Unfortunately for Rovers, they lost a player to injury just two minutes into the game, and in the era before the introduction of substitutes they were forced to play almost the entire match with ten men.

During the 1896–97 season, Rovers purchased the Eastville ground from Bristol Harlequins rugby club on 26 March 1897 and on 3 April played their first game there against Aston Villa.

During this first season in the Southern League, Rovers faced a Sheppey United team that featured future Huddersfield Town and Arsenal manager Herbert Chapman.

Another landmark was reached during 1904–05 when Jack Lewis was called up to the Welsh national team, becoming the first Bristol Rovers player to receive an international cap while still at the club.

Even reserve team matches were well attended; a Southern League game against Bristol City played in April 1923 at Ashton Gate attracted 7,000 fans.

He made his debut on 25 February 1928 against Charlton Athletic at an age of 15 years, 173 days, making him the youngest player to represent Bristol Rovers in a competitive first-team match.

One week later, in a game against Norwich City on 3 March 1928 he scored his first goal at an age of 15 Years, 180 days, making him the youngest goalscorer in Football League history, a record that still stands today.

In 1934 the lease was amended to allow the Bristol Greyhound Racing Association to buy the stadium whenever they wished to purchase it, providing that they gave two months notice in writing to the football club.

The club reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup twice, achieved their highest ever placing in the football pyramid, won a divisional title and had a player called up to the England squad.

Perhaps the most impressive win in the history of Bristol Rovers was the 4–0 FA Cup victory over Manchester United, managed by Matt Busby, on 7 January 1956.

[20] The club had also failed to agree an extension to the lease on their stadium, which had had its capacity reduced from 30,000 to 12,500 due to new safety laws, causing fears that they would have to find a new home.

Before the lease was agreed, the Rovers chairman, Martin Flook, had made an offer of £450,000 to buy Ashton Gate Stadium from Bristol City, who were on the verge of bankruptcy at the time.

The following season, 1988–89, Rovers reached the third division play-off final for the first time, but they failed to win promotion, losing by a single goal to Port Vale.

The championship winning season was rounded off by the club's first ever appearance at Wembley Stadium, where they lost 2–1 to Tranmere Rovers in the final of the Leyland DAF Cup.

Dennis Rofe was sacked following another awful start, and veteran manager Malcolm Allison was appointed in an effort to turn things round, without much success.

The following season Rovers failed to make a serious challenge for the play-offs, resulting in the sacking of John Ward and his replacement by former player Ian Holloway.

On 17 April 1998, Bristol Rugby Club were placed in receivership, invoking a clause in the tenancy agreement allowing Rovers to buy the other half of the Memorial Ground for £100,000.

With the League introducing two relegation places from Division Three the next season it was obvious that Rovers would have to improve quickly, and Thompson was duly sacked and replaced by former player Ray Graydon.

While Graydon had experienced promotion success twice with Walsall, he failed to significantly improve Rovers' form, and the next two seasons were also spent fighting relegation to the Conference.

[23] A slight improvement occurred, resulting in Rovers hovering in mid-table; this was far from what the board and fans wanted however, and after just over a season in charge, Atkins was dismissed.

The game was marked though, by the home match atmosphere created by the huge Rovers' support and their almost endless singing of their signature song "Goodnight Irene".

However the big news of the season was a brilliant run to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, where they were finally eliminated 5–1 at the expense of high-flying Championship side West Bromwich Albion.

Despite this setback Trollope's men went on to finish a comfortable 11th in the table as 29-goal hero Rickie Lambert played what was to be his last season in the blue and white shirt.

Buckle failed to repeat the success he had brought to Torquay, and only exacerbated the situation when he fell out with fan favourite Campbell, leading to his dismissal in January 2012 with the club in the lower reaches of League Two.

By December 2012 it was clear that Rovers were in perhaps the biggest danger of dropping out of the Football League they had ever been, which resulted in McGhee being sacked and former manager John Ward returning to the club.

An indifferent start to the season, with Rovers picking up just one point from their first three games and third defeat in seven in their away fixture with part-timers Braintree Town, saw calls for the manager to be sacked.

Promotion was only secured with an injury time winner from defender Lee Brown in a 2–1 victory over already relegated Dagenham & Redbridge, a goal that has gone down in Rovers folklore.

More consistent results in the second half saw the club again finish in a respectable mid-table spot, this time 13th never really threatening to make headlines at either end of the table.

[39] Honours Rovers' form following Coughlan's departure nosedived and a season of promise could easily have turned into a relegation battle were it not for the expulsion of Bury and a 12 points deduction for Bolton Wanderers.

[51] Rovers' form did start to slowly improve toward the end of 2021 and they finished the year in fifteenth position after a 4–2 victory over Rochdale on 11 December,[52] a COVID-19 outbreak in the squad meaning they did not play another league match until 15 January.