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2011–12

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Map showing the locations of the 24 teams in
League Two during the 2011–12 season

The 2011–12 season was the 129th season of football played by Bristol Rovers, and their 85th in the Football League. The team spent it in League Two, the fourth level of English football, after having been relegated from League One at the end of 2010–11.

The footballing year began with a new manager at the helm and an almost entirely new playing staff. Despite early optimism things rapidly turned sour, and after a run of 8 league games without a win, stretching from the beginning of November to the start of January, he was relieved of his duties after just a few months in the job. Many fans had turned against the manager long before this point, not helped by the very public falling out he had with previous club captain and caretaker manager Stuart Campbell which saw Campbell leave the club in December.

Buckle's assistant Shaun North was left in charge of the first team until a replacement could be found. He was thrown in at the deep end as his first ever game as a professional manager was an FA Cup tie against Premier League side Aston Villa, in a game screened live on national television. North remained in charge for three games, recording one win and one draw in the league to go with the defeat to Villa in the cup.

On 18 January the club named Mark McGhee as the new manager and he immediately brought about an upturn in form, with very few changes to Buckle's playing staff. He also opted to keep North on as assistant boss to help with the transitional period, rather than bringing in his own man. This no doubt helped speed up the new manager's familiarity with the strengths and weaknesses of each member of the squad.

The Gas ended the season comfortably in mid table, finishing 13th, which although was significantly below the pre-season expectations of promotion, it was something of a relief considering the team's flirtation with the relegation zone towards the end of Buckle's tenure at the helm.

Season summary[]

Summary of the 2011–12 season
Division: npower League Two
League position (won, drawn, lost): 13th (w:15, d:12, l:19)
FA Cup: Third round
League Cup: Second round
League Trophy: First round
Personnel
Chairman: Nick Higgs
Manager: Paul Buckle (until early January)
Shaun North (caretaker)
Mark McGhee (January onwards)
Assistant manager: Shaun North
Captain: Matt Gill
Statistics
Top goalscorer (all competitions): Matt Harrold (18)
Top goalscorer (league only): Matt Harrold (16)
Most appearances (all competitions): Lee Brown (48)
Most appearances (league only): Lee Brown (42)
Biggest win: Bristol Rovers 7-1 Burton Albion (14-04-2012)
Heaviest defeat: Dagenham & Redbridge 4-0 Bristol Rovers (05-05-2012)
Highest attendance (home, league): 8,427 (Bristol Rovers 1-2 Torquay United (13-08-2011))
Highest attendance (home, cup): 10,883 (Bristol Rovers 1-3 Aston Villa (07-01-2012))
Highest attendance (away, league): 10,023 (Bradford City 2-2 Bristol Rovers (10-09-2011))
Highest attendance (away, cup): 2,236 (AFC Totton 1-6 Bristol Rovers (04-12-2011))
Lowest attendance (home, league): 5,024 (Bristol Rovers 0-2 Barnet (19-11-2011))
Lowest attendance (home, cup): 3,787 (Bristol Rovers 3-1 Corby Town (12-11-2011))
Lowest attendance (away, league): 1,643 (Accrington Stanley 2-1 Bristol Rovers (05-11-2011))
Lowest attendance (away, cup): 771 (Wycombe Wanderers 3-1 Bristol Rovers (06-09-2011))

Fixtures[]

Pre-season[]

See 2011–12 pre-season for more details

The club arranged nine pre-season warmup matches, three nominally at home, although one of those was played at Twerton Park, and six away. There was originally a game scheduled against Kidderminster Harriers on 26 July, but after a game against Reading was arranged on the same day Kiddy pulled out of the fixture as they wanted to face a full strength team and Rovers would only play a reserve XI.

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
6 July Mangotsfield United Away 5–1 1,169 L.Brown, McGleish, Richards, Swallow (2)
8 July Bath City Away 2–0 1,200 Anyinsah, W.Brown
11 July Salisbury City Away 5–2 603 Bolger, Anyinsah, Dutton (og), McGleish, Zebroski
14 July Inverness Caledonian Thistle Home1 2–2 841 McGleish (pen), McLaggon
19 July Burnley Home 2–0 2,500 Harrold, Richards
21 July Weston-super-Mare Away 2–0 Lines, McLaggon
26 July Reading Home 1–2 3,309 Kuffour
30 July Gloucester City Away 3–2 425 Virgo, Anthony, McGleish
1 August Bitton Away 1–2 Richards

1 Game played at Twerton Park

Competitive matches[]

Date Competition Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers League Pos
6 August League Two AFC Wimbledon Away 3–2 4,629 McGleish, Harrold, Virgo (pen) 2nd
10 August League Cup Watford Home Match postponed for policing reasons
13 August League Two Torquay United Home 1–2 8,427 Anthony 11th
16 August League Two Northampton Town Home 2–1 5,812 Kuffour, Harrold 7th
20 August League Two Macclesfield Town Away 0–0 1,865 8th
23 August League Cup Watford Home 1–1 4,432 Harrold
Bristol Rovers progress to the second round after winning the penalty shootout 4–2
27 August League Two Hereford United Home 0–0 6,342 10th
30 August League Cup Leyton Orient Away 2–3 1,881 Zebroski, Richards
3 September League Two Crawley Town Away 1–4 3,693 L.Brown 14th
6 September League Trophy Wycombe Wanderers Away 1–3 771 Harrold
10 September League Two Bradford City Away 2–2 10,023 Harrold, Richards 16th
13 September League Two Shrewsbury Town Home 1–0 5,065 Zebroski 12th
17 September League Two Aldershot Town Home 0–1 5,640 16th
24 September League Two Morecambe Away 3–2 2,583 Bolger, McGleish, Anyinsah 12th
1 October League Two Cheltenham Town Home 1–3 6,108 L. Brown 15th
8 October League Two Oxford United Away 0–3 9,291 17th
14 October League Two Rotherham United Home 5–2 5,395 McGleish (2), Bolger, L. Brown, Anyinsah 12th
22 October League Two Burton Albion Away 1–2 3,094 Harold 14th
25 October League Two Port Vale Home 0–3 5,444 16th
29 October League Two Dagenham & Redbridge Home 2–0 5,475 Anyinsah, Harrold (pen) 15th
5 November League Two Accrington Stanley Away 1–2 1,643 Anyinsah 16th
12 November FA Cup Corby Town Home 3–1 3,787 Scott McGleish (pen), Mustapha Carayol, Chris Zebroski
19 November League Two Barnet Home 0–2 5,024 17th
26 November League Two Southend United Away 1–1 6,237 Harrold 18th
4 December FA Cup AFC Totton Away 6–1 2,236 Anyinsah, Carayol, Woodards, Anthony, Richards (2)
10 December League Two Swindon Town Home 1–1 7,726 Woodards 18th
17 December League Two Gillingham Away 1–4 7,750 Carayol 18th
26 December League Two Plymouth Argyle Home 2–3 8,090 Harrold (2, 1 pen) 18th
31 December League Two Crewe Alexandra Home 2–5 5,037 Harrold, McGleish 19th
2 January League Two Barnet Away 0–2 2,537 19th
7 January FA Cup Aston Villa Home 1–3 10,883 McGleish
10 January League Two Hereford United Away 2–1 2,411 L. Brown, McGleish 17th
14 January League Two Crawley Town Home 0–0 5,082 18th
21 January League Two Cheltenham Town Away 2–0 5,288 Zebroski, Richards 17th
28 January League Two Bradford City Home 2–1 6,164 L. Brown, Richards 16th
4 February League Two Aldershot Town Away Match postponed due to frozen pitch
11 February League Two Morecambe Home 2–1 5,381 L. Brown, McGleish (pen) 15th
14 February League Two Shrewsbury Town Away 0–1 4,928 15th
18 February League Two Oxford United Home 0–0 6,512 16th
25 February League Two Rotherham United Away 1–0 3,937 Dorman 16th
3 March League Two Macclesfield Town Home 0–0 5,420 16th
6 March League Two Northampton Town Away 2–3 4,028 Stanley, L. Brown 16th
10 March League Two Torquay United Away 2–2 3,920 Harrold, Zebroski 16th
17 March League Two AFC Wimbledon Home 1–0 5,828 Carayol 14th
20 March League Two Plymouth Argyle Away 1–1 7,531 Harrold 15th
24 March League Two Southend United Home 1–0 6,258 Harrold (pen) 14th
27 March League Two Aldershot Town Away 0–1 2,870 14th
31 March League Two Swindon Town Away 0–0 9,645 14th
6 April League Two Gillingham Home 2–2 6,160 Richards, Carayol 14th
9 April League Two Crewe Alexandra Away 0–3 4,139 15th
14 April League Two Burton Albion Home 7–1 5,353 Carayol, Richards (3), Harrold (2, 1 pen), Paterson 14th
21 April League Two Port Vale Away 0–1 4,066 15th
28 April League Two Accrington Stanley Home 5–1 7,073 Harrold (2, 1 pen), Dorman, Lund (2) 12th
5 May League Two Dagenham & Redbridge Away 0–4 2,377 13th

Squad[]

No Nat Name Pos League FA Cup Carling Cup JP Trophy Total
Apps Gls Apps Gls Apps Gls Apps Gls Apps Gls
1 Scott Bevan GK 37 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 42 0
20 Michael Poke GK 8 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 9 0
20 Conor Gough GK 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
25 Lance Cronin GK 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
38 Matt Macey GK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 Michael Smith Def 20 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 22 0
3 Gary Sawyer Def 24 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 27 0
4 Danny Woodards Def 39 1 3 1 1 0 1 0 44 2
5 Cian Bolger Def 39 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 43 2
14 Lee Brown Def 42 7 3 0 2 0 1 0 48 7
15 Byron Anthony Def 16 1 1 1 2 0 1 0 20 2
19 Adam Virgo Def 9 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 11 1
22 Charlie Clough Def 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
30 Michael Boateng Def 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
33 Aaron Downes Def 8 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 9 0
37 Tom Parkes Def 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 0
4 Chris Lines Mid 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
6 Craig Stanley Mid 34 1 2 0 2 0 1 0 39 1
7 Stuart Campbell Mid 11 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 13 0
8 Matt Gill Mid 33 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 36 0
11 Mustapha Carayol Mid 30 4 3 2 2 0 0 0 35 6
16 Joe Anyinsah Mid 31 4 2 1 0 0 0 0 33 5
17 Jim Paterson Mid 17 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 1
21 Wayne Brown Mid 12 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 15 0
23 Ben Swallow Mid 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
23 Matthew Lund Mid 12 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 2
24 Ollie Clarke Mid 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
29 Darren Jefferies Mid 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
31 Shaquille Hunter Mid 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
33 Oliver Norburn Mid 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
34 Andy Dorman Mid 25 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 28 2
35 Jordan Goddard Mid 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
9 Matt Harrold Fwd 40 16 2 0 1 1 1 1 44 18
10 Scott McGleish Fwd 27 7 2 2 2 0 1 0 32 9
17 Jo Kuffour Fwd 5 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 6 1
18 Eliot Richards Fwd 32 7 2 2 1 1 1 0 36 10
26 Chris Zebroski Fwd 39 3 2 1 2 1 0 0 43 5
27 Kayne McLaggon Fwd 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
28 Lamar Powell Fwd 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
32 Mitch Harding Fwd 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
34 Scott Rendell Fwd 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0

Midfielder Charlie Reece was officially still on the books of Bristol Rovers during this season, but after being told in the summer that he was free to leave if he could find another club he was not allocated a squad number.

Match lineups[]

No Nat Player League game
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46
1 Scott Bevan
2 Michael Smith
3 Gary Sawyer
4 Chris Lines
4 Danny Woodards
5 Cian Bolger
6 Craig Stanley
7 Stuart Campbell
8 Matt Gill
9 Matt Harrold
10 Scott McGleish On loan at Barnet
11 Mustapha Carayol
14 Lee Brown
15 Byron Anthony On loan at Hereford United
16 Joe Anyinsah
17 Jo Kuffour On loan at Gillingham
17 Jim Paterson
18 Eliot Richards
19 Adam Virgo
20 Michael Poke
20 Conor Gough
21 Wayne Brown
22 Charlie Clough On loan at Bath City On loan at AFC Telford
23 Ben Swallow On loan at Bath City
23 Matthew Lund
24 Ollie Clarke On loan at Clevedon
25 Lance Cronin On loan at Ebbsfleet United
26 Chris Zebroski
27 Kayne McLaggon On loan at Tonbridge
28 Lamar Powell
29 Darren Jefferies
30 Michael Boateng On loan at Tonbridge On loan at Sutton United
31 Shaquille Hunter
32 Mitch Harding
33 Oliver Norburn
33 Aaron Downes
34 Scott Rendell
34 Andy Dorman
35 Jordan Goddard
37 Tom Parkes
38 Matt Macey

Awards[]

The Suporters' Club awards dinner was held on 3 May 2012 and four trophies were handed out. These were the traditional Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards, along with the more recent additions of Goal of the Season and Youth Team Player of the Year.

Beginning in January, the club also ran a Player of the Month competition, with the winner voted for online by the fans. There were three winners in all, with no poll held for games played in April or May.

The award became known as something of a curse after both Downes and Poke suffered serious injuries immediately after winning the title. Although Woodards managed to stay fit for a few games after winning he suffered a broken leg in the final game of the season, two days after picking up the Player of the Year award.

Statistics[]

Goalscorers[]

Player League Cups Total
Matt Harrold 16 2 18
Eliot Richards 7 3 10
Scott McGleish 7 2 9
Lee Brown 7 0 7
Mustapha Carayol 4 2 6
Joe Anyinsah 4 1 5
Chris Zebroski 3 2 5
Byron Anthony 1 1 2
Cian Bolger 2 0 2
Andy Dorman 2 0 2
Matthew Lund 2 0 2
Danny Woodards 1 1 2
Jo Kuffour 1 0 1
Jim Paterson 1 0 1
Craig Stanley 1 0 1
Adam Virgo 1 0 1

Discipline[]

Only bookings received while playing for Bristol Rovers are included in this list. Cautions received while out on loan, prior to joining or after leaving The Gas are not given.

Player Red Yellow
Cian Bolger
Tom Parkes
Ben Swallow
Chris Zebroski
Mustapha Carayol
Craig Stanley
Matt Gill
Matt Harrold
Gary Sawyer
Danny Woodards
Byron Anthony
Andy Dorman
Eliot Richards
Lee Brown
Matthew Lund
Joe Anyinsah
Stuart Campbell
Jim Paterson
Wayne Brown
Aaron Downes
Scott McGleish
Michael Poke
Scott Rendell

League table[]

Pos Team P W D L F A GD Pts
11 Aldershot Town 46 19 9 18 54 52 2 66
12 Port Vale 46 29 9 17 68 60 8 59*
13 Bristol Rovers 46 15 12 19 60 70 -10 57
14 Accrington Stanley 46 14 15 17 54 66 -12 57
15 Morecambe 46 14 14 18 63 57 6 56

* Port Vale deducted 10 points for entering administration.

League progress[]

The chart below shows Rovers' progress in the league table over the course of the 2011–12 season. The x-axis shows the number of games played and the y-axis represents The Pirates' position in the league at that point of the season.

Team kit[]

Kit-2011-12

Bristol Rovers team kit for the 2011-12 season. Copyright Historical Football Kits and reproduced by kind permission.

Kit-2011-12a

Bristol Rovers team kit for the 2011-12 season. Copyright Historical Football Kits and reproduced by kind permission.

The kit manufacturer was again Erreà, who have been providing team wear since 2005. The home kit featured the traditional blue and white quarters, while the away kit, which was also quartered, was black and green.

As has been the norm at the club since the 2009–10 season, the shirt sponsor was selected via a random draw from a number of companies who paid to take part. This years first prize winners, and sponsors of the home shirt, were McCarthy Waste Management, while the away shirt sponsors were Edinburgh-based couriers ITS.

There was also a third place prize in the draw, which was sponsorship of the South Stand at the Memorial Stadium, and that went to Brunel Professional Risks.

The club's announcement of the winners can be found at http://www.bristolrovers.co.uk/page/LatestNews/0,,10328~2327731,00.html

Transfers[]

Players in[]

Date Name Nationality From Contract Fee
20 June Mustapha Carayol Gambia Lincoln City 2 years Undisclosed
20 June Matt Harrold England Shrewsbury Town 2 years Undisclosed
1 July Scott Bevan England Torquay United 2 years Free
1 July Lee Brown England Queens Park Rangers 2 years Free
1 July Lance Cronin England Gillingham Free
1 July Matt Gill England Norwich City 3 years Free
1 July Scott McGleish England Leyton Orient Free
1 July Michael Smith Northern Ireland Ballymena United 2 years
1 July Craig Stanley England Morecambe 2 years Free
1 July Adam Virgo Scotland Yeovil Town 2 years Free
4 July Chris Zebroski England Torquay United Undisclosed
6 July Joe Anyinsah England Charlton Athletic Free
11 July Cian Bolger Republic of Ireland Leicester City 10 months Loan
11 July Kayne McLaggon Wales Salisbury City 1 year
19 July Michael Boateng England Carshalton Athletic 1 year Free
26 August Danny Woodards England Milton Keynes Dons 1 year Free
23 September Oliver Norburn England Leicester City 3 months Loan
7 October Scott Rendell England Wycombe Wanderers 1 month Loan
10 November Andy Dorman Wales Crystal Palace 6 months Loan
1 January Aaron Downes Australia Chesterfield 4 months Loan
1 January Michael Poke England Brighton & Hove Albion 3 months Loan
30 January Matthew Lund Northern Ireland Stoke City 3 months Loan
31 January Jim Paterson Scotland Unattached 5 months Signed
9 February Tom Parkes England Leicester City 1 month Loan
4 May Conor Gough England Charlton Athletic 1 week Loan

Players out[]

Date Name Nationality To Contract Fee
12 August Chris Lines England Sheffield Wednesday 3 years £50,000
31 August Ben Swallow Wales Bath City 3 months Loan
9 September Charlie Clough England Bath City 3 months Loan
30 September Jo Kuffour England Gillingham 3 months Loan
20 October Michael Boateng England Tonbridge Angels 2 months Loan
20 October Kayne McLaggon Wales Tonbridge Angels 2 months Loan
20 October Charlie Reece England Gloucester City 1 month Loan
20 December Stuart Campbell Scotland Tampa Bay Rowdies Released
12 January Jo Kuffour England Gillingham
30 January Charlie Reece England Tamworth 1 month Loan
31 January Ben Swallow Wales York City 4 months Released
17 February Byron Anthony Wales Hereford United 3 months Loan
20 February Lance Cronin England Ebbsfleet United 3 months Loan
1 March Scott McGleish England Barnet 2 months Loan
9 March Charlie Clough England AFC Telford United 1 month Loan
26 March Ollie Clarke England Clevedon Town 1 month Loan
30 June Byron Anthony Wales Hereford United Non-contract Released
30 June Michael Boateng England Bromley Released
30 June Charlie Clough England Dorchester Town Released
30 June Lance Cronin England Macclesfield Town Released
30 June Darren Jefferies England Frome Town Released
30 June Scott McGleish England Whitehawk Released
30 June Kayne McLaggon Wales Weston-super-Mare Released
30 June Lamar Powell England Bath City Released
30 June Charlie Reece England Worcester City 1 year Released
30 June Gary Sawyer England Leyton Orient 2 years Free
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