[jjamez]

On Saturday Town look to continue a mini away form bounce as they head to the deep, dark south to face Bristol's second side, Rovers. Otherwise known as the Pirates, Rovers haven't been able to plunder much this campaign and sit in a relegation threatened 20th, but 6 points clear of the drop zone.

Bristol is apparently a lovely city, never been, it is built around the river Avon and is bordered by Somerset and Gloucestershire, whilst also not being far from Wales. It is the second most populated city in the south of England behind London Town. It gets its name from the word Brycgstow, meaning "assembly place by the bridge" or simply "site of the bridge", presumably in reference to a crossing over the Avon. An older form of the name survives as the surname Bristow, which is derived from the city, so dart player Eric, may have ancestry from the area, if anyone is into family trees and all that jazz. Life has been found in the area by archeologists from before 1000 with evidence of Neanderthals and Romans living in the area. By 1020 it had become a trading centre with coins being minted with its name, by 1067 the Normans had control over the area and had turned it into one of the strongest castles in the region, with a nobleman of the city being known for his leading role in the Anglo-Norman conquest of Ireland, the man was called Richard Strongbow, might be where the cider gets its name from too. The port developed in the 11th century around the confluence of the Rivers Frome and Avon, adjacent to Bristol Bridge just outside the town walls. By the 12th century, there was an important Jewish community in Bristol which survived through to the late 13th century when all Jews were expelled from England. By the late 1300's Bristol had been granted county status after it incorporated neighbouring suburbs. It became a major ship building centre and was one of the largest medieval towns along with York and Norwich. By the 15th and 16th century it had become a major maritime area, both good and bad, with Bristolians forming trade agreements with the Spanish, sending food and weapons during the Anglo-Spanish war, and it became integral to the region. The continued with their trading as the begun trading in the New World and Africa, becoming a hotspot for sending goods out to Africa in exchange for slaves to either send to the Americas or back to England. Plantation goods such as sugar, tobacco, rum, rice, cotton and a few slaves (sold to the aristocracy as house servants) returned across the Atlantic to England. Some household slaves were baptised in the hope this would lead them to be freed. The Somersett Case of 1772 clarified that slavery was illegal in England. At the height of the Bristol slave trade from 1700 to 1807, more than 2,000 slave ships carried a conservatively estimated 500,000 people from Africa to slavery in the Americas.



The city was associated with Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who designed the Great Western Railway between Bristol and London Paddington, two pioneering Bristol-built ocean going steamships (SS Great Britain and SS Great Western), and the Clifton Suspension Bridge. The new railway replaced the Kennet and Avon Canal, which had fully opened in 1810 as the main route for the transport of goods between Bristol and London. Competition from Liverpool, disruptions of maritime commerce due to war with France and the abolition of the slave trade contributed to Bristol's failure to keep pace with the newer manufacturing centres of Northern England and the West Midlands. The tidal Avon Gorge, which had secured the port during the Middle Ages, had become a liability and by the late 1800's ships were now too large to navigate the river Avon into Bristol and were moving further down the coast. Come the 1900's, its Avonmouth docklands were enlarged during the early 1900s by the Royal Edward Dock. Another new dock, the Royal Portbury Dock, opened across the river from Avonmouth during the 1970s. As air travel grew in the first half of the century, aircraft manufacturers built factories and Bristol became a prime target for the xxxx's during air raids as well as a target for the IRA given its history of attacking Ireland back in the medieval period. Bristol became a major player in the construction of Rolls Royce engines during and after the war, whilst Filton near by played an instrumental role in the construction of the Concorde (something I think should be brought back with modern technological advances! but no one listens to me) Bristol is still a major player in the aerospace industry with Airbus also operating out of the area, Bristol also is thought to be the largest producer of computer chips outside of Silicone Valley with companies like Hewlett-Packard having factories there, although China and India will stand to dispute the claim of producing computer chips.



As well as the two football clubs, Bristol is also big in Rugby Union and Cricket, with Gloucestershire basing themselves there, although the ground is on the small side with little scope to expand meaning a move could be on the cards, whilst England have played games there, the size or lack there of tends to mean they go to Cardiff which isn't much bigger but has better infrastructure, or they go to Southampton which has far more scope for the future. England Women still play there often but as the women's game expands they too could leave Bristol behind. In the lesser sports, Bristol has staged starts and finishes of the Tour of Britain bike race as well as being home to one of the biggest hot air balloon events. In the modern arts category Bristol has numerous museums in and around the dock areas, and has been voted UNESCO's city of film back in 2017, Bristol is home of Aardman Animations, creators of Wallace and Gromitt, whilst also having a role in making the film Arthur Christmas, Bristol was also used for the filming of Treasure Island and has been a stomping ground for bands such as Massive Attack and other trip hop stuff. In terms of celebrities, comedian Lee Evans is from Bristol as are Russell Howard and Stephan Merchant with actor Cary Grant originally hailing from Bristol. Born as Archibald Leach he moved to America at 16 having had a bad upbringing with an alcoholic dad who had his mother sectioned and told him she had died. He found out this was a lie when in his 30's and had her released and visited regularly, although he classed himself as American by this point.



Founded in 1883, as Black Arabs F.C they entered the Bristol & District League as Eastville Rovers in 1892 and then moved to the Birmingham & District League in 1897, before changing to the Southern League as Bristol Rovers in 1899. Despite being the elder club in the city, they have spent a lot of the more recent years in the shadow of their city sibling, Bristol City. Once upon a time when I first really started following football, the two were regular opponents for Town in League One, before City moved up with the wealth of Steve Lansdown with Town not far behind them. Rovers meanwhile sunk to the depths of League Two and even the Conference for a short time, before regaining their buoyancy and making their way back to where they are now. They got their nickname of the Pirates through Bristols maritime history, whilst The Gas was an often used derogatory remark from rival clubs such as City, Cheltenham, Cardiff, Swindon and Plymouth due to their old ground being situated near to a gasworks. Instead of being offended, Rovers fans took the name to heart and made it another nickname.

Its not always been like that for Rovers, in the 1920–21 season, they played in Division Three of the Football League. They remained in this division for over 30 years, before winning the league in the 1952–53 season. They have won promotion on six other occasions: in 1973–74 from the Third Division to the Second Division, again in 1989–90 as Division Three champions, in 2006–07 to the Football League One, in 2014–15 to League Two from the Conference Premier, in 2015–16 to League One and then in 2021-22 to League One from League Two. The club has been relegated seven times—in 1961–62, 1980–81, 1992–93, 2000–01, 2010–11, 2013–14 and most recently at the end of the 2020-21 season and will be hoping to avoid the eighth occasion, Town have 9 relegations on their CV but an argumentative soul would say they are from a higher level.

The relegation to the Conference is the lowest position the Gas have ever finished although they returned to the league at the end of their first Conference season, with a penalty shootout victory over Grimsby Town in the play-off final. They would notch back to back promotions the season after. In February 2016, it was announced that a 92% stake in the club had been bought by the Jordanian al-Qadi family, and that Wael al-Qadi, a member of the Jordan Football Association, would become the president. Since 2016, the club has been owned by Dwane Sports Ltd, with 92.6% of the shares, while Bristol Rovers Supporters Club owns the remaining 7.4%. In June 2020, it was announced that president Wael al-Qadi had bought a controlling stake in Dwane Sports Ltd, after he bought the shares of other members of his family, while it was also announced that the club's debt would be capitalised and a new training facility would begin construction at Hortham Lane, Almondsbury. Rovers have owned the site formerly known as 'The Colony' and re-branded by the club 'The Quarters' since 2017, and, in June 2020, the club announced that it would be ready for the beginning of the 2020–21 season. On 3 August 2023, Kuwaiti businessman Hussain Al Saeed bought a controlling 55% share in Dwane Sports, the holding company for the football club, thus becoming chairman. As part of the takeover, all debt owed to the company was capitalised. On 22 November 2024, Al Saeed reached an agreement to purchase the remaining 45% of shares owned by both Wael and Samer al-Qadi, the acquisition to be completed over an eighteen-month period.



They begun this season with former Rotherham manager Matt Taylor in charge, he had been in charge just over a year when he was sacked in December last year, just weeks after returning to the role after a family emergency. He has since been replaced by former Brighton defender Inigo Calderon. The Spaniard, a regular opponent of Town, spent six years as a player at Brighton, amassing nearly 200 appearances in English football, he left Brighton in 2016 but returned in 2023 as a youth coach before being appointed by Bristol. He has won just 4 of his games in charge so far and will be hoping to stay in the division to help rebuild and try to progress the club further up the league.



The season in general has obviously been underwhelming for both sides, but Bristol have won just 10 games this season, losing 18 with the game back in October at the John Smiths being one of Towns better home performances as they ran out 3-1 winners thanks to goals from Matty Pearson, Callum Marshall and Bojan Radulovic, see miracles do happen sometimes. They have struggled for consistency and struggled for goals, scoring only 35 this season, whilst some of those have come in a couple of 3-1 victories, which probably highlights the issue even more. Town have had way too many scrappy 1-0's here and there which has yielded points but not much in way of goals, the fact we still have a decent goal difference is surprising to me. Last night showcased our issues, threadbare, weak, no real firepower, no height and most importantly no idea, how does that get you anywhere? We are now in the playoffs by a point with Bolton breathing down our necks, we still have some difficult games against Wycombe, Stockport, Orient and Charlton to come and on present showing I don't see us winning any of them. That Orient game could be a very nervy affair, it is also the start of the cricket season for me and I'm not sure how much I want to play, but at the moment I feel like I'd subject myself to 6 hours in a field getting "exercise" and bowling than 90 minutes of tedious Duff Ball...



In terms of the two sides, there has been quite a few meetings over the years, 39 in total, with Town winning 14 of them and losing 13. The first meeting came back in 1953 in the FA Cup, a tie that Town won 2-0, the first league meeting came three years later in Division 2 where Town won down Leeds Road 2-1 but lost away later in the season 4-0. The sides would continue to meet in Division 2 until 1962, there would then be an 11 year hiatus until they renewed acquaintances in Division 3. It would only be for the sole season and Town lost both games that campaign, it would be a further 7 years and yet again Bristol did the double over the Terriers. Town managed to register a first win since 61 against the Pirates in 1982 with a 3-1 at home, but for the rest of the 80's Bristol held the upper hand over Huddersfield. Come the 90's the tide gradually switched, the early 90's saw Town register one league win in 93 with the other 5 games being draws, the 1995 season culminated with the Play off final where Neil Warnock's side edged past Bristol 2-1 down at the old Wembley, it would be 2003 before the sides met again, with Town having survived administration in that time. 2003 saw the sides in Division 3 with Rob Edwards and a young Jon Stead scoring in a 2-1 win, the away game finished 1-1 and Town ended the season in the play offs at the Millenium Stadium. 3 years later and Bristol joined Town in League One, with Town winning the first game 2-1 thanks to goals from Ronnie Wallwork and Phil Jevons, the Bristol side contained one Rickie Lambert who was sought after by Town at one time, but was passed over by Dean Hoyle due to concerns over his age, we know what happened then, with his moves to Southampton and Liverpool, Town also won the away game with goals from James Barrett, Michael Collins and Chris Brandon sealing a 3-2 win. The following season Town drew 1-1 at home with Stan Ternant at the helm, whilst Lee Clark's side won 2-1 away, the first play off season under Clark saw Town struggle against Bristol, losing 1-0 away and drawing 0-0 at home, before the second of Clark's play off season saw Town lose at home but win away through a sole early Jordan Rhodes goal, that would be the last time the two sides met until this season when Town put in arguably their best home performance of the season, not that there is much to chose from.



The current Bristol squad contains a few players of yesteryear that have tormented Town, Chris Martin leads the line at 36, often terrorising town when at Derby and Bristol City. Scott Sinclair, formerly of Chelsea, Swansea and Celtic, was a thorn in the side of Towns defences whilst at Preston, he was released in 2022 and joined Bristol Rovers where he was appointed captain, at 35 his pace isn't what it used to be but there will still be a smidgen of ability on the ball that got him to the elite level. Promise Omochere, Isaac Hutchinson and Ruel Sotiriou are their leading scorers in the league, all with just 4 goals, Hutchinson scored at the John Smiths earlier in the season. Omochere signed for Bristol from Fleetwood in the summer for a rumoured club record fee, standing at 6"2 he tends to be the target man for Sotiriou who also joined in the summer from Leyton Orient, Hutchinson operates in midfield and was brought in to replace current Town man Anthony Evans when he came to Town in the summer. Elsewhere in the Rovers squad is one Jack Hunt who was once of this parish and has been an antagonist to fans ever since he departed for Crystal Palace, usually whilst he was in his two spells at Sheffield Wednesday and Bristol City.



Others to have played for both include former Town keeper Jamal Blackman who had a loan at Bristol a few years before his move to Town, Tareiq Holmes-Dennis who left Town whilst in the Premier League to join Bristol after a loan at Portsmouth. He suffered a serious injury whilst at Rovers and announced his retirement at 24 due to it, but returned to playing in non league last September more for the fun of the game than a career. Moving further back and in the 2015 season, Towns current number 1 Lee Nicholls had a loan spell at the Memorial Ground, making 15 appearances for the side. Three years prior to that Scott Bevan would be Bristols number one, he had two years at Bristol spanning from 2011-2013, he played alongside future Town loanee Mustapha Carayol, he had the one season at Bristol before moving to Middlesbrough in his journeyman career. Going a lot further back, Lee Martin had a loan spell at Town covering just 3 games, he had 2 years at Bristol having begun at Manchester United and part of me thinks he came back to Town in some form for a short while but I can't see anything to confirm that.

There is then, of course, one Marcus Stewart who spent 5 years at Bristol Rovers, scoring 80 goals in 171 appearances before he moved to Town, where he scored a further 58 in 133 games, nearly firing them into the top division, before he was unceremoniously sold to Ipswich and Town faded away. He would finish his playing career in 2011 having scored 222 goals in 664 games, moving into coaching, first at Exeter where he finished his career and then at Bristol Rovers when he returned as assistant to Darrell Clarke. In 2022 he was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease and has since been raising money for the Darby Rimmer MND foundation, he has been a guest at Town in the past and it wouldn't surprise me if he is there on Saturday.



I won't do team news, we seem to have lost Josh Koroma and Nigel Lonwijk now, so we are well and truly threadbare, ending with Jonny Hogg, and Brodie Spencer at centre half on Tuesday. Saturday will probably see Spencer joined by Turton and Ruffles in defence if we decide to go with three at the back and no one returns. On the plus side another midget target man returned on Tuesday in the form of Joe Taylor.

I'll add the press conference when its done.

[jjamez]

Koroma out for 4-6 weeks. No news on Nigel yet. So another change of system will probably be necessary

[theo_luddite]

When it comes to TV jjamez, (apologies if you covered this in my quick skim and I missed it) nearly all of the Only Fools and Horses outdoor stuff was filmed in Bristol (yes, including the Batman and Robin chase) and 'Nelson Mandella House' is definitely a tower block very near to Ashton Gate. Not quite sure where Peckham Spring was located though for the bottled water stuff. Casualty and it's other hospital spin-off (that series name escapes me) were also fimed there abouts. Now if only Batman and Robin had been chasing Charlie and Duffy round the streets of Bristol ...... I'm in the wrong trade. Well, I'm retired anyway and they'd all be chasing each other in wheelchairs now.

God bless Hooky Street
Viva Hooky Street
Long live Hooky Street
C'est magnifique Hooky Street
Magnifique Hooky Street

Would you like some Trevor Francis tracksuits from a mush in Shepherds Bush? Apparently we just signred a new football gear deal. Kushty.

Apart from my intrusion

[Lord Snooty]

Nice one jjamez.

We did a weekend in Bristol for the City game back in the 2017 promotion season. We visited the SS Great Britain, which was very good. Also had a wander up to Clifton and walked over the suspension bridge.

As for Bristol Rovers. Only been once, back in the 80s to Eastville Stadium. It was very dilapidated by then and we were forced into an open away end with torrential rain. Not the best of days and if I recall correctly, we lost 3-2 and broke down on the way home.

Happy days.

[jjamez]

Mr and Mr Hogg-Duff interview

[WakeyTerrier]

A back 3 of Turton, Spencer and Ruffles…. I think I may need a few beers before watching this one

[jjamez]

Honestly I'd throw Hogg in the back three and keep turton on rwb, think he's been offering more than Sorensen. Plus Hogg can't really play back if he's in the middle of the three. It worked for Carlos when he used Hogg there, but then again, better tactician than duff

[theo_luddite]

Going well I see, we've had most of the possession and shots and Brizzle score from their 1st shot.

[Lord Snooty]

Sounds like another dire first half.

[jjamez]

We are well and truly gassed if we keep with this