Before the end of the season representatives of the Supporters Club, Clive Marshall and Keith Brookman, along with Chairman of the Former Players Association Tony Mills, were invited to The Quarters to present what have become known as legacy caps to a number of the first team squad.
Today we feature two players who received their caps on that occasion, namely Yusuf Akhamrich and Joe Quigley.
Yusuf Akhamrich arrived at The Mem, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, on 22nd January this year having already played twice at The Mem for his parent club in the Football League Trophy, firstly in the Spurs side which defeated Rovers on penalties after a 3-3 draw in August 2024 and then in the side which lost 5-4 on penalties, following a 4-4 draw, to The Gas 12 months later. In fact, his 16th minute goal had put Spurs 3-0 up in the latter, before Rovers had mounted a comeback.
The 20 year old London born winger/midfielder attended Morpeth School, Bethnal Green and joined Spurs in 2015, signing his first professional contract in March 2024.
Having scored 25 goals for the U-16 side in 2021/22, Akhamrich added eight goals in 39 games for Spurs’ U-18 side and seven goals in 34 matches in Premier League 2, including a November 2024 hat trick in a 6-1 win against Middlesbrough (scoring after five, 39 and 80 minutes), in addition to his one goal in six Football League Trophy ties.
This form earned him a place on the substitutes’ bench in November 2025 for a Champions League game against FC Copenhagen and a Premier League fixture with Manchester United, and he was short listed for the Premier League 2 Player of the Month.
This burgeoning club career caught the eye of Moroccan football authorities and, as the youngest of four boys born to two parents from the coastal town of Larache, where the Loukkos river meets the Atlantic Ocean, who had enjoyed holidays with extended family across Morocco in Tangier, Azilal, Tétouan and Larache, Akhamrich was called up to the Morocco U-20 squad.
His Rovers, and indeed his EFL debut, came on 27th January this year in our 1-0 defeat against MK Dons at Stadium MK. His first Rovers goals came against Newport County, at The Mem, on 31st January when he scored twice in our 3-0 win and by the end of the season he had scored a total of six league goals in his 19 Gas league appearances.
He quickly bought into what it means to play for this club and whilst a career at the higher level surely beckons for this incredibly talented footballer we hope he looks back at his time with our club with pride and some great memories.
Much travelled striker Joe Quigley joined Rovers from Oldham Athletic on transfer deadline day, 2nd February; he had previously played against us for Gillingham in April 2017 and for Oldham in August 2025.
Brought up in Lymington, Quigley had not been able to break into the side for his local club, Bournemouth, and embarked on a long list of loan spells. His CV looks like this; Priestlands School, Pennington, Hampshire; 2007 Bournemouth (professional, 01/04/2015); 05/01/2015 Poole Town (loan); 06/08/2015 Torquay United (loan); 01/10/2015 Wrexham (loan); 16/11/2015 Woking (loan); 22/01/2016 Woking (loan); 07/07/2016 Gillingham (loan); 31/01/2017 Gillingham (loan) [8+2 appearances,1goal]; 18/08/2017 Newport County (loan) [1+1,0]; 09/01/2018 Boreham Wood (loan); 09/07/2018 Maidstone United; 18/10/2018 Bromley; 01/01/2019 Eastbourne Borough (loan); 28/01/2019 Havant and Waterlooville (loan); 11/07/2019 Dagenham & Redbridge; 29/02/2020 Billericay Town (loan); 13/10/2020 Yeovil Town; 21/01/2022 Chesterfield [0+3,0]; 30/08/2024 Forest Green Rovers; 07/08/2025 Oldham Athletic [11+8,3].
2014/15 Player of the Year at Poole Town, he scored five times in 23 Southern League games and in 8 (+2) National League games with Torquay he scored once and also scored a solitary goal in 2 (+2) National League games with Wrexham.
There were five goals for Woking in 15 (+4) National League games with that club prior to two loan spells at Gillingham, the first cut short by an anterior cruciate ligament injury and the second marked by a 67th minute goal in a 1-1 draw with Millwall in April 2017.
After a Newport début against Coventry City, he returned to the National League with seven more clubs, but international calls also arrived, and he won his only U-21 cap with the Republic of Ireland, for whom he qualified through his grandfather, when he replaced QPR’s Reece Grigo-Cox in a 3-1 win against Azerbaijan in September 2017, playing alongside Ryan Sweeney and future England midfielder Declan Rice.
5 (+4) games at Boreham Wood included a goal in a 3-0 win against Ebbsfleet United, playing alongside Ricky Shakes and Angelo Balanta in a side which reached a Wembley play off final that summer, though his side were beaten by a Tranmere Rovers side that included Josh Ginnelly, Jeff Hughes and Ollie Norburn.
After 4 (+7) games with Maidstone were goalless, he scored once for Bromley, his only goal in 4 (+2) appearances, while five National League South games at Eastbourne included three goals.
There were two goals in 10 (+5) matches with Havant, and four in 21 (+9) fixtures for Dagenham & Redbridge and he played in one National League South game for Billericay. At Yeovil he scored 16 goals in 32 (+22) National League games and his time at Chesterfield took in 12 goals in their National League title win in 2023/24.
Once the Spireites were back in League Two, however, he managed just three substitute appearances. He appeared in 11 (+26) National League games at Forest Green and added League Two goals for Oldham against Swindon, Cheltenham and Newport prior to his move to The Mem.
He made his Rovers league debut against Newport County on 31st January and scored his first goal, from the penalty spot, against Cambridge United two weeks later, ending the season with three goals from his 17 league games in a Rovers shirt.
Whilst not necessarily a prolific striker, Joe brough a calmness to our forward line following his arrival at The Mem. His hold up play, in particular, benefitting his teammates and another player who will surely benefit from a full pre season with the club.
Photos courtesy Bristol Rovers FC
