The 2013–14 season was the 131st season in Bristol Rovers' history and their 87th in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. For the third season in a row, Rovers competed in the basement division of the Football League,

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

, having finished 14th in the 2012–13 season. During the season, Rovers played their first competitive fixture against Newport County since their reformation and their first against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

in 20 years. They also competed in the first competitive

Bristol derby The Bristol derby is the name given to football matches played between Bristol City and Bristol Rovers (a "local derby"). The fans of each club both consider the other to be their main rivals, leading to a heated atmosphere at these matches. The ...

since 2007, losing to

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

in the first round of the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

at Ashton Gate Stadium. The season ultimately finished in disappointment as Rovers were relegated out of the

for the first time since their admission in 1920. Despite Rovers only ever occupying one of the two relegation places following the final game of the season, the threat of relegation surrounded the club for the entire season.

Season events

Pre-season

April

* – Defender Michael Smith signed a new two-year deal with Rovers. * – Striker

Matt Harrold Matthew James Harrold (born 24 July 1984) is a former English professional footballer who played as a forward and is currently first team coach for club Leyton Orient. Harrold has had numerous previous clubs including Wycombe Wanderers, South ...

agreed a new one-year deal at Rovers with the option of a further year extension. * – John Ward agreed to a new one year rolling contract. Eurocams were announced as new home shirt sponsors and Highspec Travel Services as new away shirt sponsors. Second-year scholars Josh Southway and Pat Keary signed one-year contracts while first-year scholar Jamie Lucas signed a two-year contract. * – Alefe Santos signed his first professional deal with Rovers. * – Jim Paterson signed a one-year contract extension having triggered a clause in his previous contract. * – It was confirmed that winger

Joe Anyinsah Joseph Greene Anyinsah (born 8 October 1984 in Bristol) is an English footballer who plays as a striker who last played for Hayes and Yeading. Career Bristol City and Preston North End Anyinsah started his career at Bristol City making his d ...

would be released upon completion of his contract. * – Defender

Mark McChrystal Mark Thomas McChrystal (born 26 June 1984) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer and coach. Born in Derry, he was a left-footed defender, he has in the past also captained the Northern Ireland under-21 side. He is currently a first- ...

agreed a two-year contract with Rovers.

May

* – Rovers retained list confirmed that

Scott Bevan Scott Anthony Bevan (born 19 September 1979) is a former professional footballer currently employed as the under-23s goalkeeping coach at Birmingham City. Career Playing career Bevan started his football career with Southampton as an associate ...

Adam Virgo Adam John Virgo (born 25 January 1983) is a former professional footballer, who now works as a pundit and commentator. Playing career Early career From the age of seven Virgo played for the St. Aubyns Preparatory School football team. At 13 h ...

, Ross Staley and

Oumare Tounkara Oumare Tounkara (born 25 May 1990) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for US Créteil-Lusitanos' B-team. Tounkara began his career at French club Sedan, before attracting transfer interest from Premier League club Sund ...

would leave the club on completion of their contracts. A number of players were offered contract extensions. * –

Tom Lockyer Thomas Alun Lockyer (born 3 December 1994) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Luton Town and the Wales national team. Club career Bristol Rovers Lockyer was born and raised in Cardiff. He joined Cardiff ...

agreed a two-year contract with Rovers, his first professional contract. * – Midfielder

Ollie Clarke Oliver Anthony Clarke (born 29 June 1992) is an English professional association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL League Two, League Two club Mansfield Town F.C., Mansfield Town. Career Bristol Rovers After progressing thr ...

signed a one-year contract extension. * – Goalkeeper

Steve Mildenhall Stephen James Mildenhall (born 13 May 1978) is an English former professional footballer who is goalkeeping coach at Swindon Town. As a player he was a goalkeeper, he made almost 500 appearances in the Football League and over 500 games in total ...

agreed a two-year deal with Rovers with an option of a third year. Mildenhall had spent time on loan with Rovers during the previous season.

June

* – Midfielders Fabian Broghammer and Jordan Goddard agreed new one-year contracts. * – Winger

Ellis Harrison Ellis Wade Harrison (born 29 January 1994) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a centre-forward for club Port Vale. He represented Wales at under-21 level, scoring three goals in fourteen games. Harrison began his career at Bristol ...

agreed a three-year contract with Rovers. * –

Salisbury City Salisbury City Football Club was an English football club based in Salisbury, Wiltshire. They were formed in 1947 and played at The Raymond McEnhill Stadium. Salisbury had gained back-to-back promotions in recent years, first to the Conference S ...

manager

Darrell Clarke Darrell James Clarke (born 16 December 1977) is an English professional football manager and former player who played in the English Football League. He is the manager of club Port Vale. A box-to-box midfielder, Clarke began his career with ...

was appointed as Rovers' new

Assistant Manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

, taking on the role vacated since Shaun North left the club in April. Seanan Clucas agreed a one-year contract extension. * –

Oliver Norburn Oliver Lewis Norburn (born 26 October 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Blackpool. Born in England, he plays for the Grenada national team. He made his debut for the team in 2021 and played at the 2021 CONCA ...

signed a one-year contract extension.

July

* –

John-Joe O'Toole John Joseph O'Toole (born 30 September 1988) is an Irish professional footballer who currently plays as a defender for Mansfield Town. He has represented the Republic of Ireland at under-21 level. Club career Watford Born in Harrow, Greater ...

re-joined Rovers on a permanent three-year contract for an undisclosed fee from

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

. O'Toole played a major part in Rovers' upturn in form the previous season.

August

* – For the second season in succession, Rovers are knocked out of the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

first round First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

opposition, losing 3–1 at home to

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

. * –

Danny Woodards Daniel Mark Woodards (born 8 October 1983) is an English footballer who last played as a defender for club Boreham Wood. He previously played in the Football League for Crewe Alexandra, Milton Keynes Dons, Bristol Rovers and Tranmere Rovers. ...

signed a new one-year deal with Rovers.

September

* – The first

in over six years ends in defeat for Rovers, losing 2–1 to local rivals

in the Football League Trophy First Round. The match, which was broadcast live on

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

, was overshadowed by a post match

pitch invasion A pitch invasion (known in North America as field storming or rushing the field) occurs when a person or a crowd of people spectating a sporting event run onto the competition area, usually to celebrate or protest an incident, or sometimes as ...

by a number of supporters, leading to more than 60 arrests being made and three police officers injured. * – Rovers captain

Tom Parkes Thomas Peter Wilson Parkes (born 15 January 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Livingston. Club career Leicester City Born in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, Parkes started his career at Leicester ...

agreed a one-year contract extension to keep him at the club until 2016. * – Midfielder Andy Bond joined on a one-month loan deal from

October

* – Rovers sign defender

Will Packwood William James Packwood (born May 21, 1993) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a defender or defensive midfielder. Packwood joined the youth academy at English club Birmingham City in 2007 at the age of 14. He made h ...

and winger Alex Henshall on one-month loans from

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

and

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

respectively. * – Midfielder and former captain

Matthew Gill Matthew James Gill (born 8 November 1980) is an English professional football coach and former player, who is an assistant coach at Swansea City. He began his career in 1997, notably representing Peterborough United, Exeter City and Bristol Rov ...

joined former club

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

on loan until the end of 2013. * – Former youth team Goalkeeper Matt Macey joined

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. Though Macey was out of contract at Rovers, the club will receive a compensation fee believed to be around £100,000. * – Striker

Chris Beardsley Christopher Kellan Beardsley (born 28 February 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the fitness coach at club Burton Albion. Beardsley played youth football with Mickleover Sports and Derby Count ...

joined on a one-month loan deal from

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

November

* – Jordan Goddard joined Gloucester City on loan for one month. * –

's loan from

was extended by two further months. * – Striker

agreed a loan extension with Rovers, keeping him at the club until 5 January.

December

* – Defender

was recalled by parent club

. * –

Garry Kenneth Garry James Alexander Kenneth (born 21 June 1987) is a Scottish former footballer, who played as a centre back for Dundee United, Cowdenbeath, Bristol Rovers, Brechin City, Carnoustie Panmure, Adamstown Rosebud and Skonto Riga. He also represe ...

's contract with Rovers was terminated by mutual consent. * – Rovers'

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

second round replay with

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team co ...

is abandoned after 75 minutes. * – It was announced that midfielder and former

club captain The team captain of an association football team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavi ...

's contract would be terminated to allow him to join

permanently.

January

* – Forward

's loan from

was extended to the end of the season. * – Defender Jim Paterson joined

Celtic Nation The Celtic nations are a cultural area and collection of geographical regions in Northwestern Europe where the Celtic languages and cultural traits have survived. The term ''nation'' is used in its original sense to mean a people who shar ...

on loan until the end of the season. * – Rovers are eliminated from the

side

in the

third round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

. * – Shaquille Hunter's agent confirmed that the winger's contract with Rovers was terminated just before Christmas following a series of disciplinary issues.

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

winger

Kaid Mohamed Kaid Yusef Mohamed ( ar, قائد يوسف محمد; born 23 July 1984) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a winger for club Carmarthen Town. He spent the early part of his career in Welsh football with Ely Rangers, Cwmbrân ...

joined Rovers on loan until the end of the season.

February

* –

Steven Gillespie Steven Gillespie (born 4 June 1985) is an English retired footballer who played as a striker. Career Early career Born in Liverpool, Merseyside, Gillespie began his career as a trainee for Liverpool. Gillespie began his career with Liverpool ...

signed for Rovers until the end of the season, having been released from his

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

contract in January. * –

midfielder

Alan Gow Alan Gow (born 9 October 1982) is a Scottish former footballer. As a player he played as either a striker or an attacking midfielder. Gow started his senior career with his hometown club Clydebank, and continued with Airdrie United after th ...

joined Rovers on loan for the remainder of the season with Rovers forward Eliot Richards moving in the opposite direction.

March

* –

signed a contract extension, keeping him at Rovers until the summer of 2016. * –

agreed a contract extension at Rovers, committing to the club until 2016. * – John Ward was replaced as manager by assistant

. Ward became the club's new Director of Football.

April

* – Midfielder

left Rovers by mutual consent. * – Michael Smith and

were selected in the 2013–14

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

for

May

* – Rovers' final game of the season ended in a 1–0 defeat to

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

. Coupled with wins for

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

and

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

, the result meant that Rovers were relegated to the

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

. * – Rovers' retained list confirmed that 12 players, Fabian Broghammer, David Clarkson, Seanan Clucas,

, Jordan Goddard, Conor Gough, Mitch Harding, Pat Keary, Jim Paterson, Eliot Richards, Josh Southway and

, were to be released on completion of their contracts.

was placed on the transfer list.

Lee Brown Lee Brown may refer to: *Lee Brown (footballer) (born 1990), English footballer, for Portsmouth FC * Lee P. Brown (born 1937), police department chief and mayor of Houston * Lee Bradley Brown (1971–2011), British tourist allegedly beaten to death ...

and Alefe Santos were offered new contracts and Michael Smith was offered a contract extension. * – John Ward was sacked as the club's

Director of Football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

, just 41 days after taking up the role.

First team

''As of 3 May 2014.''

Transfers

In

Out

Squad statistics

Appearances, goals and cards

Goal scorers

Penalties

Disciplinary record

*Note: Both Tom Lockyer and Oliver Norburn were booked in the abandoned FA Cup match vs Crawley Town. Despite the match not being completed, their yellow cards still stand.

Suspensions served

*Note: Tom Lockyer's fifth yellow card came in the abandoned FA Cup match with

. Despite the match not being completed, his yellow card and therefore suspension, still stand.

Competitions

Overall

League Two

League table

Results summary

Results by round

Scores Overview

Bristol Rovers score given first.

Matches

Pre-season friendlies

League Two

August

September

October

November

December

January

February

March

April

May

League Cup

Football League Trophy

FA Cup

References

External links

Bristol Rovers F.C.

Bristol Post

BBC Sport

Sky Sports
* Soccerbase
Results
http://www.soccerbase.com/teams/team.sd?team_id=388&teamTabs=stats Stat
Transfers
{{DEFAULTSORT:2013-14 Bristol Rovers F.C. Season Bristol Rovers F.C. seasons

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

Season events

Pre-season

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

January

February

March

April

May

First team

Transfers

In

Out

Squad statistics

Appearances, goals and cards

Goal scorers

Penalties

Disciplinary record

Suspensions served

Competitions

Overall

League Two

League table

Results summary

Results by round

Scores Overview

Matches

Pre-season friendlies

League Two

August

September

October

November

December

January

February

March

April

May

League Cup

Football League Trophy

FA Cup

See also

References

External links