The 1889–90 season was the seventh to be played by the team that are now known as Bristol Rovers, and their sixth playing under the name Eastville Rovers.

Season review As reigning Gloucestershire Cup champions, much was expected of Eastville Rovers during the 1889–90 season, but for much of the early part of the season they were unable to field a full-strength side and as a result they put in a number of lacklustre performances. They failed in their efforts to retain the trophy thanks to a heavy defeat to Clifton in the second round.

Prior to their meeting with Rovers in the first round of the newly renamed Gloucestershire Senior Challenge Cup, two Warmley players were banned for two months for excessively rough play in a match against Clifton. Serious consideration was given to postponing the cup tie because the Warmley team wouldn't have been at full strength, but the game went ahead on 18 January as planned, and was won by Rovers thanks to a single goal by Walter Perrin. Reports at the time commented on a large crowd attending the cup match in the hope of seeing some more violent play.

The reserve team had fewer games than in previous seasons, but this year saw them enter a cup competition for the first time. They took part in the inaugural Gloucestershire Junior Challenge Cup, where they were drawn against Brandon in the first round. A comfortable 6–0 victory put the Rovers through to the second round, where they were beaten by eventual cup winners Kingswood Congregational. It took the Kingswood side four attempts to beat Warmley Reserves in the final – two draws were followed by a game that had to be replayed due to the use of ineligible players, with Kingswood Congregational finally taking the trophy after the third replay.

A curious incident took place just before Christmas when the Bristol Mercury reported that the reserve team had drawn 23–23 with Clifton's reserves on 21 December. The following day the paper printed a retraction of the story, stating that they had been told by the honorary secretary of Clifton that the game had not taken place.

Results First team Gloucestershire Senior Cup RoundDateOpponentVenueResultScorersNotes118 January 1890WarmleyWarmley, GloucestershireWon 1–0PerrinSemi-final15 February 1890CliftonGloucestershire County GroundLost 2–6Taylor, Hodgson

Club matches DateOpponentVenueResultScorersNotes29 August 1889Weston-super-MareRecreation Grounds, Weston-super-Mare 21 September 1889KingswoodKingswood, BristolLost 0–2 12 October 1889WarmleyWarmley, GloucestershireDrew 3–3Gay (o.g.), Wilmut (o.g.)19 October 1889Craigmore CollegeThe DownsDrew 1–126 October 1889BathThe Downs, BristolWon 1–0Channing9 November 1889CliftonAshton Gate, BristolLost 0–1 16 November 1889TrowbridgeTrowbridge, WiltshireLost 2–4Own goal, Yates23 November 1889St GeorgeThe Downs, BristolWon 2–0 30 November 1889St SimonBishopston, BristolWon 4–1F. Laurie (3), Hardick7 December 1889CliftonGloucestershire County GroundLost 0–3 14 December 1889ClevedonHorfield, BristolWon 2–0Perrin, Attewell21 December 1889WarmleyBristolDrew 0–0 28 December 1889Old Boys, Q.E.H.Eastville, BristolWon 2–1 Byrne & Jay (2003), p.3211 January 1890TrowbridgeBishopston, BristolLost 1–2 25 January 1890BathBath, Somerset 8 February 1890KingswoodKingswood, BristolWon 2–1Perrin (2)1 March 1890St GeorgeSt George, BristolLost 1–2 29 March 1890ClevedonClevedon, SomersetLost 1–4

Reserves Gloucestershire Junior Cup RoundDateOpponentVenueResultScorersNotes119 October 1889BrandonHomeWon 6–0Rogers (4), Smith, Hooper29 November 1889Kingswood Congregational Lost 0–1

Club matches DateOpponentVenueResultScorersNotes26 October 1889RudgewayAwayWon 5–0Rogers (3), Smith, Neale2 November 1889Clifton ReservesThe Downs, BristolLost 0–3 23 November 1889Clifton ReservesThe Downs, BristolLost 0–1 21 December 1889Clifton ReservesThe Downs, BristolNot played

Statistics Friendly matches are not included in this section. + Match recordCompetitionHomeAwayTotalPWDLFAPWDLFAPWDLFAGloucestershire Cup000000210136210136

+ GoalscorersPlayerGoalsLeagueCupTotalHodgson–11Walter Perrin–11Taylor–11

Cumulative record The total cumulative record of Eastville Rovers up to the end of the 1889–90 season is shown below. This is calculated by adding the numbers in the section above to the total games played up to last season. Friendly matches are not included in this table, and games held at neutral venues are considered to have been played away from home.

As of the summer of 1889, Rovers' competitive matches had all been played in the Gloucestershire Cup.

+ Match recordCompetitionHomeAwayTotalPWDLFAPWDLFAPWDLFAGloucestershire Cup201114650110885121112

References

Bibliography