The club was formed following a meeting at the Eastville Restaurant in Bristol in September 1883. They initially went by the name Black Arabs F.C., the name coming from the Arabs rugby team and the predominantly black kits in which they played. This name only lasted for the 1883–84 season, and in a bid to draw more fans from the local area the club was renamed Eastville Rovers in 1884.
The club played only friendly games until the 1887–88 season, when they took part in the Gloucestershire Cup for the first time. They first joined a league in 1892, when they became a founder member of the Bristol and District League, which three years later was renamed the Western League. In 1897 Eastville Rovers joined the Birmingham and District League, and for two seasons played in both this league and the Western League. At the beginning of the 1897–98 season, the team turned professional and changed their name to Bristol Eastville Rovers, and on 17 February 1899 the name was officially changed to Bristol Rovers. In 1899 Bristol Rovers joined the newly-formed Southern League, where they remained until 1920, winning the league title along the way in 1905.
For the 1920–21 season, the Southern League teams were moved into the new Division Three of the Football League, which became Division Three (South) the following season. They remained in this division for over 30 years, before winning the league, and promotion in the 1952–53 season.
Promotion has been won by the team on three other occasions, in 1973–74 from the Third Division to the Second Division, again in 1989–90 as Division Three champions and also in 2006–07 to the Football League One. The team have been relegated four times in their history - in 1961–62, 1980–81, 1992–93 and most recently at the end of the 2000–01 season,[5] when the team were relegated to the fourth level of league football for the first time in their history.
The highest position in the football ladder achieved by Rovers at the end of season is sixth place in the second tier, which they did twice; once in 1955–56, and again in 1958–59. The closest they came to the top flight was in 1955–56, when they ended the season just four points below the promotion positions. The lowest league position achieved by the club is twenty-third out of twenty-four teams in the fourth tier, which was attained during the 2001–02 season. It was a narrow escape from relegation from the Football League on two counts; firstly they ended just one league position above the relegation zone, and secondly the rules were changed the following season to increase the number of relegation places to two, meaning that if Rovers had finished in that position one year later they would have been relegated.
Bristol Rovers playing against Tranmere Rovers at Wembley in 1990.The only major cup competition won by Bristol Rovers is the 1972 Watney Cup, when they beat Sheffield United in the final. The club also won the Division Three (South) Cup in 1934–35, as well as winning or sharing the Gloucestershire Cup on 32 occasions. The team have never played in European competition, the closest they came was when they missed out on reaching the international stage of the Anglo-Italian Cup in the 1992–93 season on a coin toss held over the phone with West Ham United.
In the FA Cup, Rovers have reached the quarter-final stage on three occasions. The first time was in 1950–51 when they faced Newcastle United at St James' Park in front of a crowd of 62,787, which is the record for the highest attendance at any Bristol Rovers match. The second time they reached the quarter final was in 1957–58, when they lost to Fulham, and the most recent appearance at this stage of the competition was during the 2007–08 season, when they faced West Bromwich Albion. They were the first Division Three team to win an FA Cup tie away to a Premier League side, when in 2002 they beat Derby County 3-1 at Pride Park Stadium.
They have twice reached the final of the Football League Trophy, in 1989–90 and 2006–07, but finished runners-up on both occasions. On the second occasion they didn't allow a single goal against them in the competition en route to the final, but conceded the lead less than a minute after the final kicked off. |