User:Gasheadsteve/Sandbox3
The 1896–97 season was the fourteenth to be played by the team now known as Bristol Rovers, and their thirteenth playing under the name Eastville Rovers. The first team played in division one of the Western League for the fifth consecutive season, while the reserves competed in the second division of the same competition for the fourth time. This was Rovers' final season as an amateur club.
The senior squad ended the season in a mid-table position in the Western League first division, finishing in fifth place out of nine teams, while the reserves ended their campaign one place off the bottom of division two.
Season review
[edit]Following a successful 1895–96 season Rovers, along with fellow Western League clubs Warmley and St George, applied to join the Birmingham & District Football League for the 1896–97 campaign, however the Midlands-based league decided that they did not wish to increase the number of teams in the competition, and as a result all three applications were rejected.[1] In June the Western League confirmed that Eastville Rovers had a place in Division One for the upcoming season, and the Gloucestershire F.A. confirmed the club also had a place in their Senior Challenge Cup.[2] Rovers also entered the FA Cup for second time, having made their debut in the competition a year earlier.[3]
In March Rovers moved to their new, purpose built Eastville Stadium, the ground that would remain their home for the next 99 years until they were forced to leave due to financial problems in the 1980s. The team that were invited to play in a friendly match to mark the opening of the new ground was reigning league champions Aston Villa. The game was played just a week before the 1897 FA Cup Final when Villa became just the second team to win the league and cup double.
Match results
[edit]Western League
[edit]Division One
[edit]| 19 September 1896 1 | Eastville Rovers | 0–1 | Bedminster | Ridgeway |
| Report | Cottle  |
Attendance: "Very large" |
| 26 September 1896 2 | Eastville Rovers | 0–2 | Bristol South End | Ridgeway |
| Report |
|
Attendance: 3000 Referee: Mr Farrant |
| 3 October 1896 3 | Trowbridge Town | 3–0 | Eastville Rovers | Trowbridge |
|
Report | Nolan  ~80' |
Stadium: The Old Flower Show Field Attendance: 800 Referee: Mr Smith |
| 24 October 1896 4 | Staple Hill | 1–4 | Eastville Rovers | Staple Hill |
| 15:30 GMT (UTC±00:00) | Humphries |
Report |
|
Stadium: Staple Park Attendance: "Numerous" Referee: Mr G Gay |
| 7 November 1896 5 | Eastville Rovers | 2–0 | St Paul's | Ridgeway |
|
Report |
| 21 November 1896 6 | Eastville Rovers | 0–2 | Warmley | Ridgeway |
| Report | Unknown scorers 1' |
Attendance: 3500 Referee: Mr J H Beanland |
| 5 December 1896 7 | Eastville Rovers | 2–3 | St George | Ridgeway |
| 15:05 GMT (UTC±00:00) | Osborne 15' |
Report |
|
| 12 December 1896 8 | Eastville Rovers | 5–1 | Staple Hill | Ridgeway |
|
Report | Smith |
| 2 January 1897 9 | Bedminster | 1–2 | Eastville Rovers | Ashton Gate |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Ashton Gate Stadium Referee: A.C. Farrant |
| 9 January 1897 10 | Bristol South End | 1–3 | Eastville Rovers | Bedminster |
| A. Fielding |
Report |
|
Stadium: St John's Lane Referee: T. Mathews |
| 16 January 1897 11 | Eastville Rovers | 0–0 | Trowbridge Town | Ridgeway |
| Report | Everett |
Attendance: "Good" Referee: G. Gay |
| 6 February 1897 12 | St Paul's | 1–1 | Eastville Rovers | Bower Ashton |
| Unknown scorer |
Report | Osborne |
Attendance: "Fairly large" Referee: Dr F.T.B. Logan |
| 20 February 1897 13 | Warmley | 2–1 | Eastville Rovers | Warmley |
|
Report | Osborne 75' |
Attendance: 2000 Referee: Mr V.R. Davies (Swindon) |
| 6 March 1897 14 | Clifton | 2–3 | Eastville Rovers | Kingswood |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: The Chequers Ground Attendance: "A capital attendance" Referee: J. Bloor |
| 13 March 1897 15 | St George | 2–3 | Eastville Rovers | St George |
| Callendar |
Report | Horsey |
Attendance: 1000 Referee: J. Beanland |
Division Two
[edit]| 1 | Bedminster Reserves | 4–0 | Eastville Rovers Reserves |
| 3 October 1896 2 | Eastville Rovers Reserves | 0–2 | Fishponds | Ridgeway |
| Report |
| 24 October 1896 – | Eastville Rovers Reserves | A–A | Staple Hill Reserves | Ridgeway |
| Unknown scorer |
Report |
| 21 November 1896 3 | Barton Hill | 4–0 | Eastville Rovers Reserves | Netham |
| Report |
| 9 January 1897 | Eastville Rovers Reserves | 0–2 | Barton Hill | Ridgeway |
| Report |
North Bristol & District League
[edit]Division B
[edit]For the first time since the 1893–94 season Eastville Rovers operated a third team, who were known as Eastville Rovers Juniors. They entered Division B of the North Bristol & District League (now known as the Bristol & Suburban League). Newspaper reports at the time gave the winning team first when listing match results, the order of the teams does not indicate which was playing at home as is the convention now.
| 14 November 1896 | Avonside | 9–0 | Eastville Rovers Juniors | |
| Report |
| 21 November 1896 | Fishponds Victoria | 7–3 | Eastville Rovers Juniors | |
| Report |
| 5 December 1896 | Hebron | 6–0 | Eastville Rovers Juniors | Clifton |
| Report | Stadium: The Downs |
| 19 December 1896 | Eastville Rovers Juniors | 3–1 | St George United | |
| Report |
| 2 January 1897 | Glendale | 3–3 | Eastville Rovers Juniors | |
| Report |
| 9 January 1897 | Eastville Wanderers Juniors | 3–0 | Eastville Rovers Juniors | |
| Report |
| 30 January 1897 | Eastville Rovers Juniors | 9–1 | St Mark's Rovers | |
| Report |
FA Cup
[edit]In the qualifying rounds of the FA Cup Rovers were drawn away to Newbury, with the victor being due to face the winner of the match between Weymouth and St George. Rovers were reluctant to travel to Newbury, so offered their opponents £10 plus half the gate receipts to switch the tie to Bristol, but the Berkshire club declined the offer and Rovers had to make the journey east. The first half remained goalless, but Rovers took the lead shortly after the break before Newbury equalised later on. After this the game became more bad-tempered and marred by numerous fouls, including one player being kicked in the forehead and the game being held up for several minutes while another player was treated for an injury. The cup tie finished in a 1–1 draw, but the confrontational nature of the game didn't end there. Newbury were adamant that extra time should be played, while Rovers felt there should be a replay. In the end the referee sided with the Bristol club.[4]
| 10 October 1896 Qualifying Round 1 | Newbury | 1–1 | Eastville Rovers | Newbury |
| Freebody |
Report | Nolan ~50' |
Attendance: "A big crowd" Referee: Mr Carr |
| 14 October 1896 Qualifying Round 1 replay | Eastville Rovers | 2–1 | Newbury | Ridgeway |
| 15:15 GMT (UTC±00:00)[5] | Report |
| 31 October 1896 Qualifying Round 2 | Eastville Rovers | 1–0 | St George | Ridgeway |
| Unknown scorer 46' |
Report | Attendance: 3500 Referee: Mr J Beanland (Swindon) |
| 21 November 1896 Qualifying Round 3 | Royal Artillery (Portsmouth) | W–O | Eastville Rovers | Portsmouth |
| Stadium: United Services Recreation Ground |
Gloucestershire Cups
[edit]Senior Challenge Cup
[edit]| 30 January 1897 First round | Eastville Rovers | 1–0 | St Paul's | Ridgeway |
| McBain 10' |
Report |
| 27 February 1897 Second round | Clifton | 1–0 | Eastville Rovers | Kingswood |
| Bidwell 30' |
Report | Stadium: The Chequers Ground Attendance: 300 Referee: Mr Haines (Swindon) |
Junior Challenge Cup
[edit]| First round | Eastville Rovers Reserves | v | St Paul's Reserves | Ridgeway |
| 28 November 1896 Second round | Warmley Reserves | 5–2 | Eastville Rovers Reserves |
Bristol Charity Cup
[edit]| 23 January 1897 First round | Eastville Rovers | 2–1 | Clifton | Ridgeway |
|
Report | Graham |
Attendance: "Fair" Referee: Mr Howard |
Bristol North Challenge Vase
[edit]| 13 March 1897 | Eastville Rovers Juniors | 4–1 | Eastville Glendale | |
| Report |
Friendlies
[edit]First team
[edit]| 5 September 1896 | Barton Hill | 1–8 | Eastville Rovers | Netham |
| Unknown scorer |
Report |
|
| 12 September 1896 | Eastville Rovers | 0–2 | St George | Ridgeway |
| Report |
|
Attendance: "Exceedingly good" Referee: Mr G Gay |
| 17 October 1896 | Eastville Rovers | 1–0 | Hereford Thistle | Ridgeway |
| 15:30 GMT (UTC±00:00) | Hocking |
Report |
| 14 November 1896 | Staple Hill | 1–1 | Eastville Rovers | Staple Hill |
| Humphries |
Report | Unknown scorer |
Stadium: Staple Park |
| 19 December 1896 | St George | 2–1 | Eastville Rovers | St George |
| Unknown scorers |
Report | O'Grady 5' |
Stadium: St George Athletic Ground Referee: Fred Gyles |
| 20 March 1897 | Eastville Rovers | 2–0 | Bedminster | Ridgeway |
|
Report | Attendance: "A good crowd" Referee: J. Bloor |
| 3 April 1897 | Eastville Rovers Selected Team | 0–5 | Aston Villa | Eastville |
| 17:00 GMT (UTC±00:00) |
|
Report | Stadium: Eastville Stadium Attendance: 4500 |
Third team
[edit]| 13 February 1897 | Eastville Rovers Juniors | 5–0 | Rudgway Victoria | |
| Report |
| 20 February 1897 | Braunton Villa | 3–1 | Eastville Rovers Juniors | |
| Report |
| 27 February 1897 | Eastville Rovers Juniors | 6–0 | Belmont Rovers | |
| Report |
| 6 March 1897 | Eastville Rovers Juniors | 1–0 | Clifton Juniors | |
| Report |
| 20 March 1897 | Eastville Rovers Juniors | 3–0 | Belmont | |
| Report |
| 27 March 1897 | Eastville Rovers Juniors | 8–0 | 19th (St Mark's) Boys' Brigade | |
| Report |
References
[edit]- ^ "News". Gloucester Journal. 30 May 1896. Retrieved 22 January 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "News". Gloucester Journal. 6 June 1896. Retrieved 22 January 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Football". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. 12 August 1896. Retrieved 22 January 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "The English Cup–Qualifying Competition". Western Daily Press. 12 October 1896. p. 7. Retrieved 24 January 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Amusements and Exhibitions". Western Daily Press. 12 October 1896. p. 4. Retrieved 25 January 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.