Fan-tastic-7
By Darren Stobbs
Name : Paul Griffiths, Oldland Common.
When did you start watching Rovers?
I started watching Rovers in the 1973/74 season, which was a good time to start !
Rovers gained promotion that season under manager Don Megson. The team included the deadly ‘Smash & Grab’ strike duo (Warboys & Bannister), the season included the televised 8-2 win away at Brighton, who were then managed by a young Brian Clough.
The only downside of starting to watch that season was that I never got to see the great Harold Jarman, who’s last game for the club was at the end of the previous season.
Favourite player(s) since watching Rovers?
Mickey Barrett, David Williams, Rickie Lambert, Vitalijs Astafjevs, Ian Holloway, Lee Brown, Steve Elliott, Paul Randall, Smash & Grab (Warboys & Bannister).
Most memorable game(s) watching Rovers?
The 2nd May 1990 3-0 against City in the penultimate game of the season which secured top spot and the two clubs were both promoted, Shrewsbury Play Off final win in 2007, JPT semi-final win over City in 2007, Grimsby Play Off final win in 2015, Promotion securing win on last day of 2016 against Dagenham & Redbridge, the 7-0 promotion securing win against Scunthorpe.
Most memorable goal(s)? –
Rickie Lambert’s winner against City in the 2007 JPT semi-final, Andy Williams injury time screamer to win 3-2 at Southampton in 2009, Lee Browns late winner to secure promotion on the final day against Dagenham & Redbridge in 2016, Sammy Igoe’s ‘crawler’ to secure the play off win at Wembley against Shrewsbury in 2007, and of course all seven against Scunthorpe!
Favourite Manager(s) at Rovers?
Don Megson, Gerry Francis, Darrell Clarke, Joey Barton.
Favourite away ground?
Southampton, Chelsea, Aston Villa.
Worst away ground?
Sutton Utd.
How do you see the season planning out?/
How do you rate the season so far?
Worryingly, despite an encouraging unbeaten run with the players showing plenty of fight and team spirit, things seem to have gone very wrong since and the on field mediocrity currently mirrors last season’s debacle.
Injuries haven’t helped but there can be no excuse for some of the lame performances recently as a result of which the unthinkable of relegation back out of the league is now looking a distinct possibility.
DC is, of course, still saddled with a few of last season’s left overs which makes me worry about attitudes of some. The January window is massive and I only hope the owners haven’t lost interest in on field matters because I don’t think we would recover from another relegation from the league.
Any funny/unusual stories at Rovers?
A car load of us attended Rovers away match at Walsall in Oct 1983 (we lost 2-1). On the same day Arsenal won 6-2 at nearby Villa Park with Tony Woodcock scoring five.
On the way home back down the motorway we were amazed by the number of cars with Arsenal flags hanging out the windows and someone remarked how they couldn’t believe how much support Arsenal had from the West Country !
As you’ve probably guessed, we’d messed up at the spaghetti junction and were blissfully unaware as we headed towards London on the M1.
For some inexplicable reason we’d got all the way to Watford Gap Services before the penny dropped.
It had turned out to be an unexpectedly gruelling journey home and we decided to stop off at a pub in Oxford to break the rest of the journey up.
One of our group phoned his better half from the pub to explain that he would be a few hours late home!
She was far from impressed as they were hosting a family barbecue that evening and they were all waiting for our beleaguered colleague who was supposed to be getting the charcoal when he got back.
I don’t think she believes the story to this very day and is convinced he had been in the pub for a few hours!
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