Bobby Gould, our guest of honour at Saturday’s game against Notts County, or to give him his full name, Robert Alfred Gould, is 79 years young, having been born in Coventry on June 12 1946.
To list everything about his career would take a book, and, indeed, there is one as he penned his autobiography, under the title of 24 Carat Gould Back in 2010.
Whilst not ignoring his career before and after Bristol Rovers, all we have time for here is a brief recap; essentially, his first professional club was, not surprisingly, Coventry City, for whom he turned professional in June 1964. From Highfield Road (the former home of the Sky Blues), he signed for Arsenal in 1968 and scored for them at Wembley in the 1969 League Cup Final when they were beaten by Swindon Town.
From Highbury (Arsenal’s former ground), it was on to Wolverhampton Wanderers, West Bromwich Albion and his first sojourn to Bristol when he signed for the other team over at Ashton Gate. That was in December 1972, and by November of the following year, he was on the move again, to West Ham United.
Two years later, he returned to Molineux for a second spell with Wolves, and it was from there he moved back to Bristol, this time to Eastville, with Rovers paying a fee of £10,000 for his services in October 1977. Just over a year later, he was off again, but not very far, as Hereford United also parted with £10,000 to secure his signature.
Next up were player/coach posts at Chelsea and Aldershot before his first stint as Rovers boss began on October 22 1981. In May 1983, he returned to Coventry City as their manager, but returned to Rovers for a second spell as their boss in May 1985.
In June 1987, he took on the job of managing Wimbledon and did it very well, as they beat Liverpool in the 1988 FA Cup Final. From Plough Lane (Wimbledon’s former ground), he moved on to coach Queens Park Rangers, manage West Bromwich Albion, Coventry City (again!), the Welsh National side, Cardiff City, Cheltenham Town and Gloucester United.
There was a spell as coach for Peterborough United, a time as assistant manager of Hawkes Bay United in Australia, before a return to these shores saw him take charge at Weymouth and then Portishead Town prior to his retirement.
A Portishead resident ever since his move to Ashton Gate, Bobby was a true soccer nomad, who enjoyed a lengthy career in the game and who, some say, was unfortunate not to win an England cap during his playing career.
Apologies for a longer-than-anticipated preamble, but to condense his career into a couple of sentences simply wouldn’t have done the man justice!
So, what of his Rovers career? Well, as a player, he certainly made a lasting impression on his debut, registering a hat-trick against the Rovers of Blackburn at Eastville on October 15 1977. Dave Staniforth scored our other goal that afternoon, the game being watched by a crowd of 6,431.
It was the first of his 36 league appearances in the blue-and-white quarters, and he would score a total of 12 league goals in those games before he left Eastville. He was brought back down to earth the week after his hat-trick debut, when we were beaten 9-0 by Spurs at White Hart Lane!
Whether or not he had ever thought he would return to manage the club, I don’t know, but return he did, when he took over the top job in October 1981 following the departure of Terry Cooper.
He arrived two days before Rovers took on Huddersfield Town at Eastville and oversaw a 3-2 win achieved with goals from Paul Randall, Archie Stephens and Aiden McCaffery. Two defeats followed, against Northampton Town in the League Cup and Doncaster Rovers in the league, before another home win against Newport County in his fourth game in charge.
He was able to pen his first programme notes for that game, and here are just a few of his words of wisdom: "I know I must have good and frank relations with my players, my directors, the club’s administrative staff and with the media representatives. And certainly, not the least, I must have them with you, our supporters. Sometimes what is written in the press does not put across what a manager wants to say in the manner he wants to say it."
Rovers ended the 1981/82 season in 15th place in Division Two but enjoyed a far more successful campaign next time around, and it was during that season that he signed England internationals Mick Channon and Alan Ball, as well as presiding over a prestigious Centenary match against Spurs in April 1983.
The following month, he was gone, leaving on the eve of the final match of the season, a home game against Cardiff City. Few expected to see him back at the club, but he was gone for just two years before he arrived back for his second stint in the manager’s chair.
David Williams, who had taken over from Gould as player/manager, at the end of his first spell as Rovers manager, moved on to Norwich City and would win international recognition with Wales, while Gould was available after five months out of the game after his time at Coventry had come to an end.
He penned his first programme notes of his second spell back in charge for a pre-season friendly match against Southampton on 31st July 1985, when he wrote: "And here I am ‘back home’ with Bristol Rovers, a club I served previously first as a player/coach and then as manager. I have returned, hoping to complete the job I started nearly four years ago of creating a team capable of getting into the Second Division and making an impact there."
It can hardly be described as a successful season, and, indeed, the 1985/86 campaign will probably be best remembered for it being the last season we played at Eastville.
Bobby presided over a campaign that saw the club finish in 16th place in Division Three, and whilst they didn’t exactly challenge for promotion, there was a run to the Fourth Round of the FA Cup after wins against Brentford, Swansea City and Leicester City.
The Leicester game stands out, for in the build-up to the match, Bobby registered his former Arsenal teammate, goalkeeper Bob Wilson, as a player, as there was a doubt about first-choice custodian Ron Green. The 44-year-old former Arsenal man, who had retired seven years before, trained with Rovers prior to the game and, according to Bobby, impressed everyone.
It turned out that he wasn’t required, as Green recovered in time to play and Rovers recorded a superb 3-1 win against what was probably their biggest cup tie in almost 30 years. First Division Leicester were put to the sword thanks to two Trevor Morgan goals and another from Byron Stevenson, and Gerry Grancis was named Man of the Match.
Wilson, who watched the game, said he thought that Green was his Man of the Match, and you couldn’t help but wonder if Bobby had pulled a fast one with all of the publicity surrounding Wilson taking the heat off of his side, and Green was probably always going to play!
Bobby was in charge for Eastville’s final league match, a 1-1 draw against Chesterfield in April 1986, and for the first game at their new temporary home at Twerton park the following August when he acknowledged the fact that cash strapped Rovers would, in all probability, struggle; "I’ve had to rebuild a squad wearing, in financial terms, handcuffs and a straightjacket. But I accept it for the good of the club. I’ve done the best I can under the restrictions and, with the right battling attitude, we have nothing to fear."
Rovers stayed in the Third Division, but they managed it with a final-day win at Newport County, courtesy of a solitary Phil Purnell goal, which saw them finish in 19th place.
It was his last league game in charge of Rovers, and in June, he continued his football travels – see above for his next port of call!
Bobby and his wife Margery have two sons; Jonathan played for Coventry City and won two caps for Scotland, against Lithuania in 1999 and Norway the following year, and Richard, who is the Chief Executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board.
So, there you have it; a very brief sojourn around the footballing career of Bobby Gould who didn’t quite attain legendary status, was better than a journeyman player and who enjoyed a stellar career both as a player and as a manager who always seemed to play, and manage, with a smile on his face and who played his part in the history of our club.
Bobby’s legacy cap was presented to him some 18 months ago by Dawn Astle, daughter of his former West Bromwich Albion teammate Jeff, and so, he will receive a frame containing five photos from his time at Bristol Rovers, donated by the Supporters Club, which will be presented to him by Ricky Martin at half-time of Rovers' fixture against Notts County.
Words by Keith Brookman...
