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 association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

. For the third season in a row, Rovers competed in the basement division of the Football League, League Two, 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 city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

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 consider the other to be their main rivals, leading to a heated atmosphere at these matches. The majo ...

since 2007, losing to

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

in the first round of 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 ...

Ashton Gate Stadium Ashton Gate is a multi-use stadium in Ashton Gate, Bristol, England, and is the home of Bristol City F.C. and the Bristol Bears rugby union team. Located in the south-west of the city, just south of the River Avon, it currently has an all-se ...

. 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 25 July 1984) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward and is currently loans manager at AFC Bournemouth. Harrold has had numerous pre ...

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 Patrick Keary (born 22 November 1993) is an English footballer who plays as a centre back. He is a free agent after he was released by Bristol Rovers. Keary played and captained the Bristol Rovers Centre of Excellence sides from the age of 8 to ...

signed one-year contracts while first-year scholar

Jamie Lucas Jamie Lucas (born 6 December 1995) is a Welsh footballer who plays for Droitwich Spa as a striker. Born near Pontypridd, South Wales, Lucas spent one season playing for Bristol Rovers Central in the Midland Junior Premier League, before joinin ...

signed a two-year contract. * –

Alefe Santos Alefein "Alefe" Santos D'Abadia (born 1 March 1995) is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a winger for Shaftesbury. Early life Santos was born in São Paulo before moving to England when he was 12 years old. “My parents told me I would ha ...

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 professional devel ...

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-21s goalkeeping coach at Wolverhampton Wanderers. Career Playing career Bevan started his football career with Southampton as an a ...

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 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. Lockyer played for Radyr Rangers, Cardiff City and Bristol Rovers at youth level before ...

agreed a two-year contract with Rovers, his first professional contract. * – Midfielder Ollie Clarke 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 last played as a centre-forward for club Milton Keynes Dons. He represented Wales at under-21 level, scoring three goals in 14 games. Harrison began his career a ...

agreed a three-year contract with Rovers. * – Salisbury City manager

Darrell Clarke Darrell James Clarke (born 16 December 1977) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played in the English Football League. He is the head coach of club Bristol Rovers ...

was appointed as Rovers' new

Assistant Manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

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

July

* –

John-Joe O'Toole John Joseph O'Toole (born 30 September 1988) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football), defender for club AFC Wimbledon. He is a former Republic of Ireland under-21 international. Club ca ...

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 level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

. 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

first round First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

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 sys ...

opposition, losing 3–1 at home to

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

. * –

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

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 broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

, was overshadowed by a post match

pitch invasion A pitch invasion (also known as field storming, rushing the field or rushing the court) 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 somet ...

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 Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football), defender for National League (division), National League club Hartlepool United F.C., H ...

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. The team compete in the ...

and

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

respectively. * – Midfielder and former captain

Matthew Gill Matthew James Gill (born 8 November 1980) is an English professional Association football, football coach and former player. He began his career in 1997, notably representing Peterborough United F.C., Peterborough United, Exeter City F.C., Exet ...

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 level 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 currently a Caribbean based talent scout for FIFA. Beardsley played youth football with Mickleover Sports F.C., M ...

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 association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

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 represen ...

'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 Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

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 team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

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

club captain The captain of a football/soccer 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 heavily influ ...

'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 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'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

. * – 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 , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

winger Kaid Mohamed joined Rovers on loan until the end of the season.

February

* – Steven Gillespie signed for Rovers until the end of the season, having been released from his

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Established in 1997, the current Flee ...

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. He is currently under-18s manager of Airdrieonians. Gow started his senior career with his hometown club Cl ...

joined Rovers on loan for the remainder of the season with Rovers forward

Eliot Richards Eliot Allen Richards (born 10 September 1991) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Cymru Premier club Barry Town United. Club career Bristol Rovers A product of the Rovers youth system, Richards joined the profession ...

moving in the opposite direction.

March

* –

signed a contract extension, keeping him at Rovers until the summer of 2016. * – Ollie Clarke 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 Oliver Norburn 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 Football in England, En ...

for League Two.

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 club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

. 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 competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

and

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

, the result meant that Rovers were relegated to the

Conference Premier The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National Leagues and step 1 of the National Le ...

. * – Rovers' retained list confirmed that 12 players, Fabian Broghammer, David Clarkson, Seanan Clucas, Steven Gillespie, Jordan Goddard, Conor Gough, Mitch Harding,

, Jim Paterson,

, Josh Southway and

, were to be released on completion of their contracts.

was placed on the transfer list. Lee Brown and

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 senior management, 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 typ ...

, just 41 days after taking up the role.

First team

''As of 3 May 2014.''

Transfers

In

Loans in

Out

Loans 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 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 ...

Season events

Pre-season

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

January

February

March

April

May

First team

Transfers

In

Loans in

Out

Loans 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