Cheltenham Town
Formed in 1887 and, for the first 30 years of its existence, competed in local football with home games being played at three different venues, namely Agg Gardner’s Recreation Ground, Whaddon Lane and Carter’s Field.
It wasn’t until 1932 that the club moved to its current home at Whaddon Road and that same year they turned professional and joined the Birmingham Combination.
In 1935 there was a move to the Southern League and there they remained until 1984/85 when they were Southern League Champions, thus earning promotion to The Conference.
Their stay in the fifth tier of English football lasted until 1991/92 when they were relegated back to the Southern League. A runners up spot in 1996/97 saw them once again win promotion, as the ground of champions Gresley Rovers was not deemed to be up to Conference standard.
FA Trophy winners in 1997/98, Cheltenham were promoted to the Football League the following season (1998/99) after topping the Conference table at the end of the campaign.
A 3-1 play off final victory against Rushden & Diamonds in 2001/02 saw them gain promotion to Division Two, though they were relegated after just one season at that level.
Promoted again via the play offs in 2005/06, they dropped back into League Two in 2008/09 and were relegated back to the Conference in in 2014/15 though they returned to the Football League as Champions a year later.
League Two Champions in 2020/21, Cheltenham finished in 15th place in League One last season, with 56 points from their 46 league games.
Manager Michael Duff left the club in the summer, to take over at Barnsley, and the new man in charge is Wade Elliott.
Rovers have won seven of the 18 league games between the clubs, there have been five draws and Cheltenham have six wins to their name.
The two meetings in the League Cup sees the clubs with one win each, while Rovers beat Cheltenham 2-0 in the only league Trophy meeting between the sides.
The first league meetings took place as recently as 2001/02 when a goalless draw at Whaddon Road in November 2001 was followed by a 2-1 win for Cheltenham in the return fixture at the Mem in March 2002.
The last time we met in the league was in 2013/14 when there was a goalless draw at Whaddon Road in November 2013, followed by a 1-0 Rovers win at the Mem in February 2014 in the return fixture.
Players to have played for both clubs include Frank Allcock, Julian Alsop, Craig Armstrong, Dennis Bailey, Bob Bloomer, Steve Book, Ryan Broom, Joe Gadston, Steve Elliott, Darryl Duffy, Jamie Cureton, Charlie Colkett, Billy Clark, Steven Gillespie, Elvis Hammond, Barry Hayles, Shane Higgs, Lee Howells, Harry Pell, Will Packwood, Tom Nichols, Ron Nicholls, Kaid Mohamed, Jimmy McCambridge, Josh low, Aaron Lescott, David Pipe, Will Puddy, Justin Richards, Gavin Reilly, Liam Sercombe, Chris Zebroski, Graham Withey, Andy Williams, Christer Warren,
Former Rovers player Lindsay Parsons was manager at Cheltenham with another former Rovers player, Peter Aitken, as his assistant.
Former Rovers striker Bobby Gould, who had two spells as manager of Rovers, also managed Cheltenham.
John Ward is another with two managerial spells at Rovers under his belt who also managed Cheltenham, while Paul Buckle had short spells as manager of both clubs.
Players who have made their Rovers league debut against Cheltenham include Elliot Ward (2004/05) and Sammy Igoe (2005/06).
Although they still play at Whaddon Road, the stadium has gone from being the Johnny Rocks Stadium last season to the Completely Suzuki Stadium this time around. Capacity is 7,200.
A round trip from the Mem to see them play The Gloucestershire Robins takes in 80 miles via the M5.
Cheltenham Town FC
The Completely Suzuki Stadium
Whaddon Road
Cheltenham
GL52 5NA
Keith Brookman
(images courtesy of JMP)