2017–18 Bristol Rovers F.C. season explained

Club:	Bristol Rovers
Season:	2017–18
Stadium:	Memorial Stadium
League:	League One
League Result:	13th
Cup1:	FA Cup
Cup1 Result:	First round (Vs. Notts County)
Cup2:	EFL Cup
Cup2 Result:	Third round (Vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Cup3:	EFL Trophy
Cup3 Result:	Group stage
Prevseason:	2016–17
Nextseason:	2018–19
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The 2017–18 season is the 135th season in Bristol Rovers' history and their 90th in the English Football League. Rovers will compete in the third tier of English football, League One as well as three cup competitions, FA Cup, EFL Cup and EFL Trophy.

Competitions

Friendlies

As of 2 June 2017, Bristol Rovers have announced thirteen pre-season friendlies against Hull City in Portugal^[1] Corinthian Casuals, Yate Town, Melksham Town, Weston-super-Mare, Mangotsfield United, Salisbury, Gloucester City, Taunton Town, Forest Green Rovers, Yeovil Town, Bath City and West Bromwich Albion.^{[2] [3]}

League One

Matches

On 21 June 2017, the league fixtures were announced.^{[4] [5]}

FA Cup

On 16 October 2017, Bristol Rovers were away to Notts County in the first round.^[6]

EFL Cup

On 16 June 2017, Bristol Rovers were drawn at home to Cambridge United in the first round.^[7] Rovers were drawn away in the second round against Fulham.^[8] Another away tie against Wolverhampton Wanderers was confirmed for the third round.^[9]

EFL Trophy

On 12 July 2017, the group stage draw was completed with Rovers facing Swindon Town, West Ham United U23s and Wycombe Wanderers in Southern Group C.^{[10] [11]}

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
1 July 2017			Ghassan Abu Hassan		Free	^[12]
1 July 2017			Rollin Menayese		Free	^[13]
1 July 2017					Undisclosed	^[14]
6 July 2017					Free
6 July 2017					Free	^[15]
17 July 2017					Undisclosed	^[16]
19 July 2017					Free	^[17]
18 August 2017					Free	^[18]
18 August 2017			Kunle Otudeko		Free
24 August 2017			Rhys Kavanagh		Compensation

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
1 July 2017					Undisclosed	^[19]
1 July 2017					Free	^[20]

Loans in

Start date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	End date	Ref.
14 July 2017					30 June 2018	^[21]
4 August 2017					30 June 2018	^[22]
4 August 2017					30 June 2018

Loans out

Start date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	End date	Ref.
9 September 2017					7 October 2017	^[23]
25 October 2017					28 December 2017	^[24]
1 November 2017			Ben Morgan		29 November 2017	^[25]
6 November 2017			Sam Blake		4 December 2017
6 November 2017					4 December 2017	^[26]
23 November 2017					24 December 2017	^[27]
23 November 2017			Charlie Ten-Grotenhuis		24 December 2017
28 November 2017					6 January 2018	^[28]
1 December 2017			Josh Brace		Work experience
1 December 2017			Lewis Ellington		1 January 2018
1 December 2017			James Spruce		Work experience	^[29]
5 December 2017			Liam Armstrong		Work experience	^[30]
8 December 2017			Michael Kelly		13 January 2018	^[31]
14 December 2017			Rhys Kavanagh		20 January 2018	^[32]

Squad statistics

Source:^{[33] [34]}

Numbers in parentheses denote appearances as substitute.

Players with squad numbers struck through and marked left the club during the playing season.

Players with names in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Bristol Rovers.

Players listed with no appearances have been in the matchday squad but only as unused substitutes.

Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
				League		FA Cup		EFL Cup		EFL Trophy		Total		Discipline
1	GK			11	0	0	0	2	0	2	0	15	0	1	1
2	DF				0		0	2	0		0		0	3	0
3	DF				1	1	0	2	0	0	0		1	2	0
4	DF			24	1	1	0	3	0	0	0	28	1	2	1
5	DF				0	0	0	0	0	3	0		0	1	0
6	DF		*		2	0	0	2	0	2	1		3	2	1
7	MF				6	1	1	3	1	2	2		10	4	0
8	MF				1	1	0	1	0	2	0		1	8	0
9	FW				7		0	3	2	1	0		9	6	0
10	MF				9	0	0	3	2	0	0		11	1	0
11	FW				1	1	0		0		1		2	1	0
14	MF				1	1	0	3	0	1	0		1	5	0
15	DF				0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	0	0
16	DF				0	1	0	1	0	1	0		0	3	0
17	MF				0	0	0		0	2	2		2	0	0
18	FW		*		1		0		0	3	2		3	4	0
19	MF				0	0	0		0	3	0		0	1	0
20	DF		*		0	0	0	2	0	3	0		0	0	0
21	GK			17	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	20	0	2	0
22	DF				1	1	0		0	2	0		1	3	0
23	FW				0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	0	0
24	MF				2	1	1	2	0	1	0		3	3	0
30	FW				6	1	0		0		0		6	2	0
31	DF			0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
32	MF			0	0	0	0	0	0		0		0	0	0
37	DF				0	0	0	0	0		0		0	0	0
39	MF			0	0	0	0	0	0		0		0	0	0
41	DF			0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
44	GK				0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	0	0
48	FW			0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
49	MF				0	0	0	0	0		0		0	0	0
50	MF			0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
51	FW			0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Notes and References

1. News: Rovers To Take On Hull City In Portugal. 1 June 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 1 June 2017.
2. News: Rovers To Take On Corinthian Casuals In Pre-Season. 2 June 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 2 June 2017.
3. News: Pre-Season Fixture Against Yeovil Switched to Huish Park. 29 June 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 29 June 2017.
4. News: Rovers First Five Fixtures of the 2017/18 Season. 29 June 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 21 June 2017.
5. News: Fixture List. 29 June 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. June 2017.
6. News: Rovers Drawn Against Notts County in Emirates FA Cup first round Draw. 17 October 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 16 October 2017.
7. News: Rovers to Face Cambridge United in Carabao Cup first round. 16 June 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 16 June 2017.
8. News: Rovers to Face Fulham in the Carabao Cup. 14 August 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 10 August 2017.
9. News: Rovers to Face Wolves in the Carabao Cup third round. 24 August 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 24 August 2017.
10. News: Groups and Schedule Confirmed for Checkatrade Trophy. 13 July 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 12 July 2017.
11. News: Checkatrade Trophy Fixtures Announced. 20 July 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 20 July 2017.
12. News: Rovers Sign Jordanian Youth International . Bristol Rovers Official Site . 9 May 2017 . 9 May 2017.
13. News: Rovers Sign Young Defender Rollin Menayese. 1 June 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 1 June 2017.
14. News: Rovers Sign Liam Sercombe for an Undisclosed Fee . Bristol Rovers Official Site . 31 May 2017 . 31 May 2017.
15. News: Rovers Sign Goalkeepers Adam Smith and Sam Slocombe. 6 July 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 6 July 2017. 8 July 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170708224000/https://www.bristolrovers.co.uk/news/2017/july/slocombeandsmithsign/. dead.
16. News: Rovers Sign Striker Tom Nichols. 17 July 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 17 July 2017. 3 September 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170903163636/https://www.bristolrovers.co.uk/news/2017/july/tomnicholssigns/. dead.
17. News: Rovers Sign Defender Tom Broadbent. 19 July 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 19 July 2017.
18. News: New Additions to the Development Squad. 18 August 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 18 August 2017.
19. News: Peter Hartley Joins Blackpool. 16 June 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 16 June 2017.
20. News: Cristian Montano Joins Port Vale. 22 June 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 20 June 2017.
21. News: Marc Bola Joins Rovers. 15 July 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 14 July 2017.
22. News: Ryan Sweeney and Dominic Telford Join Rovers On Loan. 4 August 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 4 August 2017.
23. News: Bristol Rovers goalkeeper Thom Jonkerman goes out on loan . 8 April 2021. Bristol Live . 9 September 2017 . John . Evely.
24. News: Development Squad Players Get More First Team Experience On Loan. 1 November 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 25 October 2017.
25. News: Ben Morgan Joins Frome Town on Loan. 1 November 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 1 November 2017.
26. News: Development Squad Duo Head Out on Loan. 6 November 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 6 November 2017.
27. News: Alexis Andre-Jr and Charline Ten-Grotenhuis Join Paulton Rovers on Loan. 24 November 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 23 November 2017. 1 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171201031840/https://www.bristolrovers.co.uk/news/2017/november/developmentsquadloan/. dead.
28. News: Jonny Burn Joins York City on Loan. 1 December 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 28 November 2017.
29. News: Youngsters Head Out on Loan. 1 December 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 1 December 2017.
30. News: Academy Goalkeeper Liam Armstrong Joins Paulton Rovers on Loan. 7 December 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 5 December 2017.
31. News: Michael Kelly Joins Bath City on Loan. 8 December 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 8 December 2017.
32. News: Rhys Kavanagh Joins Bath City On Loan. 14 December 2017. Bristol Rovers Official Site. 14 December 2017.
33. Web site: Bristol Rovers. FootballSquads. 23 August 2017 .
34. Web site: Squad stats. Soccerbase. Centurycomm. 23 August 2017 .