Retained List is out

[Captain Jack Sparrow]

Nine players who are out of contract will be leaving Bristol Rovers when their respective deals expire this summer. They are...

Captain Scott Sinclair
Grant Ward
Luke McCormick
Romaine Sawyers
Jerry Lawrence
Jack Hunt
Jevani Brown
Matt Hall
Chris Martin

However, Chris Martin will remain with the Club to continue his rehabilitation from a knee injury sustained in March, which will be around 6 months.

There was a 10th player out of contract. James Wilson’s contract will also expire but an option for a one-year extension has been triggered.

Finally, six players loaned to Bristol Rovers for the 2024/25 season - Lino Sousa, Gatlin O'Donkor, Matt Butcher, Sil Swinkels, Michael Reindorf and Myles Roberts - will return to their parent clubs.

Director Of Football Ricky Martin said:
“The hard work is already underway in terms of our preparations for the 2025/26 season, including a comprehensive recruitment process for both our coaching department and first-team squad. While we are all experiencing the pain of our confirmed relegation, we are channelling that energy into ensuring our team and Club is in the best possible position ahead of our first League Two fixture in August."

 

[old timer]

15 players leaving that's just the ones who are loan / out of contract, when we get offers for players like Shaw, Connor Taylor and Jed Ward our squad is going to look very thin

Steve Evans and Michael Appleton are among the names being bandied around as Calderon's replacement, I really hope it is not either of those 2

Interesting that the new manager as he has not yet been appointed has had no say in who was being kept on and who was being released so is this down to the owners son again, because if it is it does not bode well for whoever is appointed having much say in team matters

The players I can find listed who are staying

J Ward, Senior, Moore, Wilson, Mola, Ellison, Taylor, Bilongo, Thomas, Hutchinson, Anthony, Conteh,

Lindsay, Shaw, Omochere, Sotiriou, Forde, Dewsbury

Don't think Ellison and Anthony have made the first team squad this season

1GK, 6 DEF, 5 MFs 4 STs not included Ellison and Anthony in these figures that's a lot of new signings to get the squad up to strength, in fact including Ellison and Anthony a team and a full bench

 

[Captain Jack Sparrow]

Eight players have signed a two-year scholarship deal with the Club - starting from July 2025. Their names are below with a statement from Bobby-McKenzie Black (who is Rovers Professional Development Phase Lead Coach) about each player. All eight players have featured in the U18s squad this season.

Will Wilson: Goalkeeper
"Will is a brave and forward-thinking goalkeeper, who is comfortable demonstrating his personality on the pitch. Will joined the Academy at the beginning of his U15 Season, securing a registration after a successful trial period. Will has featured across the U16 and U18 Academy age groups this term."

Henry De-long: Defender
"Henry is a resilient and brave central defender who can demonstrate his defensive skills within games via his heading, tackling and blocking to protect his goal. Henry has been at the Academy since U12. Since then, he has continued his development across the Youth Development Phase, as well as attaining further international recognition from the FAW & FA via Regional Talent Camps during his U15 season. Henry has gained further experience in this campaign, featuring within the U18 Games Programme."

Excel Iwhiwhu: Defender
"Excel is a brave & forward-thinking defender who has also played central midfield. Using his athleticism to dominate his 1v1s. Excel has been attending the Academy Programme since U13. He has continued his development across the Youth Development Phase, appearing for all age groups. Excel has gained additional exposure this campaign within the U18 Squad, featuring across their Games Programme. He has also gained the opportunity to be seen by the FA via Regional Talent Camps in his U15 season."

Adedeji Odumboni: Midfielder
"Adedeji is a relentless & brave midfielder who breaks the game up and retains possession in the middle of the pitch. Adedeji joined the Academy in the middle of his U14 Season. Since joining, Adedeji has continued his development, featuring across several age groups within the Academy, and like his peers, has heavily featured for the U18 age group this season across their Games Programme."

Jack Toogood: Midfielder
"Jack is a forward-thinking and creative midfielder; he is someone who demonstrates his game understanding via his positioning and decision-making on the pitch. Jack entered the Academy right at the start and has featured all the way through in every age group. Jack has appeared strongly across the U18 Games Programme this campaign, coming off the bench in the FA Youth Cup Fixture against Badshot Lea."

Jay Horgan: Midfielder
"Jay is a creative and forward-thinking midfielder who can create for himself and the team, as well as score goals from midfield areas. Jay also entered the Academy at its earliest stage, at U9s. He has since played for all Academy age groups, continuing his development along the way, and this term has featured across both the U16 and U18 age groups. He was another individual who came off the bench for the U18s in their FA Youth Cup Fixture against Badshot Lea."

Ciaran O’Donnell: Forward
"Ciaran is a forward-thinking and relentless wide player who wants to play directly to goal and get crosses into the box or shots at goal. Ciaran began his journey within the Academy at U13. He has since featured across all Youth Development Phase age groups and played within the U18 Games Programme this campaign."

Woody Cole: Forward
"Woody is a brave and creative striker who can also play as a wide player at times. He has shown across his journey that he can score a variety of goals when presented with the opportunity. Woody joined the Academy at the beginning of his U15 season. Although joining later than some of his peers within his age group, he has since gone on to attain exposure within the U18 and Development Team Games Programme, scoring in the FA Youth Cup versus Badshot Lea at The Mem, as well as coming off the bench in the Gloucester Senior Cup."

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[old timer]

Always pleased to read and learn about our academy players, Shaw and Dewsbury started to make the journey towards senior football this season under Calderon and that can only be good for the clubs future and encourage other youngsters to join the academy which is good for the Rovers