1893–94 Eastville Rovers F.C. season

The 1893–94 season was the eleventh to be played by the team now known as Bristol Rovers, and their tenth playing under the name Eastville Rovers. The first team continued to play in the first division of the Bristol & District League (now known as the Western Football League), while the reserves became founding members of the second division of the same competition.

Eastville Rovers F.C.

1893–94 season
Captain	F.A. Yates
Ground	Ridgeway Road, Ridgeway, Bristol
Bristol & District League	9th of 10
Gloucestershire Senior Cup	Runners-up
Gloucestershire Junior Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	Bob Horsey (8)
Home colours

Season review

Eastville Rovers began the season in confident mood. They had moved to a new ground in Ridgeway (sometimes referred to in contemporary reports as Rudgeway) on a site shared with Bristol North Cricket Club, which they had felt would improve attendances due to it being closer to Eastville than their former home in Ashley Down. They also welcomed many new players into the club thanks to a merger with St Gabriel's Association Football Club, enabling the formation of a third team to play alongside the firsts and reserves.[1] It would prove to be a bitter-sweet campaign however as although the first team managed to reach the final of the Gloucestershire Cup, both the firsts and reserves finished just one place above the bottom of their respective league tables.[2][3]

League tables

Bristol & District League Division One

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
1	Warmley[lower-alpha 1]	18	12	5	1	32	13	2.462	27
2	St George	18	10	6	2	39	23	1.696	26
3	Trowbridge Town	18	9	4	5	54	33	1.636	22
4	Bedminster	18	9	2	7	41	36	1.139	20
5	Clevedon	18	7	5	6	34	40	0.850	19
6	Clifton	18	6	4	8	37	30	1.233	16
7	Staple Hill	18	5	5	8	23	33	0.697	15
8	Gloucester	18	6	1	11	32	45	0.711	13
9	Eastville Rovers	18	5	2	11	30	39	0.769	12
10	Mangotsfield	18	2	4	12	19	48	0.396	8

Source:
Notes:

1. Warmley were deducted two points for fielding a professional player

Bristol & District League Division Two

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
1	Warmley reserves	18	16	1	1	66	12	5.500	33
2	St George reserves	18	15	0	3	50	22	2.273	30
3	Trowbridge Town reserves	18	11	1	6	47	22	2.136	23
4	St Paul's	18	9	3	6	44	51	0.863	21
5	Barton Hill	18	7	4	7	40	32	1.250	18
6	Bedminster reserves	18	6	3	9	35	42	0.833	15
7	Mangotsfield reserves	18	6	1	11	26	41	0.634	13
8	Clifton reserves	18	5	2	11	29	59	0.492	12
9	Eastville Rovers reserves	18	4	2	12	23	45	0.511	10
10	Waverley	18	2	4	12	22	53	0.415	8

Source:

Match results

Bristol & District League

Division One

Bedminster v Eastville Rovers

7 October 1893	Bedminster	2–0	Eastville Rovers	Ashton Gate
	Mayger Unknown  (o.g.)	Report		Stadium: Ashton Gate Stadium

Eastville Rovers v Gloucester

14 October 1893	Eastville Rovers	5–2	Gloucester	Ridgeway
	Laurie	Report		Attendance: 250

Warmley v Eastville Rovers

21 October 1893	Warmley	1–0	Eastville Rovers	Warmley
	Silman	Report		Attendance: 700 Referee: J. Bloor

Mangotsfield v Eastville Rovers

4 November 1893	Mangotsfield	0–3	Eastville Rovers	Mangotsfield
		Report	Laurie Thompson Rogers

Gloucester v Eastville Rovers

11 November 1893	Gloucester	3–0	Eastville Rovers	Gloucester
	Sherwood Robins Stout	Report		Stadium: Kingsholm Attendance: 650 Referee: J. Bloor

Eastville Rovers v Trowbridge Town

25 November 1893	Eastville Rovers	4–2	Trowbridge Town	Ridgeway
	Taylor Horsey Rogers	Report	Grist Billett	Referee: W.H. Brain

Staple Hill v Eastville Rovers

2 December 1893	Staple Hill	3–1	Eastville Rovers	Staple Hill
	H. Millard Wiltshire	Report	Horsey

Eastville Rovers v St George

26 December 1893	Eastville Rovers	0–2	St George	Ridgeway
14:40 GMT		Report	Bennett Patterson	Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Mr J. A. Stevens

Eastville Rovers v Clifton

30 December 1893	Eastville Rovers	1–3[lower-greek 1]	Clifton	Ridgeway
	Rogers	Report	Wreford-Brown Unknown

St George v Eastville Rovers

13 January 1894	St George	2–1	Eastville Rovers	St George
14:50 GMT	Winstone	Report

Trowbridge Town v Eastville Rovers

10 February 1894	Trowbridge Town	3–1	Eastville Rovers	Trowbridge
	Wright Guest	Report	Horsey

Eastville Rovers v Bedminster

3 March 1894	Eastville Rovers	3–3	Bedminster	Ridgeway
	Rogers Horsey Laurie	Report	Griffiths Mayger Unknown	Referee: J.A. Stevens

Eastville Rovers v Clevedon

10 March 1894	Eastville Rovers	1–2	Clevedon	Ridgeway
	Johns	Report	Mertens	Referee: Mr J.A. Stevens

Eastville Rovers v Staple Hill

17 March 1894	Eastville Rovers	3–1	Staple Hill	Ridgeway
	Laurie McBain Attwell	Report	H. Nicholls	Referee: Mr J. Bloor

Eastville Rovers v Mangotsfield

23 March 1894	Eastville Rovers	5–2	Mangotsfield	Rudgeway
Morning		Report

Eastville Rovers v Warmley

24 March 1894	Eastville Rovers	1–1	Warmley	Rudgeway
	G. Britton  (o.g.)	Report	Silman	Referee: Mr F. Millard

Clevedon v Eastville Rovers

7 April 1894	Clevedon	3–1	Eastville Rovers	Clevedon
	P. Hammond Vernon Mortens	Report	Rogers	Stadium: Dial Hill Referee: S. Peacock

Clifton v Eastville Rovers

14 April 1894	Clifton	4–0	Eastville Rovers	Kingswood
	Newman A. Symes E. Symes Francis	Report		Stadium: Chequers Ground Attendance: Very small Referee: G. Gay

Division Two

Eastville Rovers Reserves v Bedminster Reserves

7 October 1893	Eastville Rovers Reserves	2–6	Bedminster Reserves	Ridgeway
		Report

Eastville Rovers Reserves v St Paul's

28 October 1893	Eastville Rovers Reserves	4–1	St Paul's	Ridgeway
	Williams	Report	Hone  (pen.)

Eastville Rovers Reserves v Mangotsfield Reserves

4 November 1893	Eastville Rovers Reserves	1–3	Mangotsfield Reserves	Eastville
		Report

Trowbridge Town Reserves v Eastville Rovers Reserves

25 November 1893	Trowbridge Town Reserves	A–A[lower-greek 2]	Eastville Rovers Reserves	Trowbridge
		Report

Eastville Rovers Reserves v Barton Hill

2 December 1893	Eastville Rovers Reserves	0–4	Barton Hill	Eastville
		Report

Waverley[lower-greek 3] v Eastville Rovers Reserves

9 December 1893	Waverley[lower-greek 4]	4–1	Eastville Rovers Reserves	Knowle
		Report

Trowbridge Town Reserves v Eastville Rovers Reserves

26 December 1893	Trowbridge Town Reserves	0–3	Eastville Rovers Reserves	Trowbridge
		Report

Barton Hill v Eastville Rovers Reserves

27 January 1894	Barton Hill	0–1	Eastville Rovers Reserves	Barton Hill
		Report

Eastville Rovers Reserves v Trowbridge Town Reserves

10 February 1894	Eastville Rovers Reserves	1–2	Trowbridge Town Reserves	Ridgeway
		Report

St Paul's v Eastville Rovers Reserves

24 February 1894	St Paul's	4–3	Eastville Rovers Reserves	Long Ashton
		Report

Bedminster Reserves v Eastville Rovers Reserves

3 March 1894	Bedminster Reserves	2–0	Eastville Rovers Reserves	Bedminster
	F. Harris G. Hemmins	Report		Attendance: 300

Eastville Rovers Reserves v St Paul's

10 March 1894	Eastville Rovers Reserves	0–2	St Paul's	Ridgeway
		Report

St George Reserves v Eastville Rovers Reserves

17 March 1894	St George Reserves	3–1	Eastville Rovers Reserves	St George
		Report

Warmley Reserves v Eastville Rovers Reserves

21 April 1894	Warmley Reserves	7–1	Eastville Rovers Reserves	Warmley
		Report

Eastville Rovers Reserves[lower-greek 5] v Clifton Reserves

25 April 1894	Eastville Rovers Reserves[lower-greek 6]	1–2	Clifton Reserves	Kingswood
17:30				Stadium: Chequers Ground Referee: G. Gay

Clifton Reserves v Eastville Rovers Reserves

28 April 1894	Clifton Reserves	2–2	Eastville Rovers Reserves	Kingswood
15:30				Stadium: Chequers Ground Referee: G. Gay

Eastville Rovers Reserves v Waverley

30 April 1894	Eastville Rovers Reserves	3–1	Waverley	Kingswood
18:00				Stadium: Chequers Ground Referee: E. H. Nettle

The date and result of the away game against Mangotsfield reserves is not known. The final three games were played over the Easter week of 1894 and all took place at the Chequers ground in Kingswood.[8]

Gloucestershire Senior Challenge Cup

Eastville Rovers were drawn away to Mangotsfield in the first round.[9]

Mangotsfield v Eastville Rovers

27 January 1894 First round	Mangotsfield	0–1	Eastville Rovers	Mangotsfield
		Report	Taylor	Referee: J. Bloor

Gloucester v Eastville Rovers

24 February 1894 Semi-final	Gloucester	0–1	Eastville Rovers	Gloucester
			Horsey

St George v Eastville Rovers

31 March 1894 Final	St George	3–1	Eastville Rovers	Kingswood
	W. Britton D.S. Gerrish	Report	R. Horsey	Stadium: Chequers Ground Attendance: 4,000

Gloucestershire Junior Challenge Cup

Eastville Rovers Reserves v Bedminster Reserves

11 November 1893 Third round	Eastville Rovers Reserves	2–4	Bedminster Reserves
		Report

Friendlies

First team

Trowbridge Town v Eastville Rovers

16 September 1893	Trowbridge Town	4–4	Eastville Rovers	Trowbridge
	Hill Quinian Everett	Report	Rogers Thompson	Referee: Mr F. M. Millard

Warmley v Eastville Rovers

23 September 1893	Warmley	5–1	Eastville Rovers	Warmley
	Mackay Silman Peacock	Report	Unknown

Eastville Rovers v St George

9 December 1893	Eastville Rovers	4–0	St George	Ridgeway
15:00 GMT	Horsey Taylor Laurie	Report

Swindon Athletic v Eastville Rovers

16 December 1893	Swindon Athletic	2–1	Eastville Rovers	Swindon
	Rennie Hayward	Report		Stadium: Wiltshire County Ground Referee: Mr S. J. Strange

Eastville Rovers v Swindon Wanderers

23 December 1893	Eastville Rovers	1–0	Swindon Wanderers	Ridgeway
	Rogers	Report

Eastville Rovers v Warmley

20 January 1894	Eastville Rovers	2–4[lower-greek 7]	Warmley	Ridgeway
	Horsey G. Britton  (o.g.)	Report	"Nipper" Britton Nelmes Peacock King	Attendance: 800 Referee: Mr. Millard

Gloucester v Eastville Rovers

24 February 1894	Gloucester	0–1	Eastville Rovers	Gloucester
		Report		Referee: Mr A. Francis

Reserves

Craigmore College v Eastville Rovers Reserves

30 September 1893	Craigmore College	0–4	Eastville Rovers Reserves	Clifton
		Report

Eastville Rovers Reserves v Waverley

3 February 1894	Eastville Rovers Reserves	5–1[lower-greek 8]	Waverley	Ridgeway
		Report

Third team

The name of the club's third team was given variously as Eastville Rovers Extras, Eastville Rovers A, or simply Eastville Rovers. The name of the team as it was reported in the local press for each match is shown in the table below.

St. Simon's v Eastville Rovers Extras

2 September 1893	St. Simon's	6–1	Eastville Rovers Extras	Eastville
		Report		Stadium: Eastville Park

Eastville Rovers A v Brislington Reserves

21 October 1893	Eastville Rovers A	2–2	Brislington Reserves	Ridgeway
		Report

St. Michael's v Eastville Rovers

28 October 1893	St. Michael's	1–1	Eastville Rovers	Eastville
		Report		Stadium: Eastville Park

Eastville Rovers Extras v Adlam's Rovers

9 December 1893	Eastville Rovers Extras	0–1	Adlam's Rovers	Eastville
		Report		Stadium: Eastville Park

Eastville Rovers v Eastville Wanderers

16 December 1893	Eastville Rovers	2–4	Eastville Wanderers	Ridgeway
		Report

Redfield Excelsior v Eastville Rovers Extras

20 January 1894	Redfield Excelsior	1–2	Eastville Rovers Extras	The Downs
		Report

St. Simon's v Eastville Rovers A

3 February 1894	St. Simon's	5–1	Eastville Rovers A	Eastville
		Report		Stadium: Eastville Park

St Michael & All Angels v Eastville Rovers A

26 February 1894	St Michael & All Angels	1–0	Eastville Rovers A	Eastville
		Report		Stadium: Eastville Park

Notes

1. Due to a mix-up regarding the kickoff time, Rovers started their home fixture against Clifton with six players. The game was played in thick fog, severely limiting visibility, and Eastville lodged an official protest after the match.[4]
2. The reserves' match against Trowbridge on 25 November was abandoned due to poor light. Eastville had arrived late, and were leading 2–0 when darkness fell.[5]
3. Waverley started the game with nine men.[6]
4. Waverley started the game with nine men.[7]
5. Rovers' reserves only fielded nine men in their 2–1 defeat to Clifton
6. Rovers' reserves only fielded nine men in their 2–1 defeat to Clifton
7. Both Eastville and Warmley requested that their league game on 20 January be postponed due to partial flooding of the pitch and strong winds, but it went ahead as planned.[10] The league committee later agreed that the result should not stand as a league match and a replay was ordered for 24 March.[11]
8. The game between Eastville Rovers Reserves and Waverley was originally scheduled as a league match, but due to the poor state of the pitch the result didn't count towards the league table and the match was ordered to be replayed.[11]

Statistics

Friendly matches are not included in this section.

Match record

Competition	Home						Away						Total
	P	W	D	L	F	A	P	W	D	L	F	A	P	W	D	L	F	A
Bristol & District League	9	4	2	3	23	18	9	1	0	8	7	21	18	5	2	11	30	39
Gloucestershire Cup	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	2	0	1	3	3	3	2	0	1	3	3
Total	9	4	2	3	23	18	12	3	0	9	10	24	21	7	2	12	33	42

Cumulative record

The total cumulative record of Eastville Rovers up to the end of the 1893–94 season is shown below. This is calculated by adding the numbers in the section above to the total games played up to the end of the previous season. Friendly matches are not included in this table, and games held at neutral venues are considered to have been played away from home.

Match record

Competition	Home						Away						Total
	P	W	D	L	F	A	P	W	D	L	F	A	P	W	D	L	F	A
Bristol & District League	17	8	4	5	44	32	17	3	1	13	22	47	34	11	5	18	66	79
Gloucestershire Cup	4	0	2	2	5	9	12	8	0	4	22	21	16	8	2	6	27	30
Total	21	8	6	7	49	41	29	11	1	17	44	68	50	19	7	24	93	109

References

1. "Football in the West of England". Western Daily Press. 4 September 1893. Retrieved 12 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
2. "Eastville Rovers". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
3. "Eastville Rovers Reserves". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
4. "Athletics". Bristol Mercury. 1 January 1894. Retrieved 24 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "Athletics". Bristol Mercury. 27 November 1893. Retrieved 18 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
6. "Saturday's football". Western Daily Press. 11 December 1893. Retrieved 19 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "Saturday's football". Western Daily Press. 11 December 1893. Retrieved 19 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "Athletics". Bristol Mercury. 23 April 1894. Retrieved 19 June 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "Athletics". Bristol Mercury. 21 December 1893. Retrieved 11 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
10. "Athletics". Bristol Mercury. 22 January 1894. Retrieved 28 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
11. "Bristol and District League". Bristol Mercury. 15 February 1894. Retrieved 22 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

Bibliography

• Byrne, Stephen; Jay, Mike (2003). Bristol Rovers Football Club: The Definitive History 1883–2003. Stroud: Tempus. ISBN 0-7524-2717-2.