Post by GasMacc1 on Nov 30, 2016 7:09:03 GMT
Bristol Rovers v Minnows: what could possibly go wrong?
First, the good news from our FA Cup history between 1969-70 and 2015-16. When Rovers have been up against other clubs from the same division, we’ve got a decent track-record, having won 18 of the 28 matches (that’s 64%).
Remember “one-nil down, three-one up…”? That was in the 1985 competition.
The 18 teams we’ve beaten are listed at the bottom of this post, together with the ten who have knocked us out.
The bad news comes from an examination of the fifteen FA Cup ties against clubs who were one division below us at the time. We’ve somehow contrived to lose nine of the 15 (giving a win ratio of only 40%).
Some highlights. The win over Cambridge United at Eastville in the 1972 FA Cup set up the visit to Leeds for the 3rd round.
Few would have guessed that the hosts in our victory at Blackburn in 1975 would go on to win the Premier League twenty years later.
And, more recently, an away tie against Barnet in 2008 was our reward for knocking out Premier League Fulham in the previous round: staging posts on Rovers’ best run in the period under review. Other wins were away at Northampton and away at Swansea (1979).
Rovers suffered defeats against Aldershot (in the 1970 and 1971 competitions), Crewe, Wycombe, Exeter, Cardiff, Carlisle and Bournemouth: all mildly embarrassing. But the one that really stuck in the craw was the loss, at Eastville in December 1983, against fourth-tier Bristol C&$y 1982, when they were otherwise at their lowest ebb…so far!
We can be thankful that Rovers’ record against clubs that were two tiers below us is not too bad. Of fourteen encounters, Rovers have won twelve (85.7%). The slip-ups were both away matches, at Kettering and at Darlington.
Bizarrely, we have done worse against clubs three rungs down the ladder. Wins against Bideford, Wycombe (1983 Cup), King’s Lynn and VS Rugby merited few lines in even the local press, and the six-goal thumping of FC Totton took prominence only because Adrian Chiles et al were there for a different sort of potential headline. Harder to erase from the memory are the defeats by Hayes, Hitchin and Chesham. (So five wins out of eight yields a mark of 62.5%).
And that just leaves two matches, against teams that were four blocks down the pyramid from Rovers. I am pleased to remember that, on 14th November 1987 we beat Merthyr, and on 5th December 1997, we beat Wisbech, thus achieving a win ratio in such games of 100%!!
Bristol Rovers’ FA Cup Record 1969-70 to 2015-16: Opponents from the Same Division.
The quoted years refer to those of the competition, i.e. when the Cup Final took place.
First, the good news from our FA Cup history between 1969-70 and 2015-16. When Rovers have been up against other clubs from the same division, we’ve got a decent track-record, having won 18 of the 28 matches (that’s 64%).
Remember “one-nil down, three-one up…”? That was in the 1985 competition.
The 18 teams we’ve beaten are listed at the bottom of this post, together with the ten who have knocked us out.
The bad news comes from an examination of the fifteen FA Cup ties against clubs who were one division below us at the time. We’ve somehow contrived to lose nine of the 15 (giving a win ratio of only 40%).
Some highlights. The win over Cambridge United at Eastville in the 1972 FA Cup set up the visit to Leeds for the 3rd round.
Few would have guessed that the hosts in our victory at Blackburn in 1975 would go on to win the Premier League twenty years later.
And, more recently, an away tie against Barnet in 2008 was our reward for knocking out Premier League Fulham in the previous round: staging posts on Rovers’ best run in the period under review. Other wins were away at Northampton and away at Swansea (1979).
Rovers suffered defeats against Aldershot (in the 1970 and 1971 competitions), Crewe, Wycombe, Exeter, Cardiff, Carlisle and Bournemouth: all mildly embarrassing. But the one that really stuck in the craw was the loss, at Eastville in December 1983, against fourth-tier Bristol C&$y 1982, when they were otherwise at their lowest ebb…so far!
We can be thankful that Rovers’ record against clubs that were two tiers below us is not too bad. Of fourteen encounters, Rovers have won twelve (85.7%). The slip-ups were both away matches, at Kettering and at Darlington.
Bizarrely, we have done worse against clubs three rungs down the ladder. Wins against Bideford, Wycombe (1983 Cup), King’s Lynn and VS Rugby merited few lines in even the local press, and the six-goal thumping of FC Totton took prominence only because Adrian Chiles et al were there for a different sort of potential headline. Harder to erase from the memory are the defeats by Hayes, Hitchin and Chesham. (So five wins out of eight yields a mark of 62.5%).
And that just leaves two matches, against teams that were four blocks down the pyramid from Rovers. I am pleased to remember that, on 14th November 1987 we beat Merthyr, and on 5th December 1997, we beat Wisbech, thus achieving a win ratio in such games of 100%!!
Bristol Rovers’ FA Cup Record 1969-70 to 2015-16: Opponents from the Same Division.
| Rovers' Wins | Fulham (1971), Sunderland, Southampton (1978), Charlton, Preston (1981), Bristol C£&y 82 (1985), Brentford (1986), Swansea (1979), Plymouth (1992), Orient (1995), Gillingham (1998), Exeter (1999), Rotherham, Plymouth (2002), Grimsby, Hereford, Orient (2008), York. | 18 |
| Rovers' Defeats | Chelsea, Forest (1977), Fulham (1982), Plymouth (1983), Brentford (1987), Reading, Preston (2000), Rochdale, Bournemouth (2004), Southampton (2010). | 10 |
The quoted years refer to those of the competition, i.e. when the Cup Final took place.