Following on from part one, Keith Brookman showcases two more items in his collection; Organised, competitive, football resumed in time for the start of the 1945/46 season though the first post war campaign was organised on a regional basis, as opposed to a national one and in order to keep supporters informed of what was happening at the club, Rovers began issuing a weekly news bulletin.
The earliest one I have is Number 4, issued on August 30th 1945 and the lead article stipulated that there would be no inquests held on previous games; ‘There will not be any excuses put forward under the heading ‘Why we Lost and there will be no undue elation over ‘How we Won.’
The article continued; ‘Although every player attached to the club will be encouraged to the utmost to give of his best for the colours which he represents and particular attention will be paid to those young players who are anxious to become members of the Rovers first team, it is the intention of the Directors and Team Manager to instil into them that it is the game which matters and the result is only incidental.’
Try telling today’s players and supporters that the result doesn’t matter!
In the same bulletin, issued two days before a match against Bristol City, the lineup for that game was published and it was as follows; Studley, Topping, Firth, Warren, Smith, McGahie, Butterworth, Mills, Lambden, Talbot, Whitfield.
The second item is an expenses and teamsheet for the three sides fielded by Rovers on Boxing Day 1947 when the first team suffered a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Torquay United, the reserves lost 7-3 at Swansea and the Colts went down 5-2 against Trowbridge – not a good day for the club!
As you can see, the attendance of 15, 589 for the first team match generated matchday income of £1,333 15 shillings and threepence (including programme sales)
This was, in all probability, the copy retained in the office and was the fifth or sixth carbon copy with all details being bashed out on a typewriter on the Monday following the game. I have documents such as this for almost all fixtures through the 1950’s and into the 1960’s and the document was amended to include the lineups of all six sides put out by the club.
They probably have no monetary value; the value is historical alone and they are really useful when it comes to checking lineups.
If you would like to see your items in the Virtual Museum, please contact infobrheritagesociety@gmail.com in the first instance.
Check out the virtual museum at www.bristolroverssc.co.uk
