. Geoff has developed a football business for himself rather than it being a venture for the football club.

And then we have Rovers Director Barry Bradshaw - the Director who was with Rovers during the Eastville days and who was part of the Rovers Board that Geoff Dunford had claimed to be a shambles.

Geoff had claimed that he could never work with BB again. The same Barry Bradshaw who later re-joined BRFC and awarded the kit contract to Errea - he then took the Errea South-West contract for himself (and didn't offer it to BRFC) and didn't inform the Board of his intentions. He has developed a football related business for himself rather than it being a venture for the football club.

The same Barry Bradshaw who owns Clevedon Town - where he has been trying to sell the club but keep the stadium - the stadium where Rovers have played TWO pre-season friendlies during the summer.

Isn't it also amazing that we have a Director whose company just so happens to have been awarded the contract for the re-build of the stadium (and then he sold the company), another Director who owns the south-west kit contract, another Director who owned the training ground, and the hotel where players stayed. And of course we have Directors involved with Filton College.

What a remarkable coincidence that all the major businesses deals just so happen to be with companies the Directors are involved with.

If BRFC can be left with a state of the art stadium that the football club owns 100%, and with no debt, then those Directors will have done a really fantastic job for the football club.

Watch out for the normal people
There's more of us than there's of you.
Well you're a really lucky bugger,
That you haven't been discovered
Ain't that true.

Bristol Rovers Football In The Community

2007-08-30T14:17:00.000Z

Some people might not realise that although attached to BRFC(1883 Ltd), 'Bristol Rovers Football In The Community' is a separate company and is self-funding.

Unfortunately, the football club do not give enough publicity to the FITC scheme. In recent years, the FITC has been struggling for money and a lack of public backing from the football club does not help.

Some Kids soccer schools were cancelled during the summer because of poor attendances, and they need all the help they can get.

Rovers should help to form a group called 'Friends of Bristol Rovers Football In The Community' to help raise funds. The club should also look to include the Young Pirates within the FITC scheme, and give the future of our club the publicity it deserves.

Money made from Bristol Rovers e-bay auctions should be given to Bristol Rovers FITC.

Ellington to Watford

2007-08-29T17:40:00.001Z

Former Rovers striker Nathan Ellington has signed for Watford for a fee reported to be £3.25m - 4m.

More Ticket Chaos at Rovers

2007-08-29T16:08:00.000Z

Whilst the team were on the pitch playing West Ham, many Gasheads were still stood in a long queue outside of the stadium.

Gasheads were missing the game because Rovers were severely understaffed in handing out match tickets - to those people who had ordered tickets via the internet.

The problem was so bad that some Gasheads even left the queue and went to watch the remainder of the first-half from a pub.

The club knew in advance exactly how many tickets needed to be collected, but it seems that they were still unable to cope.

There were also problems at a previous Home game when fans were left outside missing the action, because Rovers had ran out of change.

There have been problems reported with people calling the club to purchase tickets, only for the call to be answered and immediately put down - meaning the caller gets charged for the call.

The sale of season tickets was a complete farce - with Rovers issuing several different deadline dates.

There were of course problems with Rovers ticketing towards the end of last season.

Rovers need to undertake an urgent review into the series of ticketing problems to make sure that they do not happen again.

Rovers Ban National Press Photographers

2007-08-22T15:27:00.000Z

Bristol Rovers have decided to ban national press photographers from The Mem.

According to the Newspapers Publishers Association:

“No-one is pretending this is on a par with Premier clubs, but these kinds of reductions in editorial opportunities and freedoms to cover and choose image content will only get worse and more widespread unless they are resisted at all levels.”

The club informed the NPA of the move with the following statement:

“This season the only photographers being allowed into Bristol Rovers home matches will be those representing the away club and those requesting attendance from our local media.

“All other photographers/agencies should contact our club photographer Jeff Davies directly should they require images of Bristol Rovers matches.”

It is believed that some contingency for local press has been made – but that otherwise the club will allow only its own club photographer and one photographer from the visiting side.

UPDATE: Rovers decision seems to be against the rights agreement made with the Football League in January 2005:

See: http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=27499

UPDATE: From the Daily Mail

Bristol Rovers have set a worrying precedent by banning agency and national newspaper photographers from home games to protect image rights. National titles will have to buy images from the club's appointed photographer. This doesn't say much for editorial freedom or the Football League, who should clamp down on such censorship.

A League spokesman said: "We'll be looking to discuss this with the club at the earliest opportunity."

More Stadium Delays

2007-08-17T23:54:00.000Z

Despite the Rovers Directors making several statements claiming that the New Mem stadium plans were on schedule and that there were no financial problems, Bristol Rovers have finally admitted that there will be another major delay... Rovers will now stay at The Mem until the end of the season.

The new stadium project is now almost a year behind schedule.

Alarm bells started ringing amongst Gasheads when it was announced that the Tent End was staying until Christmas. This was followed by a distinct lack of coach travel information to get fans to Cheltenham for the later half of the season, no half-season tickets available to purchase, the missed planning deadline for signing off the new stadium plans, rumors that Rovers were millions of pounds short, Bristol Rugby Club not announcing where they would be moving to during the build, and Rovers not actually signing the ground share agreement with Cheltenham Town.

From the Bristol Evening Post 17th July."Mr Higgs, group chief executive of building firm Cowlin Construction and the man responsible for the design and development of the scheme, has denied rumours that Rovers may have to delay their move to share Cheltenham Town's Whaddon Road ground because of a financial shortfall. He said: "We have already negotiated an agreement with Cheltenham over sharing their ground and will sign it when we are ready to push the button on the stadium redevelopment."

Plus we have since had the resignation of Chief Executive Bill Smith... and Geoff Dunford has been banning people from the official forum for petty excuses.

Therefore, it comes as little surprise to many Gasheads that their concerns have come to fruition. Rumours have proven to be true!

Not forgetting that the Football League actually went out of their way to make sure that most of Rovers high profile Home games were to be held at The Mem during the first half of the season... and now the Rovers Board have failed to deliver.

Section 106

Geoff Dunford blamed 'Section 106' as to why the planning permission had not been signed-off on time. Rovers had asked for a 2 month extension from the council - and got it.

Rovers' Director Geoff Dunford said there had been a slight hitch with public art promised as part of the scheme (section 106). Dunford claimed that the issue had been resolved. That was published in the BEP on the 17th of July.... the same day that Rovers had the deadline extended by 2 months.

On 7th Aug', Chairman Ron Craig made a statement through the official website saying how the finance was in place and there were no delays. "There are no problems," said Ron.

However, only days later Rovers vice-chairman Nick Higgs, who is leading the redevelopment scheme, said "It is unfortunate, but there has been a delay in the signing of the section 106 agreement due to on going negotiations with third parties.

So who do you believe, Director Geoff Dunford who had claimed a month ago that the public art/106 issue had been resolved, Ron Craig who claimed there were no delays, or Vice-Chairman Nick Higgs who later claimed otherwise?

The Other Side: Crewe Alexandra

2007-08-16T12:40:00.001Z

Having beaten the top team in the Championship on Tuesday, Rovers have the chance to make it a double-top by beating the top team in League One on Saturday.

Top of the league Crewe have suffered a massive blow with striker Nicky Maynard breaking his leg during their first game of the season - but Crewe still went on to win the game 2-1.

Crewe lost 3-0 at home to Hull City in the Carling Cup - but the score was not a true reflection of the game. Apparently, Crewe played well.

Crewe have moved swiftly to borrow the services of 2 strikers - Lee Barnard from Spurs, and Chris Dickson from Charlton. However, Barnard won't be joining Crewe until next week.

Dario Gradi had also tried to sign Plymouth Argyle striker Nick Chadwick but the fee and wages quoted were too high for Crewe.

Dario Gradi has become the Director of Football, and Steve Holland is in charge of the first team - a similar managerial set-up to Rovers.

Ones to Watch: Gary Roberts, Billy Jones, Steve Schumacher.

Previous League Game: Crewe 2-1 Brighton

http://www.football.virginmedia.com/page/leagueonevideo/0,,12555~1090012,00.html

Head to Head: http://www.soccerbase.com/head2.sd?team2id=652&team1id=388

Played for Both Clubs: Phil Kite, Brian Parkin, Kevin Street, Paul Tait, Mark Foran, Marcus Bignot.

Not The Proper Cornish Pasties

2007-08-15T20:10:00.000Z

Rovers fans are not happy because the pasties have been terrible for the home games against West Brom, and Crystal Palace.

The poor quality was declared "a one-off"...on both occasions...

News of the poor quality of pasties has even reached Radio Bristol. Geoff Twentyman has put Nigel Dando on the case.

One concerned Gashead contacted the Proper Cornish Pasty Company and received this reply:

Dear Bill

Thank you for contacting us.

We are aware of the situation and upon investigation find that the products being sold are not our products.

Kind Regards
Lizzie EllacottCommercial Administrator
http://www.propercornish.co.uk/

There has been no announcement, or comment from Bristol Rovers to say the pasties are no longer supplied by The Proper Cornish Pasty Company, yet the kiosks still advertise the name, so who is really suppling theses terrible pasties?

UPDATE: Fans Director David Brian has commented:

This is the first I have heard of this issue so to answer your question, up to now I have have done nothing.The 'pasty huts' are a concession. We are paid an agreed amount reguardless of sales so I am sure that the proprietor will soon get the message if sales drop. That said, I appreciate that many fans enjoy the normal top quality pasties and I will pass on your disatisfaction. David

UPDATE: More From the Cornish Pasty Company:

I'm very sorry you have found it necessary to mail us about your dissatisfaction, we too are not amused by the situation.
For reasons I cannot disclose at the present time we have been unwilling to supply our products to the outlets at the Memorial Ground for the last two events and I can tell you that the products put on sale during this period are therefore not Proper Cornish products.
I can also tell you that despite the outlets at the stadium being branded 'Proper Cornish' they are in fact operated by an independent agent.
We are currently working hard to try to restore the supply of Proper Cornish products to the units in time for the next match but cannot guarantee that this will occur.
We are a company which is extremely proud of the products we produce here in Cornwall and indeed are true pioneers in taking the genuine hand made traditional Cornish pasty to the national market. We are extremely upset therefore that the good reputation we have built over the years has been brought into disrepute in this instance.
We are glad however that you enjoy our pasties and will do everything we can to restore supply and your faith in us. I will do my best to keep you informed as events progress.
Yours sincerely
Phil Ugalde
Managing Director
Proper Cornish Pasty Company

UPDATE: The Proper Cornish Pasties are back at The Mem.

Rovers Beat Crystal Palace

2007-08-14T21:28:00.000Z

Rovers 1-1 Crystal Palace (Rovers win 4-1 on penalties)

1-1 after 90 mins.

Goals: Disley (64) : Freedman (31)

1-1 after 120 mins.

Penalties (taken in front of the Becks South Stand):

1. Walker - Scored : Freedman - Missed
2. Jacobson - Scored : Morrison - Scored
3. Disley - Scored : Kuqi - Missed
4. Anthony - Scored

Man of the Match: Steve Elliott

Attendance: 5,566 (719 Palace fans)

Bristol Rovers: Phillips ,Lescott ,Anthony ,Elliott ,Carruthers ,Pipe (Rigg ,106 ) ,Campbell ,Disley ,Haldane (Jacobson ,55 ) ,Andrew Williams (Lambert ,55 ) ,Walker Subs not used: Mike Green,Igoe,

Crystal Palace: Flinders ,Butterfield ,Hudson ,Fonte ,Craig ,Green (Grabban ,79 ) ,Soares ,Watson (Lawrence ,62 ) ,Martin (Morrison ,119 ) ,Kuqi ,Freedman Subs not used Speroni,Cort,

Ian Holloway - Book Signings

2007-08-14T14:43:00.000Z

Ian Holloway is due to sign copies of his autobiography in the Bristol area.

The book has a RRP of £16.99 but can be ordered in advance for just £11.21 via the following link : http://astore.amazon.co.uk/gas-store-21

Tuesday 11th September 1pm-2pm
BRSC Shop, Memorial Stadium, Bristol

Thursday 27th September 1pm-2:30pm
Waterstones, Cribbs Causeway, Bristol

Tuesday 13th November 1pm-2pm
WHSmith, Cribbs Causeway, Bristol

Tuesday 13th November 6:30pm-8:30pm
Asda, Longwell Green, Bristol

An Evening with Ian Holloway and Friends

Including: a three course meal, with tea/coffee, Q&A session and autographs.

Thursday 27th September Jury's Hotel, Bristol

7pm for 7:30pm, Lounge suits required.

Tickets are £40 and available from: http://www.ollieontour.co.uk/

Taunton Town v Rovers XI

2007-08-13T14:51:00.000Z

A Rovers XI will be playing in a friendly game tonight at Wordsworth Drive, Taunton. 7:30pm.

UPDATE: Result Taunton Town 3-2 Rovers XI.

The Other Side: Crystal Palace

2007-08-13T13:16:00.000Z

Rovers play at Home to Crystal Palace on Tuesday night Kick-off 7:45pm.

Championship club Crystal Palace had a fantastic start to the season with a 4-1 Away win at Southampton.

Watch the highlights:
(you may have to refresh the page to get the plug-in to load)

http://www.football.virginmedia.com/page/championshipvideo/0,,12555~1090006,00.html

Squad:

Includes Jeff Hughes who scored three times for Lincoln City in the Play-Off Semi-Final games v Rovers.

http://www.soccerbase.com/teams2.sd?teamid=646

Previous meeting:

http://br-isc.blogspot.com/2007/06/rovers-v-crystal-palace.html

Played for Both Clubs:

Nigel Martyn, Brian Parkin, Gareth Taylor, Gerry Francis, Wayne Carlisle.

Number of Away Fans:

"We sold out the initial 300 they (Rovers) sent to us. Then we took delivery of some more last Monday, but the box office were wary of sending them out after last Wednesday, because of all the postal strikes. There was no need to buy in advance anyway, as there will be ample for pay on the gate, so I'd hope we have 500-600 at least, maybe more as it's a first visit to this ground."

Main Forum:

http://forums.cpfc.org/index.php

Port Vale 1 Rovers 1

2007-08-13T11:27:00.000Z

Watch the highlights free of charge from Virgin Media at the following link. You may have to refresh the page a couple of times for the plug-in to load.

http://www.football.virginmedia.com/page/leagueonevideo/0,,12555~1090030,00.html

Rovers: Phillips ,Lescott ,Anthony ,Elliott ,Carruthers ,Pipe (Haldane ,68 ) ,Disley ,Campbell ,Jacobson (Rigg ,88 ) ,Lambert (Williams ,73 ) ,Walker

Subs not used Mike Green,Hinton,

Bookings: Campbell ,Disley ,Jacobson

Attendance: 6808 (1770 Gasheads)

Bill Smith Has Left The Building

2007-08-11T00:22:00.001Z

Despite ex-chairman Geoffrey Dunford's claims that we were now employing a CEO of the highest standard, Gasheads and staff have claimed that Bill Smith has not been seen at Bristol Rovers for several months.

Recently, local reporters and people associated with the stadium regeneration have tried without success to make contact with the much traveled executive.

Bill Smith has now resigned.

Amongst his duties, Bill Smith was responsible for dealing with the financial side of the new stadium development, and working with the banks.

Rumours about his departure intensified when he was omitted from the official photo shoot on Monday.

So who could be next?

Rovers fan Gordon Bennett (currently working for Plymouth Argyle) has vast experience of being a Chief Executive for clubs in higher divisions, is well respected, and is a former Chief Executive with Bristol Rovers.

Gordon is also credited with saving Norwich City who were within 48 hours of going out of business, raising attendances, and improving their image as a family club.

Gordon is also a member of BRSC share scheme.

In 1969, Gordon Bennett won an ITV/Daily Mail-sponsored fan-of-the-year competition. By answering a series of questions on his beloved Bristol Rovers, Bennett earned a trip to the Mexico World Cup and a £1,000 cheque.

Personally, the prizes did not interest Gordon. He gave the tickets away to the runner-up and presented the money as a gift to Bristol Rovers.

If there is one person capable of uniting the club, then it could be Gordon Bennett.

Rovers v Cirencester Town

2007-08-09T18:39:00.000Z

A Bristol Rovers XI is due to play Away at Cirencester Town on Saturday 11th August.

Call Cirencester Town on 01285 654543 for further details.

UPDATE: Result was Cirencester Town 1, Bristol Rovers XI 0

Bristol Rovers: Spencer Cutlan, Tom Godsell, Tom Parinello, James Fraser, Ryan Paddock, Alex Kite (Curtis Haynes-Brown 45), Charlie Reece (Joe White 68), James Palmer, Josh Klein-Davis, Charlie Clough, Adam Mahdi.Referee: Brian Durie.

Attendance: 106.

Paul Trollope - 3 Year Contract

2007-08-09T18:12:00.000Z

Paul Trollope hopes to sign a 3 year contract on Friday morning before the squad travels north for the game against Port Vale.

Trollope described contract talks as "a long process", and it is hoped that Lenny Lawrence will also sign a new contract on Friday morning.

Paul Trollope has also described Rovers chances of a play-off spot as "a long shot" but believes Rovers can achieve a top half finish and be competitive.

Gas Reserves

2007-08-09T15:18:00.000Z

Rovers Reserves start the season with a fixture at home to Plymouth Argyle.

The game is due to be held on August 20th at 7pm.

Rovers 15 Points Above Leeds Utd

2007-08-09T14:38:00.000Z

Football League chairmen have voted to reject Leeds United's appeal against starting the season with a 15-point deduction because of the club's breach of the League's insolvency policy.

According to reports, more than 75 per cent of the 71 chairmen of Football League clubs voted in favour of the punishment. Leeds have already issued a statement saying the club are considering their options, while concentrating on the season-opener against Tranmere at the weekend.

Lord (Brian) Mawhinney, chairman of the Football League, stated that a signed agreement exists preventing Leeds from taking any further legal action against the Football League.

He said: "We have an agreement with Leeds, signed by both the League and the club, that they will not take any legal action against us and we will not take any legal action against them.

"That is a standard part of the agreement that every club signs when it comes out of administration. That has not been generated for the benefit of Leeds United, we've done that in the last 40 administrations and we did in this one as well."

The club's statement read: "Leeds United are amazed by the perverse outcome of Thursday's meeting of Football League Clubs, which defied all logic, and we believe had arisen as a result of a serious misrepresentation of fact by the board of the Football League in their presentation.

"The only winner is HMRC and we believe the full ramifications of Thursday's decision will adversely affect football going forward for many years. Football Family' seems to be driven by self interest.

"The Club is considering its options but in the meantime will be concentrating on starting its promotion campaign at Tranmere on Saturday."

The clubs that supported Leeds Utd in their appeal were:

Bradford City
Burnley
Colchester United
Darlington
Gillingham
Ipswich Town
Nottingham Forest
Plymouth Argyle
Queens Park Rangers
Sheffield United
Sheffield Wednesday
Stockport County
Stoke City
Swindon Town
Watford
Wrexham

Thanks, But No Thanks

2007-08-09T14:00:00.000Z

Bristol Rovers Official website has removed the names of fans from the 'Thanks' page who have made big contributions to the club for many years. These include:

Kim Stuckey, Antony Addy, Steve Slade, Tim Blake, and Rick Johansen.

Where Are They Now?

2007-08-09T13:37:00.001Z

Julian Alsop - Newport County
Kevin Austin - Swansea City
Ollie Barnes - Salisbury City
Adam Barrett - Southend Utd
Peter Beadle - Newport County (Manager)
Adrian Boothroyd- Watford (Manager)
Marcus Browning - Weymouth (Player-coach)
Ryan Clarke - Salisbury City
Jamie Cureton - Norwich City
Nathan Ellington - West Brom
Jamie Forrester - Lincoln City
Steve Foster - Darlington
Dave Gilroy - Bath City
Giuliano Grazioli - Barnet
Andy Gurney - Havant & Waterlooville
Barry Hayles - Plymouth Argyle
Ian Holloway - Plymouth Argle (Manager)
Scott Howie - Kings Lynn
James Hunt - Grimsby Town
Wayne Jones - Hereford Utd (Club Physio)
Ray Johnston - Tiverton Town
Michel Kuipers - Brighton
Stéphane Leoni - Metz
Matt Lockwood - Nottingham Forest
Mark McKeever - Bath City
David Mehew - Gloucester City (Assistant Manager)
Lindsey Parsons - Stoke City (Assistant Manager)
Martin Paul - Bath City
Gary Penrice - Plymouth Argyle (Coach)
Dwayne Plummer - Braintree Town
Tony Pulis - Stoke City (Manager)
Rob Quinn - AFC Wimbledon
Justin Richards - Kidderminster Harriers
Jason Roberts - Blackburn Rovers
John Rudge - Stoke City (Dof)
Dave Savage - Brackley Town
Scott Shearer - Wycombe Wanderers
Marcus Stewart - Yeovil Town
Paul Tait - Northwich Victoria
Mike Trought - Clevedon Town
Anwar Uddin - Dagenham & Redbridge
Gary Waddock - Aldershot (Manager)
John Ward - Cheltenham Manager
David Williams - Wales Youth Coach
Geriant Williams - Colchester Utd (Manager)
Ryan Williams - Aldershot
Che Wilson - Southend Utd
Bobby Zamora - West Ham Utd

Photos: Rovers v Clevedon Town

2007-08-08T16:48:00.000Z

Away 'Pay On The Day' Admission Prices

2007-08-08T12:43:00.000Z

Here is a sample of what Adult Rovers fans can expect to pay at Away games for season 2007/08:

£26.00 Nottingham Forest
£25.00 Leeds Utd
£23.50 Luton Town
£22.00 Oldham Ath
£22.00 Southend Utd
£20.00 AFC Bournemouth
£20.00 Carlisle Utd
£20.00 Hartlepool Utd
£20.00 Millwall
£19.00 Crewe Alexandra
£19.00 Huddersfield Town
£19.00 Northampton Town
£19.00 Port Vale
£19.00 Walsall
£18.00 Doncaster Rovers
£18.00 Yeovil Town
£16.50 Tranmere Rovers
£16.00 Swansea City

Many clubs have a discount of a couple of quid for those who purchase tickets in advance, but these may be subject to postage costs and booking fees.

These prices are only a guide and subject to change, so please double-check in advance.

Olly in Ad' for New Football League Balls

2007-08-07T22:55:00.000Z

Olly makes 3 appearances in the new Mitre advert for the new Football League balls.

Also See: http://br-isc.blogspot.com/2007/07/new-balls.html

The Other Side: Port Vale

2007-08-07T21:12:00.000Z

Vale will go into the game against Rovers on Saturday following pre-season wins over Manchester United and Sheffield Wednesday, but they came back down to earth losing to Shrewsbury Town.

Vale strikers Luke Rodgers and Akpo Sodje have been in very good pre-season form. Striker Marc Richards has missed all but one pre-season game due to a groin injury.

New signing winger Shane Tudor says "I believe I can take on any full-back in this league, but I also believe the manager will get me working on the other side of my game more than I have in the past.

"This is the fittest I have ever been, without question. I can't wait for the season. We are all like kids waiting for Christmas to come because of the confidence we have."

The Port Vale squad includes former City player Robin Hulbert.

Vale Manager Martin Foyle has identified areas that his team need to work on:

"I thought there was not a lot of movement from throw-ins."

"I feel Eddie (Edwards) can get in the box more and Rocky (Rocastle) has the energy to get up there. But these are things we have to work on."

Foyle has particularly identified Vale's inability to close out draws as one of the main problems of last season.

Finished Last Season: 12th in League One.

Stadium Info: http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/park/yfh45/portvale.htm

Distance from The Mem: 127.6 miles (2 hours 28 mins)

Recommended Pub: The Bulls Head, 14 St Johns Square (1/4 mile from the ground). http://www.titanicbrewery.co.uk/bulls.html

Past Encounters: http://www.soccerbase.com/head2.sd?team2id=2083&team1id=388

Chant at Them: "Cups and saucers, you only make cups and saucers, make cups and saucers"

Admission Costs: £19 for adults, £12.50 for senior citizens and £8 for under 16s. All-seated stand with a roof, behind one goal.

Vale Forum: http://www.portvaleonline.com/forum/index.php

Rovers v Clevedon Town

2007-08-07T20:10:00.000Z

The Rovers team included Craig Hinton, Sean Rigg, Andy Sandell, and Chris Lines.

Final Score: 2 - 0 to Rovers.

Craig Hinton and Andy Sandell scored for Rovers.

BRISTOL ROVERS: Mike Green, Tom Godsell, Craig Hinton, Alex Kite, Tom Parrinello, James Fraser (Charlie Clough 81), Chris Lines (Charlie Reece, 68) James Palmer, Andy Sandell, Sean Rigg, Josh Klein-Davies

Attn: 363

James Fraser

2007-08-07T16:51:00.001Z

Teenage midfielder James Fraser has been included in the Rovers official team photo.

English Schools Under-18 captain Fraser had joined Rovers for pre-season training on a month-to-month contract.

The 18-year-old made 29 appearances for Ryman League Premier Division side Worthing last season.

Rovers v Clevedon Town

2007-08-07T14:56:00.000Z

A reminder that Rovers are due to play a Pre-Season Friendly TONIGHT against Clevedon Town at The Hand Stadium, Clevedon. Kick-off is at 7.45pm.

The official website hasn't had a news item to remind fans of the fixture.

A Rovers fan commented:

And I thought we had employed a PR person!!!! Fans need to be informed and the best place to do this is clubs website. It is wholly irresponsible not to advertise freindly games as this club should be building up its own support and assisting its fans!!!! If the PR girl at any brains she would be looking at this forum and getting ideas for providing us fans with more information!!!!! RANT OVER!!! By the way does anyone know how much we are paying this PR girl because i have not seen any improvement yet!!!! Communication is what is need!

Clevedon Town include former Rovers players Danny Greaves, Mike Trought, and Geraint Bater, and are managed by former Rovers player and temporary Manager Phil Bater.

Rovers Director Barry Bradshaw is also a Director of Clevedon Town. He has been looking to sell the football club, but retain the stadium.

Clevedon Town Manager Phil Bater commented ""Money is definitely an issue. We will have new owners coming in this season and I've been told the club has to pay for itself"

Fan Fails to Receive Response From Club

2007-08-05T12:00:00.000Z

The following letter was printed in the Evening Post Newspaper:

"I feel ashamed to call myself a Bristol Rovers supporter, having missed the play-off final against Shrewsbury on account of not receiving a match ticket from See Tickets Agency.

I have since been trying in vain to get a response from the club as to the reasons behind this.

While I can accept that the blunder over the issuing of the Wembley tickets was not the fault of Rovers themselves, I have not received any reply from Rovers, after two letters to the Memorial Stadium, as well as numerous phone calls, to answer my queries.

Having supported Rovers since the Eastville days, I saw this lack of response as a gross disrespect between the football club and a loyal supporter.

Keith Rundle, Portishead".

If Mr Rundle would like to contact us together with more specific information then we will try to help him get the answers he requires.

The Bristol Rovers Customer Charter states:

"The club will endeavour to respond to any letter, fax or e-mail within seven days of receipt of such communication (exclusive of weekends and Bank Holidays). If it is not possible to provide a full response within that time, an acknowledgement will be sent and a detailed reply will follow within 21 days of receipt of the original communication. The club will respond by letter, telephone, e-mail or fax. A customer may request a response in writing provided that a full address including postcode is supplied."

Plymouth Argyle 7 Rovers 3

2007-08-04T23:45:00.000Z

Olly's Pilgrims scored 5 goals within the space of just 31 first-half minutes to end the contest before Rovers had started to get going.

Olly then took his foot off the Gas by making a number of substitutions which allowed Rovers back into the game with goals from Lescott and Pipe.

Trialist Paul McVeigh scored two more goals for Argyle towards the end of the game to make it 7-2, before a late headed goal by Hinton for Rovers.

Olly said "I would not have liked to be their goalie but full credit to them [Rovers] because they came back and scored three goals. For me, it was a very nice fixture and nice to see some Rovers' fans (308 of them).

The Rovers management are concerned regarding Rovers defensive form during pre-season, and Ryan Green is currently injured. Paul Trollope coaches the defenders whilst Lenny Lawerence coaches the strikers. Paul Trollope could be tempted to give David Pipe a starting place to add some strength to the team.

Newport County Director Speaks To Us

2007-08-04T08:47:00.000Z

Rovers didn't mention to fans the venue change for the friendly against Newport County, nor promote the game, nor give a post-match report.

Newport County Director Rob Santwris has contacted us to say:

It is a shame that Rovers couldn't be bothered to promote this game.

We are all volunteers so it's a shame that after all our hard work we just broke even on the night.

As a football nut myself, I would be gutted if my team played and didn't give me a chance of attending. Hope you have another fine season.

Rob Santwris (Director Newport County AFC).

'Gravy' Browning

2007-08-03T23:44:00.001Z

Former Rovers midfielder Marcus 'Gravy' Browning has signed a one-year contract to join Weymouth as player-coach.

The 36-year-old had joined the Terras for pre-season training following his release by Bournemouth in the summer.

Browning had spent the last five seasons at Bournemouth making over 200 senior appearances.

The former Wales international also previously played for Rovers, Hereford Utd, Huddersfield Town, and Gillingham.

During the last two seasons, Browning has also been a referee in the Bournemouth Hayward Sunday League - while stating his ambition to become the first ex-professional to officiate in the Premiership.

Gravy had played in over 180 games for Rovers.

Whilst Browning was at Rovers, he was described as "A good athlete" by then Rovers boss Malcolm Allison.

The Gravy moment that will remain long in the memory of Rovers fans is of a cup game at Villa Park. Marcus received the ball and just ran and ran through the midfield leaving the Villa midfield in his wake before blasting an unstoppable shot passed Villa keeper Nigel Spink. The away terrace and stand packed with Gasheads just went wild and Rovers nearly sneaked a victory in the closing stages.

In 1997, Gravy was sold by Rovers to Huddersfield Town for £500K .

Rovers XI v Bridgewater Town

2007-08-03T23:29:00.000Z

A Rovers XI lost 4-2 in the pre-season game at Bridgewater Town.

In an entertaining game, the Rovers goals were scored by Josh Klein-Davies (pen) and Charlie Clough. Rovers also scored an own goal/deflection (the fourth goal for Bridgewater Town).

The Rovers offical website made no mention of the game.

Rovers v Newport County

2007-08-03T23:05:00.000Z

The Bristol Rovers offical website has failed to fans give any post-match reports or details on the friendly game v Newport County.

This is hardly surprising considering the official website had given Rovers fans the wrong location for the game, and had failed to publicise the game.

It is thought that after payments to Barry Bradshaw's Clevendon Town, Newport County made just £200 from the game. This does little to improve relations with local non-league clubs who depend upon a pre-season game against Rovers to help them survive.

Here is the match report from Newport County:

WEDNESDAY 1 AUGUST 2007 - Pre-season friendly

NEWPORT COUNTY 2 BRISTOL ROVERS 4 (at Clevedon Town)

County’s first half performance showed promise. It was again clear that the style of Peter Beadle and Scott Young is to concentrate on good passing and movement, and they have assembled a squad capable of playing to those ideals.

Charlie Griffin and Craig Hughes linked well in attack with Lee Fowler looking to create opportunities for the strike pair. Griffin was denied by a good save from Mike Green in the Rovers goal on the half hour but a few minutes later Rovers took the lead when Josh Klein-Davies struck from the penalty spot after a cross from the right appeared to bounce off Jason Bowen’s arm. Any illegal contact appeared unintentional but it was close enough to the assistant referee to have a good view and he flagged for the spot kick.

Rovers twice added to their advantage early in the second half when first Sean Rigg found space on the right to fire a low shot home and then Danny Rose showed good control to make it 3-0.

County made four substitutions just after this goal and reduced the arrears when Steve Jenkins run into the box was checked by Tom Parrinello. With Jason Bowen off the pitch Griffin took the penalty and scored with ease. However just two minutes later County’s defensive organisation at a corner was disappointing and though Rigg’s header was going wide it bounced off Sam O’Sullivan to creep in at an unguarded near post.

Each friendly has produced an own goal, so let’s hope County have used up their quota for the season. This was the cue for some more comings and goings and two of the substitutes combined to give the score line a slightly kinder appearance. Kris Leek’s bullet like long throw was just begging for Julian Alsop to get on the end of it and the big fellow obliged. There are of course those who will only reflect upon the disappointing result from a County perspective, but it would be wrong to read too much into the outcome.

Rovers, though not fielding their first team, still called upon players who have been in full-time training for a few weeks while County looked undercooked. But as was said earlier, the best laid plans …

Peter Beadle said afterwards that the match would have done his side the world of good, and while there were some good things to emerge, some aspects of County’s play were disappointing. So it’s off to Llanelli on Saturday for the next test.

Line-ups: County: Thompson (Giles 73), Jenkins, Brewer, Collier (Simpson 63), Jarman, Hillier (Dodds 63), Bowen (John 63), Fowler (Leek 73), Griffin (Bassett 73), Hughes (Alsop 63), O’Sullivan.

Scorers: Griffin (67 pen), Alsop (87).

Rovers: M Green, Godsell, Parrinello (Haynes-Brown 77), Fraser, Hinton (Paddock 87), Kite, Palmer, Rose, Klein-Davies, Rigg, Sandell.

Scorers: Klein-Davies (34 pen), Rigg (51), Rose (61), Rigg/O’Sullivan (67 og).

Referee: Simon Snartt.

Assistant Referees: Mark Russell, Roger Goodwin.

Attendance: 267

Newport County Friendly

2007-08-01T12:48:00.000Z

According to Newport County, Rovers are due to play them TONIGHT at Clevedon.

The venue had been changed on the 24th of July, but Rovers have not even told Rovers fans about the venue change.

It is costing Newport County money to use the Hand Stadium, Clevedon, so they need as many people to be there as possible - so it is also unfair on Newport that Rovers are not even giving the game a mention.

Rovers Director Barry Bradshaw is also a Director of Clevedon Town.

UPDATE: Rovers won the game 4-2 and gave an impressive performance in attack. Goalkeeper Mike Green was highly rated by the Newport fans. Sean Rigg scored twice for Rovers, with the other Rovers goals being scored by Josh Klein-Davies (pen) and Danny Rose. Attendance: 267.

Bridgwater Town Friendly

2007-08-01T11:55:00.000Z

Rovers have not yet informed fans of a friendly fixture, but Bridgwater Town claim that Rovers will be sending a strong team down to Fairfax Park on Friday August 3rd, and the game will kick off at 7.30PM.

Season Ticket Discount Deadline Disaster

2007-07-31T13:53:00.000Z

Rovers have sneakily moved back the date of the Season Ticket Discount Deadline on the offical website.

The date of the deadline was changed on the official website on July 31st, from July 31st to July the 30th.

The move has caught out some fans who went to purchase Season Tickets on the last day of the discount period(July 31st) only to find that Rovers had changed the date of the deadline to the day before (July 30th).

Although the deadline hadn't been reached, online sales of Rovers season tickets had been stopped on Saturday morning (28th of July). Staff in Pirate Lesuire also claimed to fans that the offer had ended on Saturday(28th of July).

Pirate News had given the 30th of July as the deadline date.

Normally clubs will have news items on their website making people aware that Season Ticket deadlines are approaching - in an effort to get more people to purchase season tickets. Rovers have not even bothered to do that.

In addition, the deadline passed without Rovers providing fans with the details of the bus scheme for the move to Cheltenham.

To quote one Rovers fan:

I've just returned from the ground empty handed. I wanted 2 adult and 5 juvinile Bass terrace, a total of £1015, only to be told that the offer ended Saturday although because of confusion the club decided to honour the discount on Monday.
If you click on the season ticket link on the main site it gives two sets of prices. June & July is discounted and then August onwards, today is the 31st July!Another total cock up from Rovers! They obviously don't need the money?????????????Ah well, just have to buy early bird tickets!"

LATEST UPDATE: After having a day of dismayed fans walking out without purchasing thousands of pounds worth of season tickets, Rovers announced at 5.22pm that the deadline will be "extended by 24 hours" to the 1st of August.

However, the deadline on the official website had been changed to July 30th (as had been stated in Pirate News), so "extended by 24 hours" would have been to the 31st of July. Therefore, it seems the deadline must have been changed yet again to the 31st and then extended by 24 hours to August the 1st.

It looks as if Rovers have made 4 changes to the deadline within the last 2 days, and had been giving out 3 different dates.

Some people have not bought tickets after being refused them at a discounted price, some others would have thought that the deadline had been the 28th of July and so not bought tickets.

A Rovers fan commented

"Rovers don't seem to know what day it is"

Gary Mabbutt

2007-07-30T13:10:00.001Z

Earlier this month, Rovers legend Gary Mabbutt put his football boots back on to play a game in front of over 35,000 fans, and televised to over 150 countries worldwide.

Mabbutt played in a charity game for Nelson Mandela in South Africa.

Mabbutt's 'Rest of the World XI' team-mates included Ruud Gullit, Christian Karembeu, Patrick Mboma, Leonardo, Pele, Andoni Zubizarreta, and Zamorano.

The 'Africa XI' team included Daniel Amokachi, Samuel Eto'o, Lomana Lualua, and George Weah.

A proud Nelson Mandela said: "This match is more than just a game, it symbolises the power of football to bring people together from all over the world."

Rovers Still Paying Football Agents

2007-07-30T02:38:00.001Z

The Football League have revealed that Rovers have paid out £100K to agents over the last 3 years.

For the period between 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2007 Rovers paid a total of £31,500 in fees to Football Agents.

Yet even in The Championship, Ipswich Town paid just £5k, and Colchester Utd didn't pay a penny.

In League One, Blackpool, Crewe Alexandra, Cheltenham Town, Huddersfield Town and Port Vale didn't pay agents.

In League Two, 13 clubs including Walsall and Hartlepool United didn't pay agents.

Rovers Fees To Agents:

£71,500 1 July 07 to 31 Dec' 07 - (UPDATE 14/02/08)
£31,500 1 July 06 to 30 June 07 (42 transactions - av. = £750)
£35,500 1 July 05 to 30 June 06 (45 transactions - av. = £789)
£33,000 1 July 04 to 30 June 05 (46 transactions - av. = £717)

It may seem that Rovers payments to agents have gone down very slightly, but so have the number of transactions. If we look at the average cost per transaction it has actually gone up from 2004/05.

Back in January 2006, Geoff Dunford had claimed "We don't normally pay agents apart from in extreme circumstances".

"Like the rest of the clubs in the Football League, we are doing all we can to wean ourselves off payments to agents."

And then Rovers continued to make payments to football agents - on average, Rovers pay out over £600 per week in fees to football agents.

Newport County - Another Venue Change

2007-07-29T14:02:00.000Z

Newport County have again changed the venue for their Friendly game against Rovers. The game is now due to take place at Clevedon's Hand Stadium.

Newport County had moved the game to Wednesday 1st August, 7.45 KO at Gloucester City FC, but the Gloucester City pitch is more like a a swimming pool.

Rovers have not informed fans of the switch to Clevedon.

We would like to post this information on the Rovers offical forum to let as many fans as possible know about the situation, but we are banned from doing so.

Lack of Communication - Airdrie Kick-off

2007-07-24T18:08:00.000Z

The kick-off time for Saturday's game at Airdrie is 1pm and not 3pm.

However, even though the time of the game was changed almost 2 weeks ago, BRFC failed to inform Rovers fans of the change.

Several fans have gone to the extra expense of booking overnight accommodation for Saturday night thinking it was impossible to get a flight back, then only to find out that the team is flying back after the game as the kick-off has been brought forward.

The Kick-off time still shows as 3pm on the Rovers official website.

Again, it shows a lack of communication and consideration for Rovers fans.

New Feature - Add Your Own Comments

2007-07-24T14:42:00.000Z

This blog now regularly attracts over 600 Gasheads. We are not counting hits or visits but 'unique visitors'.

Considering that we are banned by Geoff Dunford from the official forum, word seems to have spread about the blog.

Gasheads can now add their own opinions to articles.

Simply click the 'comments' link at the bottom of an article, and add your views.

We will also continue to publish your own articles.

1883 & BRSC Too Slow & Out of Touch?

2007-07-23T13:06:00.000Z

According to Rovers Director David Brain regarding travel plans to Cheltenham:

"We are also considering if a car share club can be established."

There is already a well established free to join car share scheme in place for the South-West region that is backed by the local councils.

See: http://br-isc.blogspot.com/2007/07/car-share-scheme.html

"We are also looking to see if there are some park and ride options."

As we explained over a month ago, Cheltenham already have a park and ride scheme in place for matches at Whaddon Road, and could be extended to Rovers games.

We provided info on the CTFC park n ride scheme just a week after Rovers announced the move to Whaddon Rd:

http://br-isc.blogspot.com/2007/06/cheltenham-football-park-ride.html

It took us only a couple of minutes to find out information on car share schemes, and park n ride schemes.

Regarding coach travel, David confirmed that:

"coaches will leave from the usual locations, Horfield, Eastville and Kingswood."

The club should be promoting this information to encourage fans to purchase season tickets, rather than have info hidden away on a password protected forum.

1883 & BRSC seem in no rush to provide travel information to Rovers fans, as according to David Brain "It is almost 6 months away!"

That isn't good enough, because some fans need to know the travel plans BEFORE they are able to purchase season tickets, and the cut-off for discounts is only a week away.

Besides, Rovers fans shouldn't have to wait until 2008 for a bus scheme, it should be started in time for the beginning of next season to help get people to The Mem.

See: http://br-isc.blogspot.com/2007/07/coach-scheme-why-wait.html

In comparison, Cheltenham Town have announced that they are trialing a bus service for their fans. CTFC are operating bus services from Cirencester, Stroud, Tewkesbury and Evesham, each travelling to and from Whaddon Road for every Saturday home game.

http://www.cheltenhamtownfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/NewsDetail/0,,10434~1075774,00.html

Michael Morrison

2007-07-22T16:52:00.001Z

Rovers are believed to be interested in Cambridge Utd central defender Michael Morrison.

19 year-old Morrison has established himself as a regular for Cambridge Utd, and has trained with Everton, Preston, Newcastle United, Watford and Chelsea.

Morrison has won CUFC Young Player of the Year for the last two seasons.

Cambridge Utd have already turned down an undisclosed bid for Morrison from Southend Utd.

Cambridge Utd are thought to be interested in swapping one of their central-defenders for a Striker.

As it stands, Morrison will become a free agent when his contract is due to expire next July.

Car Share Scheme

2007-07-18T12:34:00.000Z

Whether you are a driver/passenger or if you would simply be interested in finding an alternative to getting to and from Rovers games, then this is the site for you.

http://www.2carshare.com/

Fans who live outside of the http://www.2carshare.com/ area, should try http://www.liftshare.org/

Coach Scheme - Why Wait?

2007-07-17T22:17:00.000Z

Norwich City have announced that they are providing coaches for their fans from over 100 locations to their stadium - as part of an environmental campaign.

Fans can book coach tickets up to a month in advance, and can even buy a coach Season Ticket to cover coach travel to and from all Home games.

Rovers should set up a similar scheme to include travel to both The Mem, and Rovers home games at Cheltenham.

In the first instance, coaches could run from Yate & Sodbury, W-S-M and Bath collecting people along the way to The Mem. There are 72 passenger seats on a standard double decker bus, so just 3 'Rovers Express' buses could provide transport for 216 people.

There is no reason why Rovers couldn't be running such a scheme from the start of the season rather than wait until the move to Cheltenham.

Norwich have even found a sponsor for their scheme - Flybe who operate routes to/from Bristol Airport.

Coach Travel to Cheltenham - Still No Details

2007-07-17T17:17:00.000Z

It has been announced that coach travel to Home games based at Cheltenham will cost only £2 for season ticket holders, but there are no details as to what times the coaches will leave, or even where the coaches will travel from.

With Season Ticket prices due to increase in a couple of weeks time, many Rovers fans need to know further details of the offer before deciding whether to purchase season tickets.

The cheap travel offer should be widly promoted to use as an incentive to encourage people to purchase tickets for the whole season, but without any details, the club will miss out on some sales of season tickets.

As no half-season tickets have been made available, fans don't have the option of purchasing such a ticket and then extending it to the full season once the travel plans have been announced.

It would be unfair on fans and bad for business to announce the travel details after the season ticket discount deadline and when the season had already started.

In the best interests of BRFC - to encourage as many fans as possible to purchase season tickets for the whole season - the club urgently needs to give more detail regarding the travel plans to Cheltenham.

Scott Howie

2007-07-17T16:00:00.000Z

Former Rovers 'keeper Scott Howie is to continue playing football.

The former Scotland Under 21 'keeper is now 35. He signed for Bristol Rovers in August 2001 making 90 appearances.

Howie had retired in 2006 to set up his own business as a tax consultant for footballers. He came out of retirement in April 2007 to sign for Kings Lynn as cover for Shaun Marshall.

Shaun Marshall had played for Rovers in pre-season games during the Summer of 2005. Atkins said "If finances would allow, I would definitely take him". Atkins again had him on trial at Torquay Utd. 28 year-old Marshall has now signed for Dereham Town.

Paul Crichton was due to sign on as Lynn's number one for the 2007/8 season, but he turned down a coaching job with West Ham only to join the coaching staff at Brighton.

Kings Lynn have secured the services of Scott Howie for the new season.

Jansen & Cusell

2007-07-17T15:05:00.000Z

Although the Rovers management are happy with the squad and believe it is good enough to challenge for promotion, they are still taking players on trial.

The Rovers management have stated that they may have a few players too many for the first part of the season as they look to get off to a good start - and to keep fans interested enough so that they will travel to Cheltenham later in the season.

The latest trialists are Dutch.

Former Ajax youngster Magid Jansen has spent the last couple of seasons playing mainly as a left-back for Stormvogels Telstar.

Former Rovers player Sergio Ommel played for Stormvogels Telstar, as did Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

Right-winger Tonnie Cusell has played top level Dutch football with Vitesse Arnhem, RKC Waaldwijk and FC Twente. He has also played for Holland at Under 17's level.

His favourite players are David Ginola, Francesco Totti and Gianfranco Zola. He's also a male model.

Rovers are due to play their first pre-season game on Thursday against Oxford Utd. However, the game will be of three 30min periods and be played behind closed doors at Bisham Abbey. The game will be used by both clubs to assess trialists and give all players a chance to play.

Rob Gier

2007-07-16T10:41:00.000Z

Reports claim that former Wimbledon defender Rob Gier will be on trial at Rovers this week.

27 year-old Gier plays as a central defender or at right-back.

Gier progressed through the Academy ranks at Wimbledon, and was member of the squad when the club controversially moved to Milton Keynes. He was released at the end of the 2003/04 season.

The next stop for Gier was at Rushden & Diamonds where he won a supporters Player Of The Year award and a became a firm favourite with the Nene Park crowd. However, R&D were relegated out of the Football League and Gier was released.

Last season, Gier played 17 games for Cambridge Utd on a non-contract basis before being released and then joining Woking.

Gier has already played pre-season games for Welling United against Charlton, and Folkestone.

http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=21496

£5 Postage for Mem Parking Space

2007-07-14T00:21:00.000Z

Following on from the complaints about the level of service offered by Rovers ebay auctions over the last 3 months, Rovers have put up for auction a "MEMORIAL STADIUM MATCHDAY PRIVATE PARKING SPACE".

Rather amazingly, Rovers are demanding a £5 postage charge for the parking space.

Fortunately, there is no postage charge providing the winner collects the parking space in person.

3-2-1

2007-07-11T12:20:00.000Z

No, not the 1980's TV show featuring Dusty Bin, but apparently the length of contracts given to Rovers players.

3 Years - Lewis Haldane
2 Years - Richard Walker
1 Year - Chris Carruthers

Some Rovers fans will be surprised that Chris Carruthers has been offered a new contract, and that Lewis Haldane has received a 3 year deal. Both will need to improve their game.

However, contracts can have so many clauses attached that they can be much like trying to decipher a Ted Rogers riddle.

Players may have clauses allowing them to leave providing it is for a certain fee, can be entitled to an extended contract providing they play more than x number of games, can leave if the club is relegated etc etc.

Therefore, the stated lengths of new contracts don't really tell the full story.

Neil Featherby, who represents players in transfer negotiations and is a director of Sport Link Promotions, said: “Buy-out clauses have changed the face of football. You can't have lower league sides holding back a player's career by demanding over-inflated transfer fees.”

He said the clauses went “right down to the non-league scene”.

New Balls

2007-07-10T21:16:00.000Z

Mitre have been the official match ball suppliers to the Football League for a number of years, and were the first to introduce the revolutionary yellow winter ball several years ago.

Last year's Mitre Football League ball has been discontinued, and the new generation of balls called 'Revolve' will be brought into service from the first day of the new Football League season on August 11th.

The new balls represent the latest in Mitre's football technology, and come complete with a brand-new distinctive design.

The Rovers squad will now have the opportunity to train using the new balls in order to get used to them.

Mitre's renewed four year deal will run until the end of the 2010-11 season.

For the 2007-08 season, each Championship club will play their Home games with a bespoke ball displaying the logo and colours of the home team.

Ebay Complaints

2007-07-10T20:54:00.000Z

BRFC have spent a lot of time and money promoting their ebay auctions.

However, over the last 3 months, 5 of the 7 BRFC ebay auctions have received negative comments.

These include:

"Never received, no replys to mails."

"No communication from seller still not received item should never have trusted BRFC"

"Got it in the end! Collected it myself after 3 weeks wait."

"Received invoice 10 day after auction, offered to pay, received unpaid"

"Took a few weeks to turn up"

This hardly inspires confidence in the way the auctions are run and can give a bad impression of BRFC.

Ticket Prices

2007-07-09T17:16:00.000Z

The record books will show that Rovers promotion in season 2006-07 was the most successful on the pitch for a number of years.

Rovers also paid their highest transfer fee for a number of years - Rickie Lambert for a reported fee of 200k.

However, despite the success on the pitch, the average attendance for Rovers League Two Home games actually declined by 8.5 percent on the previous season.

Average Attendance:

2006-2007: 5,480 (League Two)
2005-2006: 5,989 (League Two)
2004-2005: 7,077 (League Two)

Rovers took nearly 40,000 to Wembley and the Millennium Stadium - so the fanbase is there - yet more and more Rovers fans have become selective as to which Home games they watch.

Despite the decline in attendances, Rovers have announced big increases in ticket prices for next season.

The policy seems to be to squeeze even more money from a decreasing number of people, rather than to maximise income through filling the stadium on a regular basis.

Aston Villa is thought to be one club benefiting from the high cost of watching Rovers. An adult + child can watch a Premiership game at Villa from a seat in a family stand for just £20 in total. Even for the highest category games against the likes of Man Utd, Chelsea, and Liverpool, it costs an Adult + child just £30.

In comparison, at Rovers it will cost an adult + child £32 to sit in a tent to watch a game in the third tier of English football.

In addition, the cheapest Adult season ticket for a seat at Aston Villa for season 2007-08 is just £200.

Richard Walker

2007-07-09T13:41:00.000Z

Richard Walker today joined Rovers for a pre-season training session.

However, the forward is currently out of contract, and negotiations on a new contract with Rovers have been dragging on for many months.

Walsall were thought to be interested in Walker, but have now signed Tommy Mooney.

Leyton Orient are rumored to want to sign Walker and Wayne Gray of Yeovil Town, but Rovers remain optimistic that Walker will sign a new contract with the Gas.

W-S-M Ticket Prices

2007-07-08T20:58:00.000Z

W-S-M have announced that prices for the visit of a Bristol Rovers XI to the Woodspring Stadium on Saturday, July 28, kick-off 3pm, will be:

Adults £5
OAPs and students £3
Under 16s £2
Children under five will be admitted free.

Gas Shop

2007-07-06T23:56:00.001Z

Buy stuff from Amazon UK via the Gas Shop - we won't waste the money on shares etc. it will go on booze.

All items are hand selected to appeal to Gasheads.

Click here to have a look:

http://astore.amazon.co.uk/gas-store-21/

New Feature - Forum Links

2007-07-06T17:51:00.000Z

To the right of all pages is a box containing direct links to all the best forums for other League One clubs.

Lockwood, Twigg, & Skinner

2007-07-05T16:43:00.000Z

Former Rovers player Matt Lockwood has signed for Nottingham Forest.

Justin Skinner has joined Lewes as assistant-manager.

Gary Twigg has signed for Oxford on a 2 year contract.

Press Conference Summary

2007-07-05T14:06:00.000Z

Rovers have confirmed the signings of Andy Williams & Joe Jacobson on 3 year contracts.

A fee for Williams has been agreed with Hereford Utd so there is no need for a tribunal. The fee has not yet been disclosed.

Rovers hope to announce the signing of David Pipe within the next 48 hours. A fee has been agreed with Notts County. Pipe is having a medical with Rovers, and a contract agreement is close.

Negotiations continue with out of contract players, but Rovers are not willing to let the situation drag on with those players, and aim to have those players signed on Monday and Tuesday of next week.

Bristolian Daniel Rose has been released by Manchester Utd and is to join Rovers on a trial basis. He is a midfielder and was the captian of the Man Utd reserve team. Last season, he played 21 games on-loan to Oxford Utd. Also on trial will be James Fraser from Worthing FC.

Rovers may look to take a central defender on-loan from a Premiership club to cover for the injury to Craig Hinton.

A move for Phil Jeavons is not completely out of the question but he might be too expensive (probably depends upon whether of not Richard Walker signs a new contract with Rovers).

BRFC PR Disaster

2007-07-04T16:06:00.000Z

Gashead Paul Hobbs organised a 16-mile trek from Bath Rugby Club to Rovers Memorial Stadium on Saturday to raise money for the Bristol-based Meningitis UK.

More than 150 people took part in the walk to The Mem including City player Scott Murray, City Chairman Steve Lansdown, and Bristol Rugby Club head coach Richard Hill.

Notably, there was no club official to represent Rovers.

Ryan, Thorpe, and Leary

2007-07-04T14:39:00.000Z

Former Rovers player Robbie Ryan has signed for Welling United.

Lee Thorpe has joined Brentford.

Michael Leary has signed for Barnet.

Pipe Dream cont..

2007-07-03T12:09:00.000Z

Notts County have officially confirmed that they are close to agreeing a fee with Rovers for the services of David Pipe.

Pipe had asked Notts County for permission to speak to Rovers. Permission has now been granted, and he is due to have talks with Rovers later this week. In the meantime, Pipe is training with Notts County, whereas Rovers don't return to training until next Monday.

Notts County are thought to be very keen to sign lightning-quick England youth left-winger Myles Weston who is a free agent after being released by Charlton. County have put an offer to the player but County claim they need to ship players out before they can make any more signings.

We first revealed Rovers interest in Pipe on the 26th of June.

See: http://br-isc.blogspot.com/2007/06/pipe-dream.html

Fans View by J Ho

2007-07-02T18:32:00.000Z

As I stood on the terrace at London Road last August with the wind thoroughly knocked out of my early season sails I could never have dreamt of what was to come later in the campaign. The pre-match excitement of a new season had been thoroughly, almost predictably blown away as new boy Steve Phillips shipped four goals on his debut. Totally deflated, it was a long train journey back to Edinburgh I can tell you.

Even as late as February we were still a distinctly lower table side with regular errors creeping into our game and a weekly tentative look over our collective shoulders to see what was happening at the bottom end of the league.

Then something unthinkable happened. We drew our friends from across the city in the cup. And with this extraordinary catalyst we not only beat them over two legs, preventing them from scoring in 180 minutes of football, but we went on to impress at Cardiff against higher league opposition and subsequently embark upon an astonishing run of form that saw us celebrating in the rain at Wembley as we secured a promotion that few of us thought possible.

What was even more surprising than the end result was the manner in which we achieved this feat. Having been a Rovers fan since around 1990 I can happily say that we played some of the best football that I can remember in the final period of the season. Okay, I may have been slightly jaundiced by the Graydon and Atkins eras of recent times where the ability to kick the ball the furthest appeared the main criteria for team selection, but some of our play was simply outstanding considering the level we were playing at.

The play-off semis and the Wembley final provided a wonderful showcase of what we could achieve and simultaneously dismissed our Sky hoodoo. Much of the credit for this must go to Paul and Lennie who have nurtured this team on a day to day basis and never gave up believing that we could win with quality football, even when we were struggling to pick up points. Of course, and I cannot deny slightly begrudgingly, some of the credit must also go to the board. Whether you agree with their ‘tactics’ or not, it is only fair that if they pick up the tab for the failures they should pick up some credit for the victories.

But what of the future? It is undeniable to anyone who attended the latter matches of the season that there is a buzz and a spirit back in the Rovers camp, both staff and fans. The atmosphere at Hartlepool on the last day of the season is like almost nothing I have experienced before, save for those few rare victories over the 82ers. The second semi-final at Lincoln was just an extraordinary night. It was as if we were on a runaway train that just couldn’t stop and all of the division and poison of the last decade was, at least temporarily, sidelined as we all celebrated the return of the Rovers spirit.

With a new stadium in the pipeline, the team mostly still intact, and a management team that have been so tenacious in their desire to play good football there appears to be a lot to look forward to. What is critical is that we maintain our status in this division whilst the board ensure that the new stadium is built on time and to budget. I hope and pray that the former is achievable and I am sure that if the board can deliver their part it will go at least some way to re-uniting the fanbase that makes this club so special.

What an opportunity for everyone associated with Bristol Rovers. Lets hope we can take it and move the club forward so that feelings like those that we experienced in the latter part of last season can be a regular part of following the gas.

J Ho

Jamie Cureton

2007-06-30T01:29:00.000Z

Former Rovers player Jamie Cureton has signed for Norwich City - the club he was shown the exit door from to join Rovers.

Born and bred in the Bristol area, Cureton was part of that golden West Country generation that Rovers missed out on and included the likes of Darren Eadie, Andy Johnson and, albeit a few years behind, Craig Bellamy.

JC has always been first to declare that he never did himself justice during his first spell at Norwich, and has long held a desire to return to put the record straight.

Norwich fans will remember him most for dying his hair green to play against arch rivals Ipswich Town.

Done as a bet with then fellow Norwich team-mate & Rovers fan Andy Johnson, legend has it that Cureton was the first to take the plunge in the solemn belief that his midfield side-kick would follow suit. Johnson had 'second thoughts' and left Cureton to face the manager's disbelief on his own. The fact that the then 20-year-old would score a peach of a goal from the edge of the box to help Norwich win 2-1 merely added to the legend that was Jamie Cureton.

Jamie will be delighted with the lure of a 3 year contract, and the fee is said to be 550K to 800K.

"I have always said that Norwich would be my preference because it's where I started my career as a kid," Cureton told the East Anglian Daily Times earlier this month.

Just a year ago, it was believed that Jamie was all set to sign for Rovers but others at the club didn't want him to return.

Having picked up the Championship's Golden Boot for his 24 goals last term, Norwich City boss Peter Grant was always going to be interested.

The one minus for Norwich is his age - Cureton will be 32 in August and will now lack a potential profit from a re-sale value.

Half-Season Tickets

2007-06-26T13:03:00.000Z

There have been lots of complaints from Rovers fans that there should be half-season tickets available for purchase - these would cover games at The Mem until Rovers move to Cheltenham.

Most of the attractive fixtures are to be held at The Mem.

BRFC will fear that it they offer half-season tickets then people will only purchase those, and then wait and see how well the team is doing before deciding whether to watch Rovers at Cheltenham.

Also, Rovers don't know exactly when they will move to Cheltenham - or at least have not announced a firm date.

Fans who commit to purchasing full season tickets have the advantage of being able to travel to/from Bristol & Cheltenham for just £2.

There are also fans who will be unable to watch Rovers play every home game at Cheltenham, but would like to see all the games at The Mem. Those fans face the inconvenience of paying the full ticket rate on a per game basis, and the prospect of being in a different seat at every game.

It could be argued that those who commit for the whole season are rewarded with lower prices (and a travel offer), so why should those who won't go regularly to watch Rovers at Cheltenham also receive lower prices?

With the more attractive fixtures being held at The Mem, most will pay the going rate anyway.

A Solution?

A simple solution could be to allow the sale of half-season tickets based upon the early-bird price x the number of Home league games held at The Mem.

This would save those fans from the inconvenience of having to purchase every Mem ticket in advance, and some people would not have to change seats for every home game at The Mem.

This should not be announced until the beginning of August, so that it will not have much of an impact on the sale of full season tickets, and even then it should be emphasised that full-season tickets offer the best value.

Pipe Dream?

2007-06-26T00:12:00.000Z

Aaron Lescott has still not signed a contract offer from Rovers, but Notts County player David 'Pipey' Pipe is thought to be interesting Paul Trollope and Lennie Lawrence.

Pipe is popular with the County fans as he shows a lot of effort during games, and is Notts' current longest-serving player.

He mainly plays at right-back, but can also play as a winger and cover a number of positions.

Pipe previously played for Coventry City. He had a year left on his contract with Coventry before giving up a good wage at Highfield Road to join Notts County in 2004.

Pipe still has a year left to run on his contract with Notts County.

He has captained the Wales Under 21 team, and played one game for Wales at senior level - against the USA in 2003 - where he came on as a sub'.

Last season, Wycombe Wanderers failed with an alleged £100,000 bid for Pipe during the January transfer window.

http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=33061

Gas in Reserve

2007-06-25T13:40:00.001Z

Rovers are facing another season of sub-standard reserve team football. However, it could have been even worse.

Plans to set up a new league system have failed to get off the ground - Football League officials wanted to create a Championship reserve league to mirror that operated by the Premiership, but failed to get enough backing from clubs to go ahead with the idea.

Many clubs felt the benefit of a slight improvement in the standard of opposition was offset by the prospect of travelling long distances - Plymouth and Preston, for example - to play reserve games.

For season 2006/07 there were just 10 clubs in the Wales & West Pontin's Holidays Combination:

AFC Bournemouth
Bristol City
Bristol Rovers
Cardiff City
Cheltenham Town
Plymouth Argyle
Swansea City
Swindon Town
Weymouth
Yeovil Town

If the new Championship reserve league had been created, Bristol City, Plymouth Argyle, and Cardiff City would have joined the new league - leaving Rovers with only 6 clubs to play reserve league football against.

Combination fixtures are due to be announced next month, with the first matches in week starting Monday, August 20.

Pirate News - Again

2007-06-23T10:51:00.000Z

Rovers fans are reporting that they have received several copies of Pirate News.

The club is wasting large sums of money by printing and posting thousands of copies more than they need too.

The problem has been happening for years, yet Rovers have still not sorted it out.

Also see the related article:

http://br-isc.blogspot.com/2007/06/pirate-news.html

Season Ticket Form

2007-06-23T02:27:00.000Z

So you don't know where and when Rovers are going to be playing at Home next season... and you don't know Rovers travel plans to get season ticket holders to Home games at Cheltenham... and Rovers don't even have a Season Ticket form online to print and fill-in so you can pop it in the post.

Take a leap into the unknown and print-off, fill-in, and send off the season ticket form as provided online by us.

Click on the image and print.

Send to:

Pirate Leisure
The Memorial Stadium
Filton Avenue
Bristol
BS7 0BF

TEL: 0117 961 1772

Home & Away On The Same Night

2007-06-23T01:47:00.000Z

According to Northampton Town, Rovers will play at Home to Northampton Town on Tuesday 4th of March 2008.

Whereas according to Rovers, Rovers will play Away to Cheltenham Town on Tuesday 4th of March 2008.

Either Rovers or Northampton have made a mistake, or Rovers face playing Home and Away on the same night against 2 different clubs.

Regardless, Rovers are to due play a Home or Away game at Cheltenham on Tuesday 4th of March 2008.

Season Tickets - No Travel Plans

2007-06-23T01:31:00.000Z

Rovers have said that Season Ticket holders will be entitled to travel to watch Rovers Home games at Cheltenham for just £2.

However, those considering purchasing a season ticket have not even been told of any details regarding where the pick up points will be, or even when Rovers Home games will be played at Cheltenham.

Rovers need to publish and promote a comprehensive transport plan for our move to Cheltenham so that more people will purchase season tickets.

If Rovers are serious about encouraging as many people as possible to purchase season tickets, then it is vital that people are given as much information as possible regarding the travel offer and not just quoted a travel price.

Fixture Changes

2007-06-22T18:29:00.000Z

It has not yet been announced on the Official Rovers Website, but a some of Rovers fixtures have changed.

1. Luton Town Away is now a 12pm kick-off to avoid a clash with the England Euro 2008 qualifier against Israel.

2. Rovers Home game against Leeds Utd has been moved from Saturday 15th September to Friday 14th September at the request of the police.

3. The game Away to Hartelpool United has moved forward a day to Friday 12th October to avoid a clash with the England Euro 2008 qualifier against Estonia.

4. The Home game against Cheltenham Town has moved back a day to Wednesday 5th of December to avoid a Home game on the same day as Bristol City.

5. The Away game to Tranmere Rovers has moved from Saturday 12th of January to Friday the 11th.

6. The New Year´s Day game Away to Southend United is now a 1pm Kick-off.

7. The Away game against Northampton Town has moved forward to Tuesday 4th March, to avoid the Cheltenham Festival.

What No Quarters?

2007-06-20T20:13:00.000Z

A few days ago, the official BRFC website announced that Rovers new Away shirt would be "green and black quarters".

The news was welcomed by many Gasheads who had fond memories of previous black and quartered Rovers shirts.

Fans were therefore shocked when the new Away shirt was revealed to have no quarters - it's just plain green shirt with black trim and looks more like a Plymouth Argyle shirt than a Rovers shirt.

The blunder only serves to highlight Rovers communication problems.

Pirate News

2007-06-19T13:09:00.001Z

Printers/publishers will often create a pdf version of a magazine they are printing - for free if you ask nicely.

Adobe PDF files look exactly like original documents.

To save the club money, and to give Pirate News a wider readership, a pdf version should be made available to view, download and print from the official website.

People should then be given an option to be taken off the Pirate News mailing list - as they could view/print/download the online pdf version instead.

This would save BRFC a considerable sum of money in printing and postage costs, whilst increasing the readership, and be environmentally friendly.

James Fraser

2007-06-19T12:09:00.001Z

Bristol Rovers have handed a month-to-month contract to the 18 year-old Grandson of a former gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser.

Midfielder James Fraser, who has captained the English Schools Under-18 side, will join the Pirates for pre-season training.

Ex-gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser who now organises gangland tours of the East End, has spent 42 years of his life in prison.

Andy Gurney & Rob Claridge

2007-06-17T11:07:00.000Z

Former Bristol Rovers player Andy Gurney has signed for Havant & Waterlooville.

33 year old Gurney started his career in 1992 as a trainee at Bristol Rovers, making over 100 first team appearances through a five year tenure before moving to Torquay and then on to Reading in a £100,000 move in 1999.

From Reading he signed for Swindon in 2001, playing over 140 games in three seasons, and returned to the side in 2005 after a two year tenure at Swansea City.

Having made almost 500 career appearances, he retired from full time league football in July 2006 while recovering from an ankle injury.

Last season he started a non-league career at Clevedon Town, then joining Weston-Super-Mare in February. With the Seagulls he played 10 of the side’s last 12 games, scoring three goals.

Meanwhile, former Bristol Rovers striker Rob Claridge has left Mangotsfield United and signed for Paulton Rovers.

Steve Elliott Rejects Posh to Stay at Rovers

2007-06-16T01:04:00.000Z

Steve Elliott has rejected a contract offer from Peterborough Utd and has confirmed that he will be signing a new contract with Rovers.

Posh boss Darren Ferguson said: "Steve telephoned me to tell me his decision yesterday morning. Obviously I'm disappointed, but I respect his decision and there are no hard feelings from us. We do have alternative defensive targets and we are now concentrating on them."

Barry Fry's conduct would have done little to impress Steve Elliott or Rovers.

Just as Steve Elliott was preparing for one of the biggest games of his career - the play-off final at Wembley - Fry had revealed to the media that Steve was to join Peterborough Utd.

Elliott said: "Peterborough spoke to me before the play-offs, but I didn't really want anything to do with it. I just wanted to focus on the play-offs and help us get promoted.

Steve Elliott is now set to sign a 3 year contract with Rovers.

The Changing Face of English Football

2007-06-14T23:05:00.000Z

Badri Patarkatsishvili. Kia Joorabchian. Alexandre Gaydamak. Gunnar Gislason. Antonio Caliendo. Firoz Kassam. Thaksin Shinawatra. Kjell Inge Rokke.

The names mean anything to you? Well, here's a few more and it may become a bit clearer.

Randy Lerner. Mohamed al-Fayad. Malcolm Glazer. Vladimir Romanov. Roman Abramovich. Samir Nassib Hammam.

Yes, all these gentlemen, hailing from Reykjavik to Riyadh, from Vilnius to the Volga, are (or have been) owners of British football clubs or have been (or still are) seeking to become owners of one.

Some of these owners have saved clubs from extinction – and God knows, there have been countless British owners who have taken clubs to the brink of that and beyond.

What deeply concerns fans, though, is the accelerating trend towards the British game becoming prey to the influence of off-shore investors and companies whose financial operations are complex beyond the dreams of meta-physics, not to mention foreign agents whose dealings the FA appear impotent – or unwilling – to control.

There was a time when clubs were not allowed to become PLCs, when dividends were forbidden and directors could receive no profit from their clubs. But all that changed when the FA turned a blind eye to clubs becoming subsidiaries of a PLC.

The vultures started gathering, noting that many clubs owned their own stadia which occupied prime urban sites. They landed when the media rights became worth hundreds of millions; they gorged themselves on the thought of the world-wide franchises they could exploit.

There is, extraordinary to say, nothing in place to regulate this, in spite of the fact that Premiership clubs are becoming increasingly valuable assets.

And yet, while it is true that unprecedented wads of cash are being thrown at the Premier League by Sky and others, not much of it is spent on the English game. In the past two seasons £500 million of it - half a billion, if you prefer - went straight back overseas to pay for foreign players.

How much worse would it be if the profits of clubs, as well, were now to find their way into numbered bank accounts in the Cayman Islands?

We can't say we haven't been warned.

Mr Glazer's massive borrowings to purchase Manchester United have had to be under-written by the club's entire asset value. Mr Lerner at Aston Villa has promised, not to concentrate on the local community, but to exploit worldwide marketing opportunities.

Mr Abramovich's billions at Chelsea have single-handedly destroyed a transfer market that at one time looked like achieving sanity.

And Media Sports Investment's involvement at West Ham appeared to be a prelude to bringing South American-style rent-a-player to this country.

Who's next?

Will the FA do what it conspicuously failed to do with previous take-overs, and that is to investigate them before they happen?

It will be pointed out that there is already a 'fit and proper person' test in place for potential directors of football clubs.

But it is pitifully inadequate. All it really amounts to is a signed statement by the applicant that he or she considers themselves a fit and proper person. No examination of business ethics. Or the source of funds. Or even the potential for money-laundering.

Quite apart from the inevitable consequences of this entrepreneurial brand of ownership – the alienation of fans, raising of ticket prices, neglect of grass-roots football and so on – there is a pressing political dimension to it as well.

If we want to persuade the EU that football clubs should be exempt from normal competition and employment laws, we have to demonstrate that our prime concerns are sporting and social – which they were in the not-so-distant past – rather than the amassing of vast profits to be paid to shareholders (or not as the case may be).

And if all this seems a bit remote from where we are currently sitting in League One, we should remember that it is the whole fragile structure of football in this country that could be in danger of fragmenting.

So when and if football's own global warming does take hold, we need to be sure we have our own iceberg to cling to.

Credit: R Waghorn

Steve Elliott & Richard Walker

2007-06-14T17:38:00.000Z

Steve Elliott & Richard Walker are yet to sign new contracts with Rovers.

Steve Elliott and his agent have now agreed a new contract "in principle" with Rovers and it is hoped that he will sign towards the end of next week when people involved return from holiday.

Rovers have made what they believe is a good offer to Richard Walker, however negotiations are described as "on-going".

Contracts usually run to/from July 1st.

Fixture List for Season 2007-08

2007-06-14T09:41:00.001Z

Rovers are to play high profile home games at The Mem including fixtures against

Nottm Forest
Leeds Utd
Yeovil Town
Millwall
Swansea City
AFC Bournemouth
Cheltenham Town

The Home game against Swindon Town is due to take place in Cheltenham.

Exactly when Rovers move to Cheltenham has not yet been announced, but it is thought likely that Rovers last home game at The Mem will be against Carlisle United on Saturday, 29th of December 2007.

The 3rd Round of the FA Cup is on Saturday, 5th of January' 2008 and if Rovers were drawn at Home to a big club then the temptation could be to play the game at The Mem.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/bristol_rovers/fixtures/default.stm

Thumbs Down for Commemorative Shirt

2007-06-13T17:22:00.000Z

Bristol Rovers have announced the launch of a new football shirt to commemorate season 2006/07.

BRFC claim the shirt will become the new 3rd kit for season 2007/08. However, Rovers have already claimed that the mainly blue shirt will be the 3rd kit choice for 2007/08. So which is it to be?

Fans complaints about the black & white commemorative shirt revolve around the shirt design having nothing to do with Rovers - it does not look like a Rovers shirt and isn't even in Rovers colours.

Rovers Director Barry Bradshaw owns the south-west Errea area contract so benefits from the sale of Errea kits and merchandise.

Unique?

BRFC claim "the design and style of this one-off souvenir version would be unique."

Here's the Rovers version:

However, a quick look at the bog standard Errea designs for amateur teams reveals a remarkable similarity to the design Rovers have been given by Errea.

A closer look at the Rovers image of the commemorative shirt reveals that the Rovers badge and the Cowlin logo are just graphics that have been added onto a picture of an basic Errea shirt - the logo graphics are perfectly straight but the shirt isn't.

It has no relevance to Rovers achievements last season - it just looks like a poor excuse for Barry's Errea to pass off some dodgy looking shirts to gullible Rovers fans.

The badge

On the shirt will be a badge

On the badge, the words 'Millennium Stadium' appear above 'Wembley' - Whereas Rovers actually won at Wembley and the occasion was of far more importance than the game at the Millennium Stadium, therefore you would have thought that the word 'Wembley' would have been above 'Millennium'.

Not forgetting that the badge does not actually mention the fact that Rovers were winners at Wembley.

It gets even worse

Remarkably, Barry Bradshaw's Errea actually have a design that could have been passed off as a Rovers shirt.

Errea have drawn influence from BRFC and already sell a Black Arab style shirt to other clubs - except to Rovers.

Instead of using a design that looked nothing like a Rovers shirt, Barry's Errea could even have used the blue & black, black & sky blue, or blue & yellow 'Black Arab' style shirts from the Errea catalogue. Look at the image below:

The incompetence is quite staggering. Ultimately, a lack of sales means Rovers lose out on revenue. The ironic thing is that Barry Bradshaw would lose out too - so it is in everyone's best interests for Rovers to have a more appropriate design.

And there's more

Rovers 'keepers shirts are standard Errea designs too.

A quote from a Rovers fan who summed up the situation "It sucks of exploitation. Although I can't blame the club for floating ideas to incur more funds. However, they need to think more about what the fans themselves would want and gain from a product. What do the fans gain from a never to be worn strip, not in club colours, with a badge that just seems a wishy washy 'boast' about reaching two finals...and not what we actually did. ie. gained promotion."

Track Record

The latest commemorative shirt follows on from the poor Millennium Stadium commemorative shirt effort - which turned out to be nothing more than the end of line Home shirt with some embroidery added on - and even then they got the text wrong.

What now?

It was a good idea to have a commemorative shirt but by the time it's actually available to buy in the shop (there's a 8 week wait) people will be looking to the season ahead. In fact the new season may have started by the time the shirt is in the shops, and the new green & black Away kit would have been launched by then. The danger for BRFC is to be being stuck with 100's of commemorative shirts that won't sell and Barry's Errea not taking them back.

Do a better version of the commemorative shirt (as it is a good idea).

FA Cup Dates

2007-06-13T13:11:00.001Z

Below are the FA Cup dates for the coming season:

Saturday 10th November 2007 - First Round
Saturday 1st December 2007 - Second Round
Saturday 5th January 2008 - Third Round
Saturday 26th January 2008 - Fourth Round
Saturday 16th February 2008 - Fifth Round
Saturday 8th March 2008 - Sixth Round
Saturday/Sunday 5th/6th April 2008 - Semi Finals
Saturday 17th May 2008 - Final

Andy Williams

2007-06-13T13:02:00.000Z

Rovers are thought to have signed Andy Williams from Hereford Utd on a 3 year contract.

Although Williams is out of contract with Hereford Utd, they are entitled to compensation for Williams as he is under 24 and Hereford had offered him an improved contract to stay.

It is now thought to be between Rovers and Hereford to agree a suitable compensation package, or go to a tribunal.

A pre-season friendly between the two clubs was cancelled due to both clubs being unable to agree on a suitable date to stage the fixture.

http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=13433

Rovers v Crystal Palace

2007-06-13T09:54:00.001Z

Rovers have been drawn at Home to Crystal Palace in the first round of the Carling Cup

The first round ties are due to be played on the 13th, 14th, or 15th of August.

UPDATE: Rovers v Palace is on the 14th of August.

Previous Meeting

The last time the two clubs met was on the 18th December 1990 when Rovers played Away to Palace in the Zenith Data Systems Cup. Rovers took the lead with a goal from Tony Pounder only for Rovers to lose 2-1. Nigel Martyn played in goal for Palace - Palace went on to win the Cup at Wembley.

Zenith Data Systems Cup

The Full Members Cup was an English football league cup competition held from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup (1987-89) and the Zenith Data Systems Cup (1989-92).

The competition was created after the Heysel Stadium disaster, when English clubs were banned from European competition, as an additional competition for clubs in the top two divisions (hence the name - these clubs were 'Full Members' of the Football League, with full voting rights.

Teams from the lower two divisions were Associate Members and were eligible for the Football League Trophy). However, it was never taken very seriously by either clubs or players - it was optional, and many of the larger clubs did not participate at all in the competition's history, and it was cancelled after 7 seasons, when the Premiership arose from the old Football League First Division and reduced the Football League to three divisions.

Cheltenham Football Park & Ride

2007-06-12T14:19:00.001Z

There is a FREE matchday shuttle bus (unless advised otherwise) which runs between the Cheltenham Racecourse Park & Ride facility and to/from the Off Licence located near the junction of Whaddon Road and Prestbury Road (250mtrs from ground).

Times of the service for afternoon matches(ko 3.00pm):- Every 20 minutes from 1.00pm until the last bus leaves the Racecourse at 2.40pm. After the game departures are at, 5.00pm, 5.20pm and 5.40pm.

For evening matches(ko 7.45pm):- Every 20 minutes from 6.00pm until 7.20pm. Following the match, 9.45pm, 10.05pm and 10.25pm.

Cheltenham Town Ticket Prices

2007-06-12T14:08:00.000Z

It remains to be seen whether Rovers will match the Cheltenham Town match-day ticket prices when Rovers move to Whaddon Rd, but here are the Cheltenham Town ticket prices for season 2007/08.

Cheltenham Town are not offering any early bird discounts for 2007/08 and therefore, for most matches, you will be able to purchase your tickets on the day of the game as you enter through each turnstile. It is not known whether Rovers will continue with the BRFC early bird scheme when moving to Whaddon Rd.

HOME SUPPORTERS 2007/08

Terrace & Family Stand

Adult £13.00

Concession £9.00

16 and under £5.00

Stagecoach West Stand - A&B

Adult £17.00

Concession £11.00

16 and under £7.00

In2Print - All seated stand along side of pitch

Adult £18.00

Concession £12.00

16 and under £7.00

Disabled (helper free) Standard price £12.00

AWAY SUPPORTERS - 2007/08

Carlsberg & In2Print Stand

Adult £18.00

Concession £12.00

16 and under £7.00

Disabled(helper free)Standard price £12.00

* CONCESSIONS are persons aged 65 years or over and STUDENTS who are in FULL TIME education and who additionally are over 16. It has been decided that both category's will need to register with the Football Club thereby becoming members of 'FREE to Join Membership Schemes'.

The membership card will need to be shown at the point of sale and if requested, also at the point of entry to the ground.

Fixture Dates

2007-06-12T13:13:00.000Z

Rovers fans can soon begin working out their travel plans for the new season with the long-awaited release of fixtures just days away.

The Football League will officially release the fixture lists on Thursday, at 10am - 24 hours after the draw for the first round of the Carling Cup is revealed.

Carling Cup first round matches will be played in the week commencing August 13, with second round ties a fortnight later. The third round begins in the week starting September 24, with the fourth round kicking off in the week of October 29. Quarter-finals are scheduled for the week beginning December 3, with the semis in the week of January 7 and 21.

The final is at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, February 24.