List of Bristol Rovers F.C. players

A middle aged man wearing shirt, grey pullover and light grey anorak, holding a trophy cup. other people behind him, all standing on grass. Bottom right of picture cut off by a wall.
Bristol Rovers record scorer, Geoff Bradford, who scored 355 goals for the club, 242 of which were in the Football League.

The following article is a list of footballers past and present who have played for Bristol Rovers Football Club.

In the club's early history the appearance record was held by goalkeeper Arthur Cartlidge, who played in 258 Southern League games between 1901 and 1909. His record stood until it was broken by another goalkeeper, Jesse Whatley, who played 14 times in the Southern League and a further 372 in The Football League, making a total of 386 overall. Following the Second World War the Bristol Rovers board introduced a no-buy/no-sell policy, which remained in force until the abolition of the maximum wage in football in 1961; as a result some players in that era had a high number of appearances for the club. Eight of the top nine most-used players played during this time, each making over 400 appearances. These eight were Bobby Jones (421 appearances), Alfie Biggs (424), Ray Warren (450), Harold Jarman (452), George Petherbridge (457), Geoff Bradford (462), Jack Pitt (466), and Harry Bamford (486). The club's all-time leading appearance maker, Stuart Taylor, played in 546 League games between 1965 and 1980. The club's highest scorer by a wide margin is Geoff Bradford, who scored 242 times in The Football League, exceeding the next-highest scorer Alfie Biggs by 64 goals.

Players

Forward Alfie Biggs made 424 appearances for Rovers in two spells between 1953 and 1961 and again between 1962 and 1968. With 178 goals, he is the club's second highest goalscorer.
Ian Holloway, who played 397 league games in three spells with the club.
England international Gary Mabbutt, who played 131 league games between 1977 and 1982.
Tony Pulis made 130 Rovers appearances in two spells from 1975 to 1981 and 1982 to 1984.
Rovers' most capped player Vitālijs Astafjevs, who played 167 times for Latvia.
Chris Lines made 314 appearances for Rovers in three spells between 2004 and 2019. He achieved three promotions at the club and is the highest appearance maker of the 21st century.

The list of players below includes all team members who have played in at least 100 professional league games for Bristol Rovers, which includes games played in the Southern League (1899–1920), Football League (1920–2014 and 2015–) and Football Conference (2014–15), and also includes substitute appearances.

Statistics are correct as of match played 3 May 2025

Position key: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward

  † Current Bristol Rovers player, as at 4 July 2024
  ‡ Capped at full international level[a]

Footnotes

  • a Unless otherwise stated, all international caps are taken from Byrne & Jay (2003).
  • b A player's nationality is defined as the country they have represented at the international level if they have done so; otherwise it is their country of birth.
  • c Playing positions are taken from Byrne & Jay (2003) unless otherwise stated.
  • d Number of league appearances for Bristol Rovers
  • e Number of league goals scored for Bristol Rovers
  • f Unless otherwise stated, player statistics are taken from Byrne & Jay (2003).
  • g Matt O'Mahoney was a dual Irish international, having played for both the FAI and IFA national teams.

See also

References

Bibliography

  • Byrne, Stephen; Jay, Mike (2003). Bristol Rovers Football Club: The Definitive History 1883–2003. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7524-2717-1.
  • Giles, Edward (2007). Bristol Rovers, The Bert Tann Era: A Personal Memoir. Southend-on-Sea: Desert Island Books. ISBN 978-1-905328-37-6.
  • Jay, Mike; Byrne, Stephen (1994). Pirates in Profile: A Who's Who of Bristol Rovers Players. Bristol: Potten, Baber & Murray. ISBN 978-0-9524835-0-2.
  • Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2007). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2007–2008. London: Headline Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-7553-1664-9.
  • Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2009). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2009–2010. London: Headline Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-7553-1948-0.
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