| 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 |
The thirty-second League One match of the 2008-09 campaign saw Rovers make their longest trip of the season, to Carlisle United. Coach Paul Trollope named an unchanged matchday squad from the previous match, a 2–0 victory over Oldham Athletic at Boundary Park four days earlier.
Carlisle took the lead as early as the fourth minute through Graham Kavanagh, before Jeff Hughes equalised for Rovers nine minutes later. Rovers had the better of much of the remainder of the game, but were unable to produce a winning goal.
Match details[]
| Carlisle United | 1–1 | Bristol Rovers |
|---|---|---|
| Kavanagh (4) | (1–1 HT) | Hughes (13) |
| at Brunton Park | attendance: 5,343 | |
| Lineups | ||
| 1 Ben Williams | 1 Steve Phillips | |
| 27 Tony Kane | 2 Ryan Green | |
| 6 Peter Murphy | 15 Byron Anthony | |
 21 Richard Keogh |
6 Steve Elliott | |
| 29 Michael Liddle | 32 Aaron Lescott | |
| 17 Cleveland Taylor | 14 David Pipe | |
| 11 Paul Thirlwell | 7 Stuart Campbell | |
 23 Graham Kavanagh |
4 Chris Lines | |
 18 Lewis Neal |
11 Jeff Hughes
| |
| 9 Danny Graham |
9 Rickie Lambert | |
| 14 Joe Anyinsah | 10 Darryl Duffy
| |
| Substitutes | ||
| 2 David Raven | 21 Danzelle St Louis-Hamilton | |
| 8 Chris Lumsdon | 5 Craig Hinton | |
 19 Michael Bridges |
17 Jo Kuffour
| |
| 26 Scott Dobie |
20 Craig Disley | |
| 28 Gary Madine | 3 Joe Jacobson | |
Timeline[]
- 4 mins: Goal for Carlisle United scored by Graham Kavanagh
- 13 mins: Goal for Bristol Rovers scored by Jeff Hughes
- 35 mins: Carlisle substitution - Michael Bridges replaced the injured Danny Graham
- 52 mins: Carlisle substitution - Scott Dobie replaced Lewis Neal
- 66 mins: Richard Keogh booked for a foul on Rickie Lambert
- 72 mins: Bristol Rovers substitution - Jo Kuffour replaced Darryl Duffy