Our Executive Committee unanimously agreed to increase our funding of the two Bristol Rovers Women’s teams, colloquially known as the ‘Gas Girls’, for the coming season.
Last year we provided £5,000 for both teams to get started and there was great enthusiasm amongst local girls who wanted to be part of the Rovers ‘family’ and to wear the famous quartered shirts, so much so that the Community Trust were overwhelmed with applications from girls wanting to trial out with them at Lockleaze. This enthusiasm was fully justified when last season got underway and both women’s teams swept to the top of their respective league tables only for them to be cruelly denied the championships that both of them so richly deserved at the end of their opening campaigns as their leagues were declared null and void. It was particularly galling for our first team who were just one win away from clinching promotion and had reached the semi-finals of the League Cup.
We felt that the brilliant starts made by the girls should be further encouraged and we have agreed with the management of the Trust to increase our funding for this season to £8,000. We are delighted to see that our funding is being spent not on players wages as some of our rivals would have you believe but on laudable grassroots projects. The club are looking to utilise the sponsorship on:
- Free football sessions for girls at Lockleaze
- The development of two new youth teams for the new season
- Expanding community initiatives and partnerships
- To help with the promotion and awareness of females working in the sports industry through their educational programme.
Matthew Mavis Davies of Bristol Rovers Womens’ FC says, “Everyone at Bristol Rovers Women’s FC is thrilled to continue our partnership with the Bristol Rovers Supporters Club. Their support since our re-launch last year has given us the opportunity to grow and to offer more opportunities for women and girls to play football under the banner of the famous blue and white quarters. For that, we are incredibly grateful and I’m really looking forward to what the future holds for the ‘Gas Girls’ and our partnership with the Supporters Club”.