Yeovil Town v Bristol Rovers
Pre-season fixture, Huish Park, Saturday 19 July, 3:00pm
Bristol Rovers will look to secure their third victory in four pre-season outings when they travel to Yeovil Town on Saturday as part of their preparations for the 2025/26 Sky Bet League Two campaign.
The Pirates opened their campaign with a 2-1 victory over Chippenham Town before concluding their tour of southern Spain with a 3-2 loss to Sky Bet League outfit Stockport County.
However, Rovers returned to winning ways on Wednesday night against Bath City. Darrell Clarke's men dominated the chances and netted the only goal through Bryant Bilongo, who rushed onto Josh McEachran's free-kick to convert from close range. After the trip to the Glovers, Rovers host Coventry City at The Memorial Stadium before going to Oxford United the week before the start of the league campaign.
Yeovil finished 18th in the National League last term and lost 3-2 to Cardiff City in their previous pre-season outing. Josh Sims and former Rovers player Harvey Greenslade gave the hosts the lead before the Bluebirds turned it around to claim the victory.
Bristol Rovers and Yeovil Town are pleased to jointly announce that all profits from this weekend’s Match For Marcus will be donated to Marcus Stewart to support him in his courageous battle with Motor Neurone Disease.
Tickets...
Tickets are still available for our fixture against Yeovil and can be purchased here!
Travel...
To drive from Bristol to Yeovil Town’s Huish Park, head south out of the city on the A37, following signs for Shepton Mallet and Yeovil. Stay on the A37 for much of the journey—this route takes you through towns like Pensford and Shepton Mallet.
Continue following the A37 until you reach the A303 at the Podimore or Cartgate roundabout. From there, take the A3088 toward Yeovil. Follow the A3088 for around four miles until you reach the Bunford Lane roundabout, near the Westlands Airfield. Turn left here, then go straight at the next roundabout, passing an Asda on your right. At the following roundabout, turn left into Lufton Way, where you’ll find the entrance to Huish Park.
Opposition...
Yeovil have played in the National League for five of the previous six seasons and will be looking to build on their 18th-placed finish last term. The Glovers were relegated to the National League South for the 2023/24 campaign, but comfortably won the title with 95 points, 11 more than Chelmsford City in the position below.
The Glovers have slowly slipped down the English football pyramid and were playing as high as the Sky Bet Championship in the 2013/14 campaign and will be wanting to start their climb back up the ranks sooner rather than later.
Mark Cooper's men have enjoyed a successful pre-season campaign so far and beat Exmouth Town, Sherborne Town and Chippenham before losing 3-2 to a youthful Cardiff outfit.
Yeovil have been active in the transfer market and have brought back striker Tahvon Campbell from Rochdale, with the forward previously having a loan spell at the club in 2017. Kyle Ferguson and former Rovers player James Daly have also been signed permanently by the Glovers.
Previous Meetings...
Clake has taken charge of three of the four pre-season games we have played against Yeovil this millennium; the only game he missed was the 1-1 draw on July 28 2012.
His record in games against the Glovers is one win, one draw and one defeat.
The victory came against Yeovil when the two teams met at Huish Park on July 25 2017, with Billy Bodin netting a brace and Byron Moore also scoring.
One year later, on July 17 2018, the sides played out a 1-1 draw when Tom Lockyer put Rovers ahead in the first half and Bevis Mugabi equalised for the Glovers after the break.
The Pirates beat Yeovil 3-0 in their recent meeting in 2024, with Scott Sinclair, Kofi Shaw and Luke McCormick scoring.
Previous meeting words by Keith Brookman.
