Bristol Rovers Club Historian Keith Brookman looks back at our previous Friday night fixtures...
On Friday, Rovers take on Cambridge United in the First Round Proper of this season’s Emirates FA Cup, and so we have gone back to the year 2000 to see how we have fared in Friday night football during the last quarter of a century or so.
After trawling through the archives, we have found that we have played 23 games on Friday nights since then, winning seven, drawing seven and losing nine. Of those 23 games, four have been FA Cup ties where we have won once, drawn once and lost twice, a record that needs improving!
Our journey begins back in 2000, and on Friday 6 October. We travelled to Gigg Lane, home of Bury, for a League Two fixture where, in front of a crowd of 3,279, we were beaten 1-0 as Nick Daws scored the only goal of the game in the 81st minute, beating substitute goalkeeper Brian Parkin, who had replaced Nick Culkin on 78 minutes, after he collected facial injuries in a clash with Jason Jarrett.
The result was a blow for Ian Holloway’s previously unbeaten Rovers, and they also picked up six yellow cards on the night, two of which were brandished in the way of Steve Foster, who received his marching orders four minutes from time.
Just a few months later, and three days before Christmas 2000, Rovers made the short journey to Ashton Gate for another League Two encounter against local rivals Bristol City and, once again, came away with no points as City ran out 3-2 winners.
Marcus Bignot scored his first Rovers goal after only 28 seconds of this local derby, but City equalised through Keith Millen and went ahead with a goal from former Gas striker Peter Beadle, while Tony Thorpe made it 3-1 to the home side before Martin Cameron scored Rovers' second goal of the evening. The Ashton Gate crowd for this one was 16,696.
Fast forward 12 months to another December Friday night, and this time, on December 21 2001, Rovers travelled over to Wales where they were beaten 2-1 by Swansea City, and all three goals were scored before the 20-minute mark.
Nathan Ellington eased Rovers ahead after only three minutes, but goals from Mamady Sidibe on 15 minutes and Steve Watkin two minutes later gave the Swans victory. Rovers picked up two red cards as the game drew to a close as Mike Trought and Vitalijs Astafjevs both collected their second yellow cards of the evening.
So, three games, three defeats and three red cards made for an inauspicious start to this particular piece of research, so it was a relief to chance upon a win in the next Friday night fixture we came across. That was against Southend United, at The Mem, on August 27 2004 when a Memorial Stadium crowd of 9,287 saw Lee Thorpe and James Hunt score for Rovers while former Gas captain Adam Barratt scored for the visitors.
It was Hunt’s first Rovers goal, and the three points took us to the top of Coca-Cola League Two. A total of 181 Southend fans made the long trip from Essex to Bristol for this game, the first of four meetings between the sides that season, two in the league and two in the Football League Trophy.
The return league fixture against Southend also took place on a Friday night, April 1 2005, when the Shrimpers gained revenge for their defeat in Bristol by winning 2-0 at Roots Hall. First-half goals from Mark Bentley and Wayne Gray (from the penalty spot) ensured that the points remained in Southend and, whereas Rovers had gone to the top of the table when beating Southend in the first encounter, Southend then took over at the top of the table following this game.
The number of travelling Gasheads was 158, and Southend’s first goal was the 50th conceded by Rovers in the league that season.
There were two more Friday night games in 2005/06. On October 7 2005, Northampton Town arrived at The Mem and went away with a point from what was described as an entertaining goalless draw. The attendance of 6,912 was the highest for a home game at that point in the season, and those in attendance witnessed the first goalless draw between the clubs since May 1950.
Northampton boss Colin Calderwood had been Swindon’s captain when Rovers caretaker boss Paul Trollope was a youngster at The County Ground.
Friday 2 December 2005 saw Trollope, by now First Team Coach alongside Director of Football Lennie Lawrence, take his side to Vale Park for an FA Cup Second Round Tie against Port Vale. They came away with a 1-1 draw from a game they dominated at times, though they failed to capitalise on the many chances they created and had to settle for a replay back at The Mem.
Ali Gibb was the Rovers goalscorer, but the home side equalised four minutes from time through Leon Constantine in what was only the second FA Cup meeting between the sides. The third meeting took place in the replay on December 13 when Vale were 1-0 winners and went on to face Doncaster Rovers in Round Three.
In 2006/07, having beaten Barrow and AFC Bournemouth (after a replay) in Rounds One and Two of the FA Cup, Rovers faced Hereford United in a Third Round tie at The Mem on January 5 2007. The League Two sides had played out a goalless draw at Edgar Street just before Christmas but, on this occasion, Rovers ran out 1-0 winners courtesy of Richard Walker’s 23rd minute penalty, awarded after Craig Disley had been taken out by goalkeeper Wayne Brown.
The reward for reaching Round Four was an away tie at Derby which we lost 1-0, but greater things, as you know, lay ahead at the end of that season, though first of all there was another Friday night fixture to negotiate. That was against Shrewsbury Town at their old ground of Gay Meadow.
Not a classic match by any means, and Rovers only managed a point courtesy of a last-minute penalty save by Steve Phillips, who kept out Derek Asamoah’s spot kick. The penalty taker had been fouled by Craig Hinton, who collected a red card for his efforts. It was the third meeting between the sides that season, twice in the league and once in the JPT Round Four, but there was one more meeting to come, in the rather grander surroundings of Wembley Stadium in April that year!
If you had the choice, would you travel from Bristol to Hartlepool on a Friday night for a game of football? Be honest, the answer is probably no, but Rovers did just that on October 12 2007 and lost 1-0. Up on the day and travelled back through the night; what a start to the weekend!
Naturally, the home supporters were happy; the 143 Rovers fans who made the trip less so! For the record, Danny Coles was in the Hartlepool side, and Andy Monkhouse (both future Rovers players) was on the Hartlepool bench and their goal was scored by James Brown (Bet he felt good!)
Friday 8 January 2008 saw Rovers on the Wirral, where they were 2-0 winners against Tranmere Rovers to record a third successive win. Andy Williams gave Rovers a first-half lead, and Rickie Lambert scored the second 13 minutes into the second half. Former Rovers striker Gareth Taylor was in Tranmere’s starting XI, and the attendance was 5,887.
Scunthorpe United visited The Mem on Friday 20 November 2008 and left with all three points as Rovers slipped to a third consecutive defeat. Grant McCann edged Scunthorpe ahead in the 40th minute, but Lambert equalised 10 minutes into the second half only for Izzy Iriekpen to score the winning goal for the visitors just after the hour mark. The three points saw ‘Scunny’ go top of the Coca-Cola League One table.
A year later, on November 6 2009, Southampton arrived for another Friday night FA Cup tie and, with former Rovers striker Rickie Lambert in their lineup, were 3-2 winners. The clubs were both in Coca-Cola League One at the time, and we had already beaten them 3-2 down at St Mary’s.
The scoreline in the FA Cup tie was the same, though the Saints came out on top on this occasion thanks to a devastating seven-minute spell in the second half when they scored three goals, through David Connolly (2) and Michail Antonio. Darryl Duffy pulled a goal back, and Jeff Hughes converted a last-minute penalty for Rovers to make the scoreline more respectable.
Darren Ferguson was in one of his many managerial stints with Peterborough United when they visited The Mem on March 15 2011, and he saw his side take a point from a 2-2 draw. Caretaker Rovers boss Stuart Campbell, leading a side fighting an ultimately unsuccessful battle against relegation, would have been hoping his side could claim all three points, but it was not to be.
Jo Kuffour gave Rovers a sixth-minute lead, but Peterborough hit back to lead 2-1 thanks to a Byron Anthony own goal and a George Boyd strike, while Jeff Hughes headed home Rovers’ equaliser.
On Friday 14 October 2011 Rotherham came calling and went home after being beaten 5-2 as Rovers recorded the best league win of Paul Buckle’s brief managerial reign.
Scott McGleish (2), Cian Bolger, Lee Brown and Joe Anyinsah scored for Rovers, who handed Ollie Norburn his league debut when he was sent on in place of Stuart Campbell in the 86th minute of a game that lasted 99 minutes! Jason Taylor and Danny Scofield netted for the visitors, who ended the match with ten men following Guy Branston’s red card, awarded after a two-footed challenge on McGleish.
There was late drama when Barnet visited The Mem on Friday 1 February 2013 as Fabian Broghammer gave Mark McGhee’s side a 77th-minute lead, only for Barnet substitute Harry Crawford to equalise in the 89th minute. The visitors barely had time to celebrate, though, as Ryan Brunt scored a second for Rovers just a minute later to seal victory for Rovers.
They like their Friday night football in Southend, don’t they! Season 2013/14 saw another two Friday night games against The Shrimpers. The sides drew 1-1 down at Roots Hall on September 27 2013 when Matt Harrold headed Rovers in front on 51 minutes only to see Kevan Hurst equalise for the home side after 67 minutes.
There were no goals to celebrate in the return fixture, though, played at The Mem on March 21 2014 when a crowd of 6,028 had very little to cheer. Former Rovers boss (briefly) Dave Penney was assistant manager of Southend at the time.
Our Conference season saw Friday night football at The Mem on December 19 2014, when Gateshead were the visitors and the two sides served up a marvellous game of football with Rovers eventually running out 3-2 winners.
Gateshead took a first-half lead through Matty Pattison, while Ollie Clarke equalised for Rovers after the break. Alex Rodman, who would play for Rovers later in his career, put the visitors back in front, though Lee Mansell equalised seven minutes after his goal. Stuart Sinclair scored the winning goal for Rovers in the 72nd minute. Only 46 Gateshead fans made the trip down from Bristol. I can’t say I blame them, though they did miss a cracking game!
We played this season’s FA Cup opponents, Cambridge United, at The Abbey Stadium on Friday 30 October 2015, our first season back in the league following our one-year sojourn in The Conference.
On our way to a second successive promotion, we were 2-1 winners that night, our fourth consecutive victory, even though we fell behind to Barry Corr’s 33rd-minute goal. Second-half goals from Ellis Harrison and Matty Taylor, who scored his fifth goal in seven games, saw Rovers take all three points.
We were involved in another Friday night FA Cup tie on November 3 2017, when we came off second-best in our First Round tie against Notts County at Meadow Lane. The final score was 4-2 in favour of the home side, though that does not tell the story of the evening.
Rovers were 2-0 ahead and coasting after Liam Sercombe and Ollie Clarke scored in the eighth and 12th minutes respectively. However, Ryan Yates scored twice just after the half-hour mark to level the scoreline and Jon Stead, later in his career Rovers assistant manager, and Jorge Grant added further goals for County.
Charlton Athletic were the last team we faced in the calendar year 2023, as they arrived at The Mem on December 29 and left pointless after our 2-1 win thanks to substitute Chris Martin, who scored both Rovers goals.
He broke the deadlock in the 68th minute following good work by Aaron Collins and, after Slobodan Tedic equalised with five minutes remaining, he smashed home the winner following a cross from Collins to take his goal tally for the season to six.
Steve Evans and Paul Raynor marked their first game in charge of Rovers with an away game at Gresty Road, home of Crewe Alexandra, on Friday 19 December last year and saw their new charges gain a point from a 1-1 draw watched by a crowd of 9,125.
Callum Morton’s first, and only, goal for the club after 12 minutes cancelled out Crewe’s ninth-minute opener scored by Emre Tezget. The home side were reduced to ten men on the half-hour mark when Adrien Thibaut was red-carded after a clash with Clinton Mola. However, Rovers were unable to make their numerical superiority count and had to be content with a point.
And so, we move on to Friday 6th November 2026 for the next instalment!
