They finished second in the Conference under the stewardship of Darrell Clarke and immediately regained their Football League status with victory in the 2015 play-off final.

This name only lasted for the 1883–84 season, and in a bid to draw more fans from the local area the club was renamed Eastville Rovers in 1884.

The home team were in every point superior to their antagonists and after a one-sided game Wotton were declared victors by six goals to nil.

[9] The highest position in the football ladder reached by Rovers at the end of season is sixth place in the second tier, which they achieved twice; once in 1955–56, and again in 1958–59.

[7][12] They returned to the league at the end of their first Conference season, with a penalty shootout victory over Grimsby Town in the play-off final.

[vague][21] On 3 August 2023, Kuwaiti businessman Hussain AlSaeed bought a controlling 55% share in Dwane Sports, the holding company for the football club, thus becoming chairman.

[clarification needed][22] On 22 November 2024, AlSaeed reached an agreement to purchase the remaining 45% of shares owned by both Wael and Samer al-Qadi, the acquisition to be completed over an eighteen-month period.

The first time was in 1950–51 when they faced Newcastle United at St James' Park[26] in front of a crowd of 62,787, the record for the highest attendance at any Bristol Rovers match.

[27] The second time they reached the quarter final was in 1957–58, when they lost to Fulham,[26] and the most recent appearance at this stage of the competition was during the 2007–08 season, when they faced West Bromwich Albion.

[28] They were the first Division Three team to win an FA Cup tie away to a Premier League side, when in 2002 they beat Derby County 3–1 at Pride Park Stadium.

[30] The most recent encounter between the clubs as of March 2024 took place on 4 September 2013, which saw Rovers beaten by City in a Football League Trophy tie at Ashton Gate Stadium by a 2–1 scoreline.

[citation needed] In 2005, Rovers ran an April Fools' joke on their official website, stating that the team's new away strip would be all pink.

Although this was intended to be a joke, a number of fans petitioned the club to get the kit made for real, and also suggested that funds raised through the sale of the pink shirts should be donated to a breast cancer charity.

[clarification needed][52] This process lasted nine seasons before the club announced Football INDEX as new sponsors for both home and away kits.

For the majority of their history, Bristol Rovers have played their home games at the Eastville Stadium, where they remained for a period of 89 years from 1897 to 1986.

[clarification needed][63] In June 2020, the club began construction of a new training facility at a site on Hortham Lane, Almondsbury near the M5 motorway.

[clarification needed][19] The site is set to include two full size pitches, a goalkeeping area, a gym and a clubhouse building.

[clarification needed][19] Having owned the land since 2017,[failed verification][20] no work had previously been carried out before the club moved into the training ground for the start in October 2020.

[vague][64] On 6 April 2023, Conygar Investment Company exchanged contracts with the Wholesale Bristol Fruit Market for the land at St. Philips Marsh, with the football club seeing it was a 'move in the right direction' with regards to a new stadium, having been involved in discussions for 2+1⁄2 years prior.

[failed verification][close paraphrasing][65] In October 2023, new owner Hussain AlSaeed confirmed that the club's proposed move to the site was off and they would instead be redeveloping the Memorial Stadium.

The term "Gasheads" is now universally accepted within the English media and football fraternity as referring to Bristol Rovers supporters.

[failed verification][68] The retired Conservative MP for Hayes and Harlington Terry Dicks was a Bristol Rovers fan.

He mentioned the club in parliament ("now struggling in the second division of the Endsleigh league") on 5 May 1994 when debating with Labour MP and Chelsea fan Tony Banks.[relevant?

[additional citation(s) needed][77] One Bristol Rovers print fanzine is currently active and is entitled Last Saturday Night.

[failed verification][better source needed][81] Opinions differ as to how this came about, but it is thought to have become popular in the 1950s when a version of the song was in the British charts—the line "sometimes I have a great notion to jump in the river and drown"—seemed to be particularly apt when Rovers lost, as the Bristol Frome flows alongside the old Eastville ground.

[failed verification][42] Another theory is that it was sung at a fireworks display at the Stadium the night before a home game against Plymouth Argyle in the 1950s.

The name derives from the section of Gasheads who stood in the Tote End terrace at Rovers' old home, Eastville Stadium.

The football club launched its official Hall of Fame in 2021 in partnership with Retro Rovers podcast with the purpose of recognising the players and managers who had had the greatest impact.

Current first-team squad members Kofi Shaw and Jed Ward graduated from the Academy to earn professional contracts.

[citation needed] The club formerly had a women's team, set up in 1998, as Bristol Rovers W.F.C., following a merger with Cable-Tel L.F.C..[failed verification] This merger came about as Bristol Rovers only had girls' teams up to the under-16 age group level, so when girls reached the age of 16 they were forced to leave the club.