When Bristol Rovers were relegated from League One back in 2011 and Paul Buckle took charge, a vast number of people associated with the club or from the outside looking in believed that a return to the third tier would be fairly swift, particularly with the so-called abundance of quality League Two players we had brought in that summer. Instead, after two years of floundering and much frustration, this huge club was heading in the opposite direction in its third season since relegation. Demotion to the Conference was met with much finger-pointing, and calls for a radical overhaul of the way in which the club is run. Having led the side to an amazing revival in the second half of 2012/13, John Ward was handed a new contract, and Rovers were soon installed as the fourth favourites for promotion by the bookmakers, seemingly due to the second half of the previous season alone, rather than the quality of the squad at Ward's disposal. With the League Two savvy Shaun North having left the club, Rovers were in need of a new assistant manager. Despite Ward initially stating that he was looking for someone with managerial experience in the Football League, he and the club instead opted for highly-rated Salisbury boss Darrell Clarke, who had guided the Wiltshire club to successive promotions. Rather than be blasé and make numerous signings, Ward decided to keep a settled side. He decided to offer Mark McChrystal a contract extension - well deserved after a series of solid defensive displays in the first few months of 2013. Steve Mildenhall had put pen to paper on a two-year deal by the end of May, while the underperforming Joe Anyinsah was released alongside Oumare Tounkara, a departure which was somewhat surprising given our lack of firepower. With the introduction of Financial Fair Play having an impact on who the club could sign, a lot of work went into the pursuit of John-Joe O'Toole, the fiery midfielder who played a key role in helping Rovers from oblivion to mid-table security. After a long and arduous wait for club and supporters, O'Toole's arrival was finally confirmed in the week prior to the beginning of the season. Despite a second consecutive year where a spate of unfortunate injuries afflicted the club's preparations for the campaign, Ward declared that he was happy with his squad, although to many (including me!) it looked considerably lacking in quality with regards to attacking areas of the field. An attack consisting of Eliot Richards, Matt Harrold and David Clarkson was looking painfully short in terms of goals, with Ryan Brunt having succumbed to injury. Jim Paterson, Danny Woodards and Jim Paterson all suffered long term injuries themselves, with the German's absence in particular leaving the squad looking astonishingly thin in wide areas, with the young and raw duo Ellis Harrison and Alefe Santos the only two players Ward could turn to. Still, the defence looked solid enough, with a consistent goalkeeper and back four, who gave little away. Despite that, the season began in disappointing fashion at Exeter. Rovers looked in the ascendancy when Richards equalised, only for Sam Parkin to win it for the hosts with a diving header. Despite being outclassed, there were still some positive aspects to come from the first home game of the season; a 3-1 defeat to a very good Watford side in the Capital One Cup. There was some good football played, but a couple of poor goals conceded rendered another Richards close-range effort academic. Concerns began to arise the following Saturday against S****horpe, where, despite earning a first point of the season, we did so by the skin of our teeth, with the Iron dominating from pretty much start to finish, with several near misses ensuring that it could have been a thrashing on another day. After another defeat in a full-blooded affair at Newport County where our lack of attacking prowess was once again exposed, Rovers finally got going against York. Clarkson scored twice with two well-taken goals, before O'Toole got the winner with the first of an impressive 16 for the season, after the 10-man visitors had come back to draw level through a Ryan Jarvis double. A week later, Tom Lockyer - who had impressed upon being thrust into the first-team at an unexpectedly early stage - headed an early goal which would see off Northampton. September began with the first competitive Bristol derby since 2007, and two fine goals from City won it. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas' 30-yard shot gave them the lead at half time, and after McChrystal had headed the equaliser as Rovers made a much better fist of the second half, Joe Bryan curled the decisive goal. Yet some City fans seemed to think that they had just beaten their biggest rivals in a play-off semi-final or something, as they then began to taunt the visiting supporters, who behaved admirably in response. Pity they had been banned before they could suffer the embarrassment of losing away to lowly Wycombe in the next stage... Anyways, Rovers then put in two more disastrous performances on the road, with a goal from a set-piece deciding a dull, cagey game at Plymouth, and the Dagenham & Redbridge exposing or limitations yet more with a 2-0 victory, a game which saw Matt Harrold see a penalty saved. A fourth straight defeat in all competitions was then avoided in the dying seconds against Hartlepool, who had come from behind lead 2-1 at the Mem. An improved performance and a draw at Southend followed, but to be honest, it was quickly turning into a season in which us fans had to hang on dearly to any crumb of comfort, with our time spent exclusively in the lower reaches of the table. More injury problems arose through October with McChrystal having to sit out six weeks of action, and a particularly bleak week towards the end of the month seemed to sum up our season. By then, Ward had acted by bringing in the ineffective Andy Bond, as well as winger Alex Henshall and impressive Birmingham defender Will Packwood on loan deals. However, they clearly weren't the solution to our problems going forward. Admittedly, Rovers played for an hour with 10 men against Wycombe, but offered no attacking threat whatsoever. The game was eventually lost despite some dogged defending. Three days later and Henshall was grabbing his first and only goal for the Gas in freakish fashion when his cross was fumbled into the net by Accrington goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli. We were ahead against a side who were still looking for their first win of the season, so what could go wrong? We end up losing of course thanks to two blatantly avoidable goals. It was after this game in which the alarm bells began to ring, and the concerns from supporters were beginning to surface and perhaps find its way to the players. Ryan Brunt had returned from injury, but was nowhere near 100% fit. Looking back, it seems that there was a hint of desperation which led to his early return to action. As a result, he was soon back on the treatment table, where he remain until the end of the season. After a goalless draw with high-flying Chesterfield at home, a game which saw us wait patiently until the dying seconds to see another promising youngster, Ollie Clarke, have our one and only shot on target, we headed to leaders Oxford. An O'Toole penalty and a shock 1-0 victory had us all shaking our heads in disbelief, but going forward it would by no means buck the trend, as that turned out to be one of just two away wins all season in the league, although we did manage to gather the same number in the FA Cup. But in all four of those games, we were playing in the quarters and not the all new purple and black stripes, which would turn out to be the unluckiest kit in the club's history. At least, however, it did seem to inspire an upturn in performance levels, with only a Mildenhall mistake preventing us from winning a richly entertaining FA Cup game against York. We would win the replay much more comfortably than the 3-2 score-line suggests. Another loan signing, Chris Beardsley, scored in both games. He was a striker at least, but despite those two efforts he was hardly prolific despite putting in the effort. An evenly-matched 1-1 draw with Bury came in between. Beardsley was then given his marching orders in a game at Burton, one of many away from home in which Rovers would not back up early pressure with a goal. O'Toole followed the Preston man off the pitch late on, displaying a loss of discipline which was an all-too regular feature. On the final day of November, Rovers finally ended their three month wait for a home win with an impressively comprehensive win over AFC Wimbledon, but December would be a one step forward, two steps back affair. We certainly matched League One Crawley in the FA Cup second round, but then threw away a lead to inexplicably lose at Morecambe the following week. It was after this game in which John Ward would finally mention the dreaded 'R' word, in an audibly frustrated post-match interview. That definitely looked to rouse the players for the final game before Christmas, where Portsmouth were seen off in impressive fashion after a slow start. Two superb goals from Ollie Clarke and David Clarkson decided a game run by the superb display of Oliver Norburn. Who would have thought that he'd be frozen out and tossed away like an extinguished cigarette before the campaign came to a close? Just one point came from the other two games across the festive period, before the replay against Crawley was finally completed at the third time of asking. Two late goals ensured Rovers registered an impressive win and moved into the third round for only the second time in six seasons. The result came from Ward throwing extra men forward in search of a goal (shame that didn't occur to him in regular league fixtures), while it was also notable for being the first time since September 2011 that Rovers had come from behind to win a game. Rovers obviously enjoyed this newfound sensation for four days at least, as it happened against the following Saturday against Exeter. After Lee Brown's bizarre own goal gave the Grecians the lead against the run of play, a double from O'Toole including the winner with just seconds to go, earned the win. Then came the FA Cup tie at Birmingham, where a 3-0 defeat was unquestionably harsh, although again a lack of creativity and quality in the final third hindered us once again. The outstanding Chris Burke netted twice late on, with Eliot Richards missing our best chance early on. After a draw in our fourth meeting with York, a win over Newport and a fine debut from Port Vale loanee Kaid Mohamed in tough weather conditions provided many reasons to be optimistic, only to slip to a defeat in the next game against Accrington, with the only goal being scored right at the death. Rovers looked the likelier side to score for long spells without playing brilliantly, but Peter Murphy made us pay for our wayward finishing. This late breakaway goal should certainly be regarded as a contributing factor in our demise. By the morning of February 8, Rovers had negotiated a rather sudden exchange deal with Exeter for the technically gifted Alan Gow, with Richards going the other way. Gow was fit enough to make his debut in that day's draw with Oxford, but he would only make two more appearances before being ruled out for the rest of season through injury. Steven Gillespie had also been signed on a free transfer in what was another underwhelming deal as far as the fans were concerned. He had his only moment of glory in what was a joyless three-month spell with the club by scoring the late equaliser to earn a 1-1 draw at S****horpe, three days after he made his debut as a substitute in a fine 2-0 win over high-flying Burton, a performance that was far from one of a side that would suffer relegation to the Conference come May. Relegation rivals Northampton were unable to make up any more ground on us at the beginning of March as we held them to a 0-0 draw, before almost all fears of relegation seemed to be a thing of the past after winning a high quality encounter against in-form Plymouth. However, the following game against Dagenham & Redbridge, for me, would be the turning point in our season. Ahead thanks to another O'Toole goal, we then allowed the London club to come back and win, and from then on we would never regain our momentum, losing 4-0 after a dismal performance at Hartlepool, drawing an instantly forgettable game against Southend, and then surrendering meekly again at Fleetwood. It was after this game where a radical change was suddenly announced. John Ward was to move upstairs to become director of football, while Darrell Clarke was to take over as manager. It was a change that had apparently been in the offing for several months, but the timing was a source of confusion for most fans and indeed outsiders, with Rovers still very much involved in a relegation battle, while the appointment of a manager with no league experience in the top job left us all in no doubt that the club was taking an enormous gamble. From the start, Clarke said all the right things, but unfortunately he was unable to fully impress his methods and ideas on the players, whose lack of quality and in some cases lack of effort would eventually prove our ultimate undoing rather than a perceived lack of coaching ability on Clarke's part. This unexpected new era started well enough, with a win over Morecambe thanks to Mohamed's last-gasp header, but the defeats would soon return with a setback at Bury. After a clean sheet at AFC Wimbledon, the game against Torquay was surely going to be the one which would ensure our safety. The Gulls were heading out of the Football League for sure, and Rovers still had a superb home record to draw inspiration from. What did take place was perhaps the worst performance in all our years at the Mem. Some players may have been overcome by nerves, but others (you know who |I mean) didn't seem to care about the match in the slightest. A very average Torquay side went 2-0 up, and an atmosphere of fury was tangible across the stadium. The five minutes of stoppage time at the end of the game were simply farcical, as Rovers finally pulled their finger out and nearly managed to grab a point. How insulting given the context of the match. This left us with just four matches in which to save our season, but we would not have any joy against Portsmouth despite a much better display. An Easter Monday game against Rochdale saw us move ahead, but it was clear that the opposition were once again vastly superior both in quality and technique, and they came from behind to win 2-1, one which flattered us rather than Dale. Luckily, results later in the day would go our way and keep us out of the drop zone by the narrowest of margins. The match at Wycombe on the penultimate weekend was billed as the biggest game in the club's history, and the victory which followed in a tense game against our relegation rivals seemed to convince everyone that we would not be heading for the Conference. David Clarkson popped up with the winning goal which moved us three points above our opponents, who moved into the second relegation place with a very similar goal difference. Northampton, after a fine run of results under new boss Chris Wilder, were also in pole position to survive on the final day, while Exeter, Accrington and Morecambe had also secured their league status for another season. Mansfield seemed like the perfect opponents on the final day. Lying in mid-table, they had played as if they were mentally on the beach the previous week as they lost abysmally to Torquay. But again the nerves got to Rovers, and the Stags began to take control while both Northampton and Wycombe moved into comfortable leads. A point though would still see us safe regardless. However, Colin Daniel then met a cross from the left with a sweet volley which went in off the post, and the prospect of relegation was looming... The second half proved that the we had the words NOT OUR DAY written above our heads in block capital letters. A series of incredible near misses and wonderful saves from the Mansfield goalkeeper were painful to watch, and to stomach, and it affected the players mentally to the degree that they gradually ran out of ideas and became almost resigned to their unbearable fate. The final whistle came and the worst atmosphere took over as fans invaded the pitch, with Darrell Clarke comforted by staff and others before famously conducted the post-match interview in tears. At the end of this most catastrophic and sickening season, fingers can be pointed in many different directions. Among supporters, the club's board have taken a considerable portion of the blame, with their recruitment policy in recent seasons questioned by us all. The attitude of the players was brought into focus, as well as their off-the-field habits. Just taking this individual season into account though, two stats stand out above all others. First is having what was by some distance the worst away record in the division, which was due to a mixture of poor tactics and a lack of end product or cutting edge. Secondly, it was our measly tally of just 43 goals, less than a goal per League Two game. There were some outstanding players in our team for sure. None more so than Michael Smith, who deservedly won a second straight Player of the Year award. Elsewhere, it was a season for youngsters, with Tom Lockyer and Ollie Clarke impressing with their consistency, particularly Lockyer, who showed impressive determination and tenacity. Seanan Clucas was in and out of the team, while Ellis Harrison failed to live up to the potential he proposed the previous season. Alefe Santos looked far from ready for senior football, and was much too lightweight. Clarke now remains in charge in our attempts to get out of the Conference at the first attempt, but Ward has since left the club. Many changes are now afoot...
"Pity they had been banned before they could suffer the embarrassment of losing away to lowly Wycombe in the next stage" Lowly Wycombe..
First of all, thanks CJS, appreciate your comments. I mainly do this kind of thing as a hobby. I write online for a football website which mainly focuses on the Premier League and I've gained some good experience from that, but I'm in one of those office-based jobs at the moment, but yeah I'd like to write professionally. I'm still quite young so why not?
The Evil post only go for people with degrees and I don't have one of those yet. Maybe I will go to uni some day...
Get a job in corporate communications and you write all day, like me! Also I write an occasional column for my local rag (for free) and I also submit articles/stories to various magazines and they do pick some up and pay. There's plenty of online content to write and you could always hone your skills by writing a blog. Above all, persevere - people like to read good copy
rovers are looking for people for wc games if your out in brazil. ask if you can get involved in normal rovers match days. worse they can say is no!
