The 2007–08 season covers the period from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008. It marks the 125th year of

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

played by

Bristol Rovers F.C. Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

and their 81st season 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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

. The team plays in

Football League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

having won the

Football League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English Football League (EFL ...

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

game at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

on 26 May 2007, beating Shrewsbury 3–1 in front of a crowd of 61,589.

Chronological list of events

This is a list of the significant events to occur at the club during the 2007–08 season, presented in chronological order. This list does not include transfers, which are listed in the

transfers Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies * ...

section below, or match results, which are in the

results A result is the outcome of an event. Result or Results may also refer to: Music * Results (album), ''Results'' (album), a 1989 album by Liza Minnelli * ''Results'', a 2012 album by Murder Construct * "The Result", a single by The Upsetters * "The ...

section. *7 July:

Aaron Lescott Aaron Anthony Lescott (born 2 December 1978) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender. Lescott played at a number of Football League clubs, most notably a six-year spell at Bristol Rovers and a three-year spell at S ...

signed a new two-year contract, running until the summer of 2009. *10 July: New contracts were signed by Richard Walker,

Lewis Haldane Lewis Oliver Haldane (born 13 March 1985) is a Welsh former under-21 international footballer who scored 75 goals in 414 league and cup games in a 14-year career. A winger, he was a youth player at Southampton and Trowbridge Town before he t ...

and Chris Carruthers. Haldane signed a three-year contract, Walker a two-year one and Carruthers one-year. *10 August: First-Team Coach

Paul Trollope Paul Jonathan Trollope (born 3 June 1972) is a football coach and former professional footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association ...

and Director of Football

Lennie Lawrence Robin Michael Lawrence, commonly known as Lennie Lawrence, (born 12 December 1947) is an English football manager. He is assistant manager and non-executive director at National League side Hartlepool United. Lawrence was a semi-professional a ...

both signed extended contracts with the club. Bill Smith resigned from his position as

chief executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

to concentrate on his other business commitments. *17 August: A delay in the demolition of the Memorial Stadium was announced, meaning that the club will play the whole season there and not move to

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

in January as had previously been announced. *18 August:

Craig Disley Craig Edward Disley (born 24 August 1981) is an English football coach and former professional footballer. Primarily a box-to-box central midfielder, he began his professional career at Mansfield Town in 1999 where he started as a youngster, an ...

signed a one-year contract extension, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2009. *23 August: Goalkeeping coach

Steve Book Steven Kim Book (born 7 July 1969) is an English former professional football goalkeeper who is employed as the goalkeeping coach at Cheltenham Town. Book represented a number of clubs in the English football league system during a career which ...

was registered as a player after backup goalie Mike Green broke his finger in a reserve match. *28 August: Rovers' League Cup run came to an end after a 2–1 defeat to

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

West Ham West Ham is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Newham. It is an inner-city suburb located east of Charing Cross. The area was originally an ancient parish formed to serve parts of the older Manor of Ham, a ...

. The game was overshadowed by the injury to

Kieron Dyer Kieron Courtney Dyer (born 29 December 1978) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is a first team coach at Chesterfield FC. Born in Ipswich, Dyer played youth football for his home club Ipswich Town befo ...

who suffered a suspected broken leg. *4 September: Charlie Clough, who was promoted to the first team squad in the summer, signed his first professional contract on his 17th birthday. *2 October: Edward Ware is appointed to the club's board of directors. *9 October: Rovers' hopes of reaching the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

final for the second year running came to an end as they lost their second round tie with

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

1–0. *15 October: Former Rovers defender Billy Clark was appointed the club's new under-18's coach. *24 November: Both Steve Elliott and Richard Walker received 3 match bans after being handed straight red cards by referee

Rob Styles Robert Styles (born 21 April 1964
at

in a bad tempered

derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

with

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

. Joe Jacobson picked up his fifth yellow card of the season in the same game, resulting in a one match suspension for the Welshman. *22 December:

received his fifth yellow card of the season in the match away to Leeds resulting in a one-game suspension. *26 December: Captain Stuart Campbell picked up his fifth yellow card of the season. He was suspended for the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

Third Round tie with

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

*22 January: Rovers beat

in the 3rd round of the FA cup, after drawing the original match 2:2 they won the replay at The Memorial Stadium on penalties after a 0:0 120 minutes. *16 February: Rovers beat

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

in the 5th round of the FA cup, courtesy of an 84th-minute strike by

Rickie Lambert Rickie Lee Lambert (born 16 February 1982) is an English former professional footballer who is currently an Academy Youth Development Coach at Wigan Athletic. A striker, Lambert was known for his large stature and physical performances, drawin ...

. *9 March: The club-record-equalling FA Cup run ended at the quarter-final stage, with a defeat to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

, in front of a Memorial Stadium record crowd for football of 12,011. *3 June: The football club announced that the stadium redevelopment would be postponed for a further year after the initial accommodation providers pulled out and a leak on an unofficial club website caused negotiations with an alternative provider to collapse.

Fixtures and results

Legend

League One

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

League Cup

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

Squad

Goalscorers

Discipline

Transfers

In

During the 2007–08 season, Rovers signed six new players. Joe Jacobson, David Pipe,

Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

, Danny Coles, James Fraser and Jeff Hughes. The total transfer spending for the season is not known, as the Williams and Hughes transfer fees have not been disclosed, however both are known to be "six-figure" sums so the total spending is over £250,000.

Out

In addition to the players listed above, coach

Kevin Hodges Kevin Hodges (born 12 June 1960) is an English retired football player and manager who played as a midfielder, and now works as assistant manager at Dorchester Town. He spent the majority of his playing career with Plymouth Argyle of the Foo ...

was released by the club at the end of the season.

Team kit

The team kit for the 2007–08 season is produced by

Erreà Erreà () is a sports equipment supplier from Italy. Erreà was the first Italian sportswear company to be accredited with the Oeko-tex standard certification, which assures that garments textiles are free from harmful chemicals. Background Es ...

. The main shirt sponsor is Cowlin Construction and the secondary shirt sponsor is

Blackthorn Cider Blackthorn Cider is a cider produced by Gaymer Cider Company, a subsidiary of C&C Group. Previously it was known as Blackthorn Dry or Dry Blackthorn. It is sold in a variety of forms, commonly being served draught in pubs or being sold in cans ...

. The home shirt features the traditional blue and white quarters in a darker shade of blue from the previous season, and the away kit is green with black trim.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bristol Rovers F.C. season 2007-08 2007-08 2007–08 Football League One by team