Happy 2nd May

Why May 2nd 1990 resonates with both Bristol Rovers and Bristol City fans for very different reasons..By Philippa Jenkins

i2-prod.bristolpost.co.uk/incoming/article42224.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200e/IMG_20170501_211741.jpg

Imagine this; Bristol Rovers and Bristol City playing each other at the end of the season, both set to be promoted into the Championship but only one to be crowned the league champions.

Roll back 28 years and that is exactly what happened on May 2nd 1990 at Twerton Park and many fans in Bristol remember it like it was yesterday.

Regardless of whether you are of the blue or red persuasion the match is certainly one that went down in both the clubs’ histories.

Of course, for Rovers fans the night couldn’t have been better; they secured promotion to Division Two (as the Championship was then known as), beat their arch rivals on home turf and managed to clinch the champions’ gong.

i2-prod.bristolpost.co.uk/incoming/article41925.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200e/1458853.jpg
Twerton Park

For the Ashton Gate faithful it was a bitter sweet night that saw their team secure successfully get promotion but were not able to beat Rovers to reach the top spot in the league table.

Not only that but the score was 3-0; unsurprisingly it was a score line to rub salt in the wound of the Robins but gave Rovers even more reason to celebrate.

i2-prod.bristolpost.co.uk/incoming/article41929.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200e/0_1450015.jpg
BRFC legend Ian Holloway

Twerton Park was packed to the rafters and the atmosphere was like a cup match. City had never done well in Bath and they certainly didn’t fancy this game with the Rovers fans right on top of them.

City had been making the running all season then suddenly they hit a bad spell of form and were only two points ahead of Rovers going into this game, the last but one of the season.

If City had won they would be champions, but with that in mind Rovers attacked them from the start and big Devon White scored with his first chance before getting another soon after the break.

The pitch invasion at the final whistle and the players celebrating on the balcony went on long into the night. We had to pinch ourselves, clinching promotion by beating City 3-0 was beyond our wildest dreams. Rovers then secured the championship by winning at Blackpool with the reds also going up.

i2-prod.bristolpost.co.uk/incoming/article42219.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200e/IMG_20170501_212118.jpg

May 2nd has gone down in Gas history as one of the greatest dates on the calendar; not just because we thrashed City, but because ‘ragbag’ Rovers had achieved the almost impossible – promotion to the Championship whilst not owning a ground, not owning a training ground, and not even owning the proverbial pot to… well, you get the gist. Earlier in the season Rovers sold the first £1m goalkeeper (Nigel Martyn) and our top scorer (Gary Penrice), whilst spending just £70,000 of it to replace ‘Penny’ with Carl Saunders who was languishing in the Stoke City reserves, playing as a right back.