Darrell Clarke insisted it is ‘great to be back’ at Bristol Rovers in his first interview with BRTV since returning to the Gas as their new Head Coach.
The 47-year-old enjoyed great success in his first spell at the Pirates, leading the Club to back-to-back promotions in a four-year stay between 2014-18. Returning to the Memorial Stadium, Clarke took his time to introduce himself to the staff before making his way to the dressing room.
Clarke has gained plenty of experience since his first stint in charge at the Gas, achieving promotion to Sky Bet League One and had spells with Walsall, Cheltenham Town and Barnsley.
Returning to Rovers ahead of the 2025/26 League Two season, Clarke discussed his return to the Club and his ambitions for the new campaign.
Welcome back to Bristol Rovers Football Club. How does it feel to be here?
“It’s great to be back. I’m really pleased. Not a lot has changed at The Mem, if I am being honest with you, but to be back here after such a long time away, I’m really looking forward to it."
What made you want to come back?
"The rapport with the fans was a massive pull for me, but also, it’s still a Club with massive potential. If you take away from my previous period here, you’d still look at the Club as a very big Club in a division that we shouldn’t be in, and where we should be competing is where we need to get back into. So, the pull of that was massive, but certainly, the connection with the supporters was key."
Walking into The Mem today, what are the emotions going through your head?
"I’m just really, really pleased. I have been to the training ground this morning. That’s a massive upgrade from what I had last time. Coming back to The Mem, there are not too many familiar faces, to be honest with you, that I’ve seen. I’m meeting a lot of new people, but I still feel the passion in the place initially meeting a lot of the work staff. I’m really looking forward to what we’ve got to do. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but I’m really looking forward to getting started."
Plenty of success in your first spell here, and you’re back for a second time. From a personal point of view, what’s changed with you?
"A lot changes, I think. As you go through the games and different clubs that I’ve managed, I think I’ve grown as a manager. I’m still doing leadership courses, and I’ve still got more progress to make on that, but for me, I’m a lot more experienced. I’ve managed big games, and I managed big games when I was here.
"So, a lot of experience and know-how is the things that you pick up. Working with different owners and different football clubs has different challenges, but I’m more experienced to be able to cope with many situations now."
Of course, it was a disappointing season for Rovers last year. What are your hopes and ambitions?
"First of all, this Club is in mourning. I know this Club very well, and the fans are hurting, no doubt. People in and around the building are hurting, which is understandable because they’ve let the supporters down. I think there has to be that air of accountability which people are showing. I think that’s important, but I also think it comes as a fresh start for what we’re trying to do and what we’re trying to build here now.
"I have come back to win. I’ve come to get this Club back challenging to try and get into the Championship, albeit we’re going to be starting in League Two. But it’s all gone now. It’s a fresh era. When I decided to come back when the owners were in touch, and Ricky [Martin] got in touch, it was an easy decision for me because the potential is still massively here, but we have to forget the past now.
"We have to move on, and it’s up to us to pick our fans up, and that’s a message I repeated when I took the Club into the National League, the old Conference, was that it’s now time to get a team of players and a squad of players that the fans can be proud of and build a backroom team as well, which is a formidable backroom team that can bring success to the Club because that’s what our supporters deserve."
You mentioned winning there. What does a winning team look like?
"You have to find ways to win football matches. It's as simple as that. I could sit here and talk about philosophies and high press, counter-press, playing through the thirds, balls in the box. You can talk as much rubbish as you like. The game is about winning. It always has been and always will be. I think the fans know exactly how I am on that. We’ve got a busy summer ahead to build a squad that’s capable of challenging for promotion. But also, the aim of the game is to win football matches, and that’s up to me and my staff to find that way to win games."
I can feel the hunger from you. How much are you looking forward to getting going?
"I’m not coming back if I’m not hungry. For me, I’ve got unfinished business here. The last year of my time here was very disappointing. I know why it was disappointing, and I held myself responsible for that, but I feel like there is now potential at the Club, and I didn’t necessarily have the finances when I was here last time to push on from League One to the Championship. I feel like the owners have backed the managers very well, and for whatever reason, it’s gone wrong and I think I’ll get the backing to be able to kick us on and hopefully get us challenging, eventually, to try and able us to get in the Championship. But it’s not going to be easy.
"There’s going to be a load of speedbumps in the road. We’ve got to get out of League Two first. It’s a hell of a task, and when you’ve been relegated, there’s a hell of a lot of work to be done. But I’m confident in the work, and I’m confident that I’ll be able to get a team out there and a squad of players here next year that do the shirt proud and hopefully have a successful season."
How important is the connection between the fans and the Club?
"It’s huge, but what I will say is that I've managed over 250 games here. The fans will always give the players an opportunity to perform. It’s one of the greatest things about this Football Club is that you can get beaten one week, but if you’re at it in the next game, the fans will get behind you. I watched the game against Reading, where they performed atrociously in the back end of the season, but you wouldn’t have thought it the way the fans were behaving and getting behind the team.
"That’s great to be back involved with that, and I’m certainly not coming back fearing failure. I’m coming back with the appetite to put more smiles on the faces and build another legacy."
Did you really feel that connection with the fans when you’ve come here as an opposition manager?
"I’ve always loved coming back as an opposing manager because it gives me an opportunity to thank the fans for the support they gave me. Obviously, I had success here, but they gave me that opportunity that I’ll never ever forget when we got relegated to the National League. They gave me a chance to rebuild. They gave me support to be able to do that. Yes, we had some speedbumps in the road, but they gave me that opportunity and that, for me, I’ll never forget. That enabled us to bring success here, and that’s what we’re going to try and do once again."
How much are you looking forward to the first game at The Mem in front of a full crowd?
"It will be a very special moment for myself. I’m really looking forward to that. It’s a busy summer of work ahead. I would like to thank all the fans. I’ve had umpteen number of messages, phone calls and all sorts of nice messages coming through, and I just want to thank the fans for the support. I think they know what they are going to get from me. They are going to get absolutely everything to try and bring success back here."
