Just looked at Bristol Rovers google search and it has our opponents in alphabetical order for the coming season. 3 teams promoted 3 teams plus Bury relegated. Relegated from the Championship Charlton, Hull and Wigan Promoted from League 2 Swindon, Plymouth and Northampton, total of 44 matches next season. I thought that four teams were to be promoted and 1 extra from the national league to replace Bury so we all have 46 league matches in the Championship and leagues 1 and 2 Apparently Bristol Live hadn't noticed that Northampton won their playoff final so didn't include them in the list
ST's back on sale from Monday at 09.00, still not a guarantee of getting in though as it will entirely depend upon what { if any } percentage of the overall ground capacity the EFL allow to be filled. Apparently if you purchase a ST in this second window and the permitted capacity dictates that you won't be able to attend then the club will give you a voucher to watch the action on the iFollow service...
I think it's clever from the club to do this. They want as much income as possible and they are thinking of all avenue's to get that extra income that they may not have got otherwise. They know capacity will be reduced and have said that current season ticket holders will be given priority to attend these games. Some people will be frustrated that they won't get to see Rovers because of this, especially as we could be having a good season, on paper anyway! So re-introducing season tickets for sale again will entice some fans to purchase a season ticket in the hope to see some games. And if the worse is to happen and they don't get to see live games in person, they will hopefully be given a code to watch ifollow for free, while non-season ticket holders will have to pay for ifollow. And I am sure they will offer refunds too if no games are allowed fans. This really is just to entice another hundred or so to get season tickets, those who won't want to miss games as season ticket holders will be given priority.
Ipswich Town Away in the League Cup, Walsall, Oxford and one other in that silly competition that I suppose no one will go to watch even if they are allowed to !
We need to keep JCH because some Ipswich fans think they will be after him. Don't fancy playing against him. It's a shame we are facing Walsall in this dumb ELF Trophy competition. No fans to welcome DC back to the Mem (if we end up being the home side of course). Also Oxfords Matty Taylor. We should find out today who the invited team is to join our group. Will be out of Arsenal, Brighton, Chelsea, Fulham, Norwich, Southampton, West Brom and West Ham.
Chelsea have been drawn in our EFL Trophy group. Interesting group. DC back with Walsall and Matty Taylor back with Oxford. Our assistant manager and new signing (Grant) against their former club in Chelsea.
League fixtures.... A tough start.... Remember we have to face Ipswich away too at the start on the League cup. please log in to view this image
Surprise surprise, we are away yet again for the 1st game and last game of the season and on Boxing day too. Although I don't really care seeing the fans can't go anyway even if we were at home for once in these games.
Oh well, looks as if we might have the obligatory one point from the first three games afterall ! Could be a good thing though to get these games out of the way early on and then we can concentrate on the meat and drink of this league.
Well we never seem to win our 1st game of the season but I think this will be a great test for us. Win these games and others will take us seriously, especially with our signings. Lose these games then we are already playing catch up and BG's position will already be up for questioning by a lot of the fans.
Yes it's a very tough start on paper, but will be nice to get these games out of the way early, hopefully before the likes of Sunderland, Ipswich and Doncaster can get into their stride. Without sounding over confident (been there too many times before!), we have put together a very good squad of players so far, they have been given a decent amount of time to get used to each other, and barring any unforseen disasters, I think we will spring a few surprises this season and upset a few of the big, fancied teams. The ongoing pandemic situation, the lack of fans, the impact on club resources and incomes will make it a much more level playing field this season, and with this in mind, virtually any outcome is possible from every game. A good start to the season wont be as imperative as in most seasons I feel, as performances will be so unpredictable to predict - fancy us to take 4, possibly 5 points from those first 3 matches.
I fully agree. But I think some will say no excuses. I think pressure is on BG although it really shouldn't be. Just need patience and support and we could really take full advantage of a poor situation for other clubs where they can't strengthen but we have. It's about time that we can take advantage of others instead of us always being the one taken advantage of.
Don't lose the habit - you might be doing that in a couple of seasons time to look at your own fixtures!