Welcome to the section of our website that is solely about our caps initiative, something we are very proud of and a project we hope will go from strength to strength.
It’s quite simple, really; we felt that we wanted to honour every player who has represented Bristol Rovers in a Football League match and as we joined the league in 1920 that means there are a considerable number of players to track down!
We went back to our first ever Football League game and recorded the names of each player to have made their debut and numbered their caps accordingly and as of 1st September 2022 we know that 984 players have represented our club in league action, the latest being Lewis Gibson.
To find relatives of post war players, we decided, would be quite a task and so, though it’s one we will return to at some point in the future. For the time being, though, we are concentrating our efforts on presenting caps to all those who have played for us since the first post war season (1946/47).
We have counted league games only and not included our one season spent in the Conference (2014/15) or players who only represented the club in the aborted 1939/40 season when only three games were played.
Where more than one player made his debut in the same game, then they are shown in alphabetical order. Every player will receive a cap and a certificate showing the date of his debut, the opponents and the number he was when he made his first appearance.
We have, initially, purchased 1,000 caps and in order to help defray the cost of the project, we invite supporters to sponsor a cap. Sponsorship is not exclusive and players can have more than one sponsor, the cost being £50 for Supporters Club members and £60 for non members. All sponsors will receive a certificate confirming their sponsorship and, where possible, a photo of the player with his cap.
As time passes, we will log every presentation in this section of our website, hopefully with photos of presentations. Sadly, some players have passed on and their caps will be presented to their family.
Paul Nixon was the first player to receive his cap, when he flew in from New Zealand for the Tote End Reunion night on 6th May 2022. Sponsored by John Kayes, Paul sent us a photo of him wearing his cap on his return home.
Four of the Watney Cup winning squad of 1972 received their caps on 27th August 2022 when they attended our home game against Shrewsbury Town and the photos shown here are of Frankie Prince, Bruce Bannister, Mike Green and Tom Stanton (photos courtesy of JMP).
Wayne Jones was unable to attend due to work commitments and, unfortunately, Phil Roberts suffered a stroke quite recently and is currently recuperating so their caps have been sent to them with a request for a photo.
We expect our next presentation will take place at the Bristol Rovers Former Players Association Annual Dinner on Friday 21st October.
Should you require any further details regarding the initiative, please contact the secretary of the Supporters Club in the first instance. secretary@bristolroverssc.co.uk