| League One | ||
|---|---|---|
| Team | Home | Away |
| Brighton | 1-2 | 1-1 |
| Carlisle | 2-3 | 1-1 |
| Cheltenham | 3-2 | 1-2 |
| Colchester | 0-0 | 1-0 |
| Crewe | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| Hartlepool | 4-1 | 1-1 |
| Hereford | 6-1 | 3-0 |
| Huddersfield | 1-2 | 1-1 |
| Leeds | 2-2 | 2-2 |
| Leicester | 0-1 | 1-2 |
| L Orient | 2-1 | 2-1 |
| Millwall | 4-2 | 2-3 |
| MK Dons | 1-2 | 1-2 |
| Northampton | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| Oldham | 2-0 | 2-0 |
| Peterborough | 0-1 | 4-5 |
| Scunthorpe | 1-2 | 2-0 |
| Southend | 4-2 | 0-1 |
| Stockport | 2-0 | 1-3 |
| Swindon | 2-2 | 1-2 |
| Tranmere | 2-0 | 0-2 |
| Walsall | 1-3 | 5-0 |
| Yeovil | 3-0 | 2-2 |
| FA Cup | ||
| Team | H/A | |
| Bournemouth | A | 0-1 |
| League Cup | ||
| Team | H/A | |
| Watford | A | 0-1 |
| League Trophy | ||
| Team | H/A | |
| Bournemouth | A | 0-3 |
On 16 August 2008 Rovers travelled to the Withdean Stadium for a League One match against Brighton & Hove Albion. It was their third game of the season in all competitions, and their second in the league, and both of their previous matches had ended in defeat.
Rovers started with an unchanged lineup from the previous two games and Brighton included former Rovers goalie Michel Kuipers and future Gas defender Adam Virgo in their starting 11 and Tommy Fraser, brother of Rovers player James Fraser on the bench. An early penalty, converted by Nicky Forster, gave Brighton the lead after 10 minutes before a period of concerted pressure by Rovers culminated in an 85th minute penalty scored by Rickie Lambert. Lambert had already hit the woodwork twice before putting the spot kick into the back of the net, and that was enough to earn Rovers their first point of the season.
The game was also notable for seeing Ben Hunt's competitive debut when he came on as a 72nd minute substitute for Darryl Duffy.
Match details[]
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 1-1 | Bristol Rovers |
|---|---|---|
| Forster (pen 10) | (1-0 HT) | Lambert (pen 86) |
| at Withdean Stadium | attendance: 6,210 | |
| Lineups | ||
| 1 Michel Kuipers | 1 Steve Phillips | |
| 2 Andrew Whing | 14 David Pipe 
| |
 24 Tommy Elphick |
15 Byron Anthony | |
| 23 Adam Virgo | 6 Steve Elliott | |
| 12 Matthew Richards | 32 Aaron Lescott | |
| 14 David Livermore | 4 Chris Lines | |
| 15 Gary Hart |
7 Stuart Campbell
| |
| 16 Colin Hawkins | 20 Craig Disley | |
| 8 Steven Thomson | 11 Jeff Hughes
| |
| 7 Dean Cox |
9 Rickie Lambert 
| |
| 9 Nicky Forster |
10 Darryl Duffy
| |
| Substitutes | ||
| 3 Kerry Mayo | 13 Mike Green | |
 5 Joel Lynch |
5 Craig Hinton
| |
| 18 Doug Loft | 8 Andy Williams
| |
| 19 Jake Robinson | 18 Ben Hunt
| |
| 22 Tommy Fraser |
19 Sean Rigg | |
Timeline[]
- 10 mins: Goal for Brighton - Penalty scored by Nicky Forster following a foul on him by David Pipe
- 40 mins: Gary Hart booked for a foul on Steve Elliott
- 41 mins: Stuart Campbell booked for a foul on Adam Virgo
- 57 mins: Rickie Lambert booked for dissent
- 62 mins: Substitution for Brighton - Gary Hart replaced by Tommy Fraser
- 63 mins: Substitution for Bristol Rovers - Jeff Hughes replaced by Andy Williams
- 65 mins: Substitute for Bristol Rovers - David Pipe replaced by Craig Hinton
- 67 mins: Tommy Elphick booked for a foul on Andy Williams
- 71 mins: Substitution for Bristol Rovers - Darryl Duffy replaced by Ben Hunt
- 79 mins: Substitution for Brighton - Dean Cox replaced by Joel Lynch
- 84 mins: Goal for Bristol Rovers - Penalty scored by Rickie Lambert following a foul on him by Matthew Richards