As Bristol Rovers prepare to start their Emirates FA Cup campaign away to Bromley, Club Historian Keith Brookman takes a look back at some of the first-round ties Rovers have been involved with in the competition down the years.
Reflecting on the first-round ties from the time of our first season as a league club (1920/21) through to the outbreak of the Second World War, the Pirates have had several interesting ties across the years.
And so, with the aid of history books and a reasonable memory, I am taking a look at a handful of first-round ties Rovers have been involved in during the post-war period that proved to be a little bit special.
I will start with the history book ties and the epic cup run in 1950/51 that began with a first round win against Llanelly when Rovers needed three attempts to go through to the second round. Drawn at home, Rovers drew with the Welsh side 1-1, with George Petherbridge scoring for Bert Tann’s side.
The replay also ended 1-1, with Bryan Bush on the scoresheet. The second replay, at Ninian Park, Cardiff, saw Rovers win 3-1 with Petherbridge, Jack Pitt and Geoff Bradford on target. More than 38,000 spectators saw those games as Rovers set off on a journey that would take them all the way to the quarter-final of the competition, where they were beaten, after a replay, by the eventual winners, Newcastle United.
Following promotion to the old Second Division in 1953, Rovers did not compete in the first round of the competition again until 1962/63, when they suffered a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Port Vale, a side they also met in the League Cup and two league games that season.
In 1963/64, there was a first round away win against Bournemouth, and that season Rovers won through to round four before losing to Manchester United at Old Trafford in round four.
Older supporters will probably remember first-round ties against non-league opposition in the mid-1960s. Oxford City were the opposition in 1966/67, and in a game played at The White House Ground, which has long since disappeared, Third Division Rovers were held to a 2-2 draw by the Isthmian League amateur side, though three days later in the Eastville replay Rovers ran out 4-0 winners.
The following season, Rovers were drawn away to another non-league side, Arnold, but on a snow-covered pitch ran out 3-0 winners.
Another first-round win in 1968, against Peterborough United at Eastville, saw Rovers embark on a cup run that ended at Goodison Park, Everton, where a slender 1-0 defeat prevented another quarter-final appearance.
Another promotion, in 1973/74, meant Rovers were once again exempt from first-round duty until 1981/82, though there are not really too many 1980s first-round ties that live long in the memory.
However, the first-round tie against Fisher Athletic at Twerton Park is memorable not for the game or the result, but for the fact that defender Ian Alexander almost lost his life. The defender collided with teammate Steve Yates and swallowed the dental plate he wore. Alexander’s life was saved by the quick thinking of physiotherapist Roy Dolling, who managed to free the plate. It was a dramatic afternoon for those present, and although Rovers ran out 3-0 winners, it is the incident involving Alexander, not the result, that lives on in the memory.
Exemption from the first round again followed the 1989/90 promotion, and so we move on to 1994 when the draw threw up an intriguing first round tie as Rovers, who were sharing Bath City’s Twerton Park at the time, were drawn away against their landlords! However, we duly ran out 5-0 winners in front of a crowd of 6,751, who saw Paul Miller score four of the five goals.
The 1998 first round tie at The Mem is also one to remember, not because it was a great game, but because it marked a hat-trick for Jason Roberts in a 3-0 win against Welling United.
Another first-round tie that those who were there will not forget came at Barrow in 2006. A non-league club at the time, Barrow’s ground was exposed to the elements and in a howling gale and driving rain, Rovers established a 3-0 half-time lead, though playing against the wind after the break saw them concede twice against the home side.
A first-round replay win, on penalties, against Leyton Orient in 2007 kick-started Rovers’ cup run all the way to the quarter-final for the third time in their history, while a couple of first-round ties in recent years are also worth recalling.
A 2-1 win at Walsall, whose manager was none other than Darrell Clarke, in 2020, was achieved thanks to goals from Jack Baldwin and Brandon Hanlan, while a first-round replay win against Oxford United a year later was a scintillating affair.
Sam Finley and Antony Evans scored the goals that earned the side a 2-2 draw at The Kassam Stadium, which meant a replay at The Mem. That game ended 2-2 after 90 minutes, as Finley and Evans were again on target for Rovers, who then fell behind three minutes into extra time. With the tension building, Sion Spence equalised and Aaron Collins netted a dramatic winner to send Rovers through to the second round.
The 7-2 win against Whitby Town in 2023 is also included here because it is always good to see your side win so convincingly, though it has to be said that the non-league outfit caused us a few anxious moments. In addition, the Rovers' goals were scored by seven different players.
Over the years, of course, there have been major first-round disappointments, and we have been on the receiving end of some upsets; think Hitchin Town in 1995 and Chesham United in 2015 for two examples where we have departed the competition at the hands of non-league sides at the first FA Cup hurdle.
All of this brings us round to Saturday’s first round tie against Bromley, and it’s not the first time we have faced them at this stage of the competition. They were our visitors in the first round back in 2019 and earned themselves a creditable 1-1 draw at The Mem.
Five short years ago, replays were still in vogue in the early rounds, and so, on a cold November evening, we travelled to deepest, darkest Kent and managed to gain a passage to the second round thanks to a solitary Jonson Clarke-Harris goal.
Bromley were a non-league side at that time, playing on a 3G or 4G surface. Now a fully-fledged league club, Saturday’s tie will be played on grass, and Rovers will have to be at their best to progress to the next stage of this season’s competition.
