Bristol Rovers were formed, as the Black Arabs, in September 1883, following a meeting of five young men at a restaurant on Stapleton Road, in the Eastville district of the city.

The name of the club was derived from the black shirts worn by the players and a rugby club known as the Arabs, who played on an adjacent pitch, at Purdown, in East Bristol.

The Black Arabs played their first match, a friendly fixture, on 1st December 1883 and played a further nine games during their first season, during which time they assumed the nickname of 'The Purdown Poachers'.

The club became known as Eastville Rovers in 1884/85 and continued to play friendly matches for a number of seasons, although they moved grounds on several occasions.

They joined the Bristol and District League, forerunner of the Western League, in 1892 and moved to a ground at Eastville in 1897.

Professionalism and a further name change, to Bristol Eastville Rovers, came at the start of the 1897/88 season, with the name 'Bristol Rovers' being adopted prior to the start of the following campaign.

Having competed in the Western League and the Birmingham and District League, Rovers joined the Southern League at the start of the 1899/1900 season. They acquitted themselves reasonably well at the higher level and clinched the championship of the Southern League in 1904/05.

Although they remained in the competition until 1920, it proved to be the club's only championship success before they became members of the Football League.

The first season of league football saw Rovers finish in 10th position in the Third Division (South), although during the 1920s and 1930s, they were never serious contenders for promotion and in fact had to seek re-election at the end of the 1938/39 season.

However the 1950s saw a change in the club's fortunes. The Third Division (South) championship was won in 1952/53 and the club established themselves in the top half of the Second Division for the remainder of the decade.

Relegation came at the end of season 1961/62 and it was 1973/74 before Rovers again achieved promotion, by finishing runners-up in Division Three.

Failure to make an impression at the higher level resulted in relegation once again in 1981. It was Gerry Francis who built Rovers' next promotion side. Appointed as Manager in July 1987, Francis guided Rovers to the play-off final in 1988/89 and one season later, his team clinched the Third Division championship and made a historic first visit to Wembley in the Leyland Daf Trophy final.

After seeing the club safely through their first season at a higher level, Francis departed, being succeeded first of all by Martin Dobson, followed by Dennis Rofe and Malcolm Allison.

John Ward began a three-year tenure in the hot seat in March 1993, too late to save the club from another relegation. He gradually rebuilt a promotion challenging side and led Rovers to Wembley in the play-off final against Huddersfield Town in 1994/95, where the Yorkshire side ran out winners by two goals to one. One year later, Rovers finished in 10th position and Ward's contract was not renewed.

Ian Holloway, who returned to the club for a third time, on this occasion as player/manager, replaced him. At the end of his first season in charge, Rovers finished in a disappointing league placing of 17th. The following season though was far more successful as the club reached the Second Division play-offs on the last day of the season, although went out at the semi-final stage to Northampton Town.

A mid-table finish was achieved in the following season as Holloway sought to build a squad capable of challenging for promotion to the First Division. He almost achieved it in 1999/2000, when his side, playing an attractive brand of football, occupied a top six place all season. However, defeat at Cardiff City on the final day of the campaign edged them out of a play-off spot and consigned them to another season of Second Division football.

The side never really recovered from the blow of missing out on promotion and several key players departed prior to the start of the 2000/2001 season. Manager Ian Holloway was relieved of his duties at the end of January 2001 and Garry Thompson took on the role of caretaker manager until the end of the season. However, he was unable to prevent the side being relegated to the Football League's basement division, for the first time in the club's history.

In July 2001, Gerry Francis decided to delay his retirement from the game and accepted an offer to become director of football and team manager, with the intention of guiding the club back to the Second Division as quickly as possible.

But a good start to the season wasn't maintained and as the goals dried up, the league position worsened and Francis resigned in December 2001 for personal reasons. His departure saw the return of Garry Thompson as manager, this time on a permanent basis.

There was a slight improvement in results following his appointment, but a disastrous run of six consecutive defeats pushed the club perilously close to the bottom of the table and they finished the season with only Halifax Town below them.

Thompson was relieved of his duties with three matches remaining and director of youth football, Phil Bater, took over as caretaker manager. Shortly after the season ended, former player Ray Graydon was appointed as director of football and team manager and, following the departure of 17 players, eight new signings were made in an attempt to revive the club's fortunes.

The expected improvement in form didn't materialise and in Graydon's first season in charge, there was a very real danger of relegation to the Conference. However, three wins and a draw from the final four games was enough to preserve Football League status and the final haul of 51 points was six more than the previous season.

Season 2003/04 followed a similar pattern and, once again, Rovers flirted with relegation to the Conference. The campaign began well, with only one defeat in the first seven league games, but from then on it was all downhill.

The club ended 2003 with defeat at Kidderminster Harriers and another defeat at Macclesfield Town on 13th January 2004, proved to be Graydon's last game in charge.

Once again, Phil Bater was asked to step in as caretaker manager and he began his spell in charge with a 2-2 draw at Rochdale and a 1-0 win against Carlisle United. It proved to be the only win of his 12 games at the helm and following defeats at Yeovil Town and Boston United, which left Rovers just three points above a relegation spot, the directors took drastic action.

Bater was replaced by joint caretaker managers Russell Osman and Kevan Broadhurst, who proceeded to bring in five new players on transfer deadline day, ahead of the all important clash with York City. Thankfully, Rovers eased their way to a 3-0 win against their fellow strugglers and never really looked back and achieved a final placing of 15th, with a total of 55 points.

Once the campaign ended, Ian Atkins, who had been appointed to the managerial vacancy with two games to go, assumed full control. A number of players, including some who were still under contract, were told they had no future at the club, and eight new players arrived in the summer.

Having matched supporters' expectations at the beginning of the 2004/05 campaign, when Rovers were top of the league by the end of August, it was hoped that would be a position that could be maintained until May. It wasn't to be however, although at least the mid-table finishing position of 12th with a total of 60 points was again an improvement on the previous season.

In fact, the improvement was very noticeable, as the manager stopped the losing habit of previous years. A total of 12 games were lost, only one of which was at home. In addition, the side set a new club record for the number of draws in a season at 21.

Two more years went by, and with Atkins having left the club and Paul Trollope and then Lennie Lawrence brought in to take charge, things were soon on the up again.

In the pair's first full season at the helm, a 3-2 defeat against Doncaster Rovers at the Millennium Stadium in the final of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy in April 2007 was swiftly followed in May by a play-off final victory over Shrewsbury Town at the new Wembley, and promotion to League One was secured in what was a memorable year for the club.