This article was originally published on Bristol Rovers Supporters Clubs’ website on 2nd May 2021.
Back in the match-day programme published for the games against Wigan and Shrewsbury we wrote about our CAPital idea where each player who has represented Bristol Rovers in a league game would be presented with a cap with their debut number on, borrowing on something that West Bromwich Albion do. This article was replicated here on our website and also appeared on our social media channels.
Before we all disappear for the summer we thought it would be a good idea to give an update as to where this worthy project stands at the moment. After a great deal of painstaking work Keith Brookman has produced a spreadsheet with no fewer than 954 debuts on it up to and including Pablo Martinez, our most recent debut. Having had a discussion with the people involved at West Bromwich Albion (who produced the whole lot in one go and are finding tracing relatives of their earliest players difficult) we have decided to concentrate firstly on the players involved in the Watney Cup winning side onwards, which gives us no fewer than 520 caps to find a home. There will also no doubt be opportunities to trace earlier players especially those who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.
We have received a sample of caps from West Brom and are in the process of making a decision on which type of cap we would like to go for. Once we have done this we will know how much the project will cost and we will have to make a decision on how we proceed, do we need to ask for sponsorship or ask other Rovers fans groups to become involved. We are fairly sure that there will be an opportunity for supporters to sponsor a cap for their favourite player.
As the project moves forward there will be news published here on our website and through our social media channels so please keep a look out.