2016–17 Bristol Rovers F.C. season

Bristol Rovers F.C.
2016–17 season
Chairman	Steve Hamer
Manager	Darrell Clarke
Stadium	Memorial Stadium
League One	10th
FA Cup	Second round proper (Eliminated by Barrow)
EFL Cup	Second round (Eliminated by Chelsea)
EFL Trophy	Group stage (Eliminated at the group stages)
Top goalscorer	League: Matty Taylor (16); All: Matty Taylor (18)
Highest home attendance	11,750 (vs. Millwall, 30 April 2017)
Lowest home attendance	7,805 (vs. Walsall, 13 September 2016)
Average home league attendance	9,219
Home colours	Away colours
	← 2015–16 2017–18 →

The 2016–17 season was the 134th season in Bristol Rovers' history and their 89th in the English Football League. Following back-to-back promotions in 2014–15 and 2015–16, Rovers competed in the third tier of English football, League One. What was a steady season, Rovers played the likes of Coventry and Chelsea (in the EFL Cup) for the first time in decades. After a brief playoff push towards the end of the season, Rovers finished in a respectable 10th place with 66 points, their highest finish in the football league since the 1999–2000 season.

Season events

Pre-season

Rovers manager Darrell Clarke was quick to make good on his promise to offer all out-of-contract senior players new contracts if the club was promoted,^[2] confirming that, with the exception of Rory Fallon, new deals were "in the post" just five days after the previous season had concluded.^[3] In addition to Lee Brown and Tom Lockyer, whose deals were signed before the season had ended,^[4]^[5] goalkeeper Steve Mildenhall and midfielder Jay Malpas were the first to sign a new deals on 17 May.^[6] Toward the end of May, Clarke himself had agreed a new three-year contract, making him the highest paid manager in the club's history.^[7] This came after the club received a formal approach from Championship side Leeds United which Rovers rejected.^[8]

June saw defender Daniel Leadbitter^[9] and winger Billy Bodin^[10] sign new two-year contracts at Rovers. Goalkeeper Will Puddy,^[11] defenders James Clarke^[12] and Mark McChrystal,^[13] midfielders Lee Mansell^[14] Cristian Montaño,^[15] Jake Gosling,^[16] Ollie Clarke^[17] and Chris Lines^[18] and forward Ellis Harrison^[19] also agreed a new deals of undisclosed duration. Tom Parkes meanwhile rejected the offer of a new deal and instead joined League Two side Leyton Orient.^[20] On 16 June, defender Peter Hartley became the club's first signing of the season on a free transfer from Plymouth Argyle^[21] followed a day later by the signing of winger Byron Moore from Port Vale.^[22]

Peterborough United forward Luke James became July's first signing, on a season long loan.^[23] Rovers' top goalscorer of the previous two seasons, Matty Taylor, signed a new contract in July,^[24] ending speculation linking him with a move away.^[25]

First team

As of game played on 31 August 2016

No.	Name	Position	Place of Birth	Date of Birth	Club caps	Club goals	Int. caps	Int. goals	Previous club	Notes
Goalkeepers
1	Steve Mildenhall	GK	Swindon	13 May 1979	125	0	0	0	Millwall
25	Will Puddy	GK	Warminster	4 October 1987	16	0	0	0	Salisbury City
33	Kelle Roos	GK	Rijkevoort	31 May 1992	0	0	0	0	On loan from Derby County
Defenders
2	Daniel Leadbitter	RB	Newcastle upon Tyne	7 October 1990	58	1	0	0	Hereford United
3	Lee Brown	LB	London	10 August 1990	213	20	0	0	Queens Park Rangers
4	Tom Lockyer	CB/RB	Cardiff	3 December 1994	134	2	0	0	Youth team graduate	Vice Captain
5	Mark McChrystal	CB	Derry	26 June 1984	111	0	0	0	Tranmere Rovers	Club captain
6	Peter Hartley	CB	Hartlepool	3 April 1988	1	0	0	0	Plymouth Argyle
15	James Clarke	RB/CB	Aylesbury	17 November 1989	39	0	0	0	Woking
19	Danny Greenslade	LB	Belper	23 September 1996	0	0	0	0	Youth team graduate
26	Tyler Lyttle	RB	Nottingham	12 November 1996	1	0	0	0	Youth team graduate
31	Connor Roberts	RB	Neath	23 September 1995	0	0	0	0	on loan from Swansea City
32	Alfie Kilgour	CB	Bath		0	0	0	0	Youth team graduate
36	Jake Clarke-Salter	CB	Carshalton	22 September 1997	0	0	0	0	On loan from Chelsea
Midfielders
7	Lee Mansell	CM	Gloucester	23 September 1982	72	7	0	0	Torquay United
8	Ollie Clarke	CM	Portishead	29 June 1992	101	8	0	0	Youth team graduate
11	Jake Gosling	RM/LM	Oxford	11 August 1993	41	3	11	2	Exeter City
14	Chris Lines	CM	Bristol	30 November 1985	211	21	0	0	Port Vale
16	Liam Lawrence	RM/LM	Retford	14 December 1981	12	1	15	2	Shrewsbury Town
18	Dominic Thomas	CM	London	23 November 1995	0	0	0	0	Youth team graduate
21	Cristian Montaño	RM/LM	Cali	11 December 1991	30	2	0	0	América de Cali
22	Byron Moore	LM/CF	Stoke-on-Trent	24 August 1988	0	0	0	0	Port Vale
23	Billy Bodin	LM/CF	Swindon	24 March 1992	40	13	0	0	Northampton Town
24	Stuart Sinclair	CM	Houghton Conquest	9 November 1987	58	4	0	0	Salisbury City
27	Ryan Broom	RM	Newport	4 September 1996	1	0	0	0	Youth team graduate
28	Jay Malpas	CM	Bristol	25 May 1997	0	0	0	0	Youth team graduate
34	Hiram Boateng	CM	London	8 January 1996	0	0	0	0	On loan from Crystal Palace
35	Charlie Colkett	CM	Newham	22 September 1997	0	0	0	0	On loan from Chelsea
Forwards
9	Ellis Harrison	CF/LM	Newport	29 January 1994	106	24	0	0	Youth team graduate
10	Matty Taylor	CF	Oxford	30 March 1990	93	47	0	0	Forest Green Rovers
17	Jermaine Easter	CF	Cardiff	15 January 1982	48	9	12	0	Millwall
20	Jamie Lucas	CF	Pontypridd	6 December 1995	2	0	0	0	Youth team graduate
29	Luke James	CF	Amble	4 November 1994	1	0	0	0	On loan from Peterborough United
30	Rory Gaffney	CF	Tuam	23 October 1989	26	8	0	0	Cambridge United

Transfers

In

Date	Position	Player	Transferred from	Fee	Ref.
1 July 2016	CB	Peter Hartley	Plymouth Argyle	Free transfer	^[21]
1 July 2016	LM	Byron Moore	Port Vale	Free transfer	^[22]
13 January 2017	CB	Joe Partington	Eastleigh	Undisclosed	^[26]
26 January 2017	CB	Jonny Burn	Middlesbrough	Undisclosed	^[27]
2 February 2017	LB	Bob Harris	Sheffield United	Free transfer	^[28]

Loans in

Date	Position	Player	Loaned from	End date	Ref.
6 July 2016	CF	Luke James	Peterborough United	End of Season	^[23]
24 August 2016	GK	Kelle Roos	Derby County	10 January 2017 ^[a]	^[30]
25 August 2016	DF	Connor Roberts	Swansea City	2 January 2017	^[31]
31 August 2016	CM	Hiram Boateng	Crystal Palace	2 January 2017	^[32]
31 August 2016	CB	Jake Clarke-Salter	Chelsea	End of Season	^[33]
31 August 2016	CM	Charlie Colkett	Chelsea	2 January 2017 (Recalled)	^[33]
18 January 2017	GK	Joe Lumley	Queens Park Rangers	End of Season	^[34]
20 January 2017	CB	Ryan Sweeney	Stoke City	End of Season	^[35]

^ On 10 January 2017, Kelle Roos' was recalled back to Derby County.^[29]

Out

Date	Position	Player	Transferred to	Fee	Ref.
30 June 2016	CF	Rory Fallon	Truro City^[a]	Free transfer	^[3]
30 June 2016	DF	Tom Parkes	Leyton Orient	Free transfer	^[20]
30 June 2016	GK	Kieran Preston	Grantham Town F.C. ^[b]	Released	^[6]
31 January 2017	FW	Matty Taylor	Bristol City	Undisclosed	^[38]

^ Following Fallon's release on 12 May 2016, he later agreed to join Truro City on 9 June 2016.^[36]
^ Following Preston's release on 12 May 2016, he later agreed to join Grantham Town F.C. on 14 July 2017.^[37]

Loans out

Date	Position	Player	Loaned to	End date	Ref.
18 August 2016	RW	Jake Gosling	Cambridge United	2 January 2017	^[39]
31 August 2016	Striker	Jamie Lucas	Boreham Wood	28 January 2017	^[40]

Squad statistics

Source:^[41]^[42]

Numbers in parentheses denote appearances as substitute.

Players with squad numbers struck through and marked † left the club during the playing season.

Players with names in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Bristol Rovers.

Players listed with no appearances have been in the matchday squad but only as unused substitutes.

Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward


No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	League		FA Cup		EFL Cup		EFL Trophy		Total		Discipline
1	GK	ENG	Steve Mildenhall	4	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	6	0	0	0
2	DF	ENG	Daniel Leadbitter	28 (2)	0	1	0	2	0	3	0	34 (2)	0	3	1
3	DF	ENG	Lee Brown	41	0	3	1	2	0	2	0	48	1	5	0
4	DF	WAL	Tom Lockyer	46	0	3	0	2	0	0	0	51	0	8	0
5 †	DF	NIR	Mark McChrystal	3 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	5 (1)	0	3	0
6	DF	ENG	Peter Hartley	17 (1)	5	3	0	2	1	2	0	24 (1)	6	5	0
7	MF	ENG	Lee Mansell	4 (5)	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	5 (5)	0	4	0
8	MF	ENG	Ollie Clarke	30	4	2	0	2	0	0 (2)	0	34 (2)	4	9	0
9	FW	WAL	Ellis Harrison	25 (12)	8	1 (1)	0	2	1	0 (1)	0	28 (14)	9	8	0
10 †	FW	ENG	Matty Taylor	23 (4)	16	2	2	1 (1)	0	0 (2)	1	26 (7)	19	5	0
11	MF	GIB	Jake Gosling	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	MF	ENG	Chris Lines	40 (4)	3	2	0	2	1	0 (1)	0	44 (5)	4	6	0
15	DF	ENG	James Clarke	19 (3)	0	1	0	1	0	2	0	23 (3)	0	2	0
16 †	MF	IRL	Liam Lawrence	1 (3)	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2 (3)	0	0	0
16	DF	SCO	Bob Harris	4 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4 (1)	0	1	0
17	FW	WAL	Jermaine Easter	9 (12)	4	1	0	0 (1)	0	2	1	12 (13)	5	2	1
20	FW	WAL	Jamie Lucas	0 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	0	0
21	MF	COL	Cristian Montaño	12 (13)	1	1 (2)	0	0 (1)	0	2	0	15 (16)	1	1	0
22	MF	ENG	Byron Moore	12 (15)	2	1 (1)	0	0	0	1	0	14 (16)	2	2	0
23	MF	WAL	Billy Bodin	27 (9)	13	0 (2)	0	1 (1)	0	1 (1)	0	29 (13)	13	2	0
24	MF	ENG	Stuart Sinclair	37 (1)	1	3	0	2	0	2	0	44 (1)	1	7	1
25	GK	ENG	Will Puddy	7	0	0	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	7 (1)	0	0	0
27	MF	WAL	Ryan Broom	0 (5)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0 (5)	0	0	0
29	FW	ENG	Luke James *	10 (14)	0	1 (2)	0	1	0	2	0	14 (16)	0	1	0
30	FW	IRL	Rory Gaffney	22 (12)	6	2	3	0 (2)	0	3	0	27 (14)	9	5	0
31 †	DF	WAL	Connor Roberts *	2	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	5	0	1	0
31	GK	ENG	Joe Lumley *	19	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	19	0	1	0
33 †	GK	NED	Kelle Roos *	16 (1)	0	3	0	0	0	3	0	22 (1)	0	1	0
33	DF	IRL	Ryan Sweeney *	16	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	16	0	6	0
34 †	MF	ENG	Hiram Boateng *	9	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	12	0	1	0
34	DF	WAL	Joe Partington	4 (3)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4 (3)	0	0	0
35 †	MF	ENG	Charlie Colkett *	8 (7)	3	0	0	0	0	1 (1)	0	9 (8)	3	2	0
36	DF	ENG	Jake Clarke-Salter *	9 (3)	1	0 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	9 (4)	1	0	0
41	GK	ENG	Kieran Hodges	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Players not included in matchday squads
No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name
18	MF	ENG	Dominic Thomas
19	DF	ENG	Danny Greenslade
26 †	DF	ENG	Tyler Lyttle
28	MF	ENG	Jay Malpas
32	DF	ENG	Alfie Kilgour

Competitions

Won Drawn Lost Postponed

Pre-season friendlies

On 23 November 2015, Rovers first pre-season fixture was announced. As part of a week-long training camp in Spain, Rovers will play CE Sabadell with whom the club have a connection due to both playing in blue and white quartered shirts.^[43]^[44] Further fixtures were announced once the previous season had concluded, with Rovers due to play Salisbury,^[45] Bath City,^[46] Mangotsfield United,^[47] Weston-super-Mare^[48] and Exeter City,^[49] all away, and Cheltenham Town,^[50] Swansea City^[51] and Aston Villa^[52] at home.

8 July 2016 (2016-07-08)	Mangotsfield United	3–5	Bristol Rovers	Cossham Street
19:30 BST	Batten 3' Morgan 49' Bament 85'	Report	Gaffney 21' Montaño 41' Broom 58', 60' J. Clarke 89'	Referee: Savvas Yianni

9 July 2016 (2016-07-09)	Salisbury	0–3	Bristol Rovers	Raymond McEnhill Stadium
12:00 BST		Report	Harrison 18' (pen.) O. Clarke 37' Bodin 66'	Attendance: 865

12 July 2016 (2016-07-12)	Bath City	0–1	Bristol Rovers	Twerton Park
19:45 BST		Report	J. Clarke 69'	Attendance: 1,126 Referee: Savvas Yianni

13 July 2016 (2016-07-13)	Weston-super-Mare	1–3	Bristol Rovers	Woodspring Stadium
19:45 BST	Richards 39'	Report	Gaffney 10' Easter 20' (pen.) Lucas 49'	Attendance: 820 Referee: Savvas Yianni

16 July 2016 (2016-07-16)	Exeter City	2–0	Bristol Rovers	St James Park
15:00 BST	Harley 8' Watkins 37'	Report		Attendance: 1,247 (197) Referee: Lee Swabey

20 July 2016 (2016-07-20)	Bristol Rovers	1–1	Aston Villa	Memorial Stadium
19:45 BST	Taylor 78'	Report	Ayew 42'	Attendance: 5,219 (1,013) Referee: Simon Hooper

23 July 2016 (2016-07-23)	Bristol Rovers	1–5	Swansea City	Memorial Stadium
15:00 BST	James 50'	Report	Ayew 6' Fer 13' Kingsley 18' Naughton 45' Routledge 68'	Attendance: 4,365 (1,073) Referee: Lee Probert

26 July 2016 (2016-07-26)	CE Sabadell	3–0	Bristol Rovers	Estadi de la Nova Creu Alta
19:00 CEST	López 35' Chiekh 48' Yeray 89'	Report

31 July 2016 (2016-07-31)	Bristol Rovers	3–0	Cheltenham Town	Memorial Stadium
15:00 BST	Harrison 8' Lines 39' Taylor 53'	Report		Attendance: 1,607 (104) Referee: Simon Hooper

League One

On 22 June 2016, the EFL announced the fixtures for the forthcoming season. Rovers started the season away to Scunthorpe United on 6 August, followed by their first home fixture on 14 August^[53] against fellow promoted side Oxford United. The traditional Boxing Day fixture sees Rovers host Coventry City while the season will end with Millwall travelling to the Memorial Stadium.^[54]

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
8	Oxford United	46	20	9	17	65	52	+13	69
9	Rochdale	46	19	12	15	71	62	+9	69
10	Bristol Rovers	46	18	12	16	68	70	−2	66
11	Peterborough United	46	17	11	18	62	62	0	62
12	Milton Keynes Dons	46	16	13	17	60	58	+2	61

Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored

Results summary


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
44	18	11	15	63	62	+1	65	13	5	3	38	17	+21	5	6	12	25	45	−20

Last updated: 19 April 2017.
Source: ^[55]

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46
Ground	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H
Result	L	W	L	D	D	D	D	W	W	L	W	W	D	W	L	W	L	D	L	L	W	L	W	W	L	W	L	L	W	D	D	D	D	D	D	W	W	L	W	L	W	W	L	W	L	L
Position	21	12	17	18	19	19	21	15	9	10	7	8	10	5	8	5	5	8	10	13	11	12	10	10	10	8	10	10	8	9	10	10	10	11	11	8	8	8	8	9	8	8	9	8	10	10

Updated to match(es) played on 24 April 2017. Source: ^[56]
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

6 August 2016 (2016-08-06) 1	Scunthorpe United	3–1	Bristol Rovers	Scunthorpe
15:00 BST	van Veen 66' Morris 81' Clarke 87' Wootton 90+6'	Report	O. Clarke 11' Taylor 31' Lockyer 40'	Stadium: Glanford Park Attendance: 4,636 Referee: Ben Toner

14 August 2016 (2016-08-14) 2	Bristol Rovers	2–1	Oxford United	Horfield
15:00 BST	Lines 11' Easter 25' Gaffney 29' Taylor 70' J.Clarke 76' O.Clarke 78'	Report	Hemmings 42' Long 45+3' 67' Martin 56'	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 10,053 Referee: Charles Breakspear

17 August 2016 3	Bristol Rovers	1–2	Bolton Wanderers	Horfield
19:45 BST	Harrison 57'	Report	Vela 6' Spearing 26' 72' Trotter 56' Madine 75' Wilkinson 90+4'	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 9,169 (700)

20 August 2016 4	Southend United	1–1	Bristol Rovers	Southend-on-Sea
15:00 BST	McLaughlin 56' King 75' Cox 81' (pen.) 82'	Report	Clarke 48' Hartley 61' 85'	Stadium: Roots Hall Attendance: 6,084 (518)

10 September 2016 5	Bristol Rovers	2–2	Rochdale	Bristol
15:00 BST	Taylor 21', 49' Lines 56' Harrison 70'	Report	Camps 17' Henderson 22' Vincenti 42' Allen 47' Canavan 49' 72' McNulty 90+4'	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 8,057 (137)

13 September 2016 6	Bristol Rovers	1–1	Walsall	Bristol
19:45 BST	Taylor 27' (pen.) Sinclair 70'	Report	Oztumer 16' 33' Moussa 47'	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 7,805 (170)

17 September 2016 7	Bradford City	1–1	Bristol Rovers	Bradford
15:00 BST	Meredith 73'	Report	Colkett 86'	Stadium: Coral Windows Stadium Attendance: 17,499 (576)

20 September 2016 8	Swindon Town	1–2	Bristol Rovers	Swindon
19:45 BST	Jones 6' Yaser Kasim 43' Furlong 67' Thomas 70'	Report	Sinclair 31' Gaffney 43' Bodin 44' Brown 50' Taylor 83' (pen.) Raphael Branco 84' (o.g.) Lockyer 87' Harrison 90+2'	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 6,760 (414)

24 September 2016 9	Bristol Rovers	2–1	Port Vale	Bristol
15:00 BST	Harrison 44' Easter 63' (pen.) Sinclair 87'	Report	Paterson 23' 61' Thomas 41' Streete 60' Jones 65' Brown 90+5'	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 9,088 (436)

27 September 2016 10	Sheffield United	1–0	Bristol Rovers	Sheffield
19:45 BST	Coutts 37' Chapman 65' Lavery 90+3'	Report	Boateng 30' Easter 66' Leadbitter 90+2'	Stadium: Bramall Lane Attendance: 19,196 Referee: Chris Sarginson

1 October 2016 11	Northampton Town	2–3	Bristol Rovers	Northampton
15:00 BST	Revell 9', 76' 68' Zakuani 73' 90+1' O'Toole 81'	Report	Gaffney 60' Hartley 65' 71' Colkett 90+2' 90+3'	Stadium: Sixfields Stadium Attendance: 6,642 Referee: Graham Horwood

15 October 2016 12	Bristol Rovers	2–1	Gillingham	Bristol
15:00 BST	Taylor 35' Lines 42' 82' Harrison 90'	Report	Hessenthaler 29' Herd 31' Dack 55' Wright 62' 64' Nouble 88' Bond 89' Konchesky 90+2'	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 9,489 Referee: John Brooks

18 October 2016 13	Milton Keynes Dons	3–3	Bristol Rovers	Milton Keynes
19:45 BST	Bowditch 16' 31' Williams 24' Reeves 66' Upson 71' Lewington 73'	Report	Taylor 46', 87', 88' Harrison 57' Clarke 58'	Stadium: Stadium mk Attendance: 8,366 Referee: Darren Handley

22 October 2016 14	Oldham Athletic	0–2	Bristol Rovers	Oldham
15:00 BST	Flynn 57'	Report	Colkett 25' Gaffney 80' Clarke-Salter 87'	Stadium: Boundary Park Attendance: 4,394 Referee: Seb Stockbridge

29 October 2016 15	Bristol Rovers	1–2	Peterborough United	Bristol
15:00 BST	Taylor 57' (pen.)	Report	Coulthirst 62' 67' Bostwick 67' Nichols 90+2'	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 9,839 Referee: Mark Haywood

1 November 2016 16	Bristol Rovers	2–1	Fleetwood Town	Bristol
19:45 GMT	Lines 50' Taylor 61' Montaño 73'	Report	Hunter 4' 9' Bell 58'	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 10,088 Referee: Charles Breakspear

12 November 2016 17	Millwall	4–0	Bristol Rovers	Bermondsey, London
15:00 GMT	O'Brien 22' Williams 64' Gregory 68' Onyedinma 86' Smith 88'	Report	Leadbitter 14' Hartley 75'	Stadium: The Den Attendance: 9,645 Referee: Andrew Madley

19 November 2016 18	Bristol Rovers	0–0	Milton Keynes Dons	Bristol
15:00 GMT	Taylor 76'	Report	Baldock 49' Agard 90+2'	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 9,031 Referee: Nigel Miller

22 November 2016 19	Bristol Rovers	1–5	Charlton Athletic	Bristol
19:45 GMT	Taylor 90+3' (pen.)	Report	Lookman 26' Magennis 44' Bauer 50' 79' Chicksen 72' 77' Ajose 85' Phillips 90+3'	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 8,089 Referee: Simon Hooper

26 November 2016 20	Chesterfield	3–2	Bristol Rovers	Chesterfield
15:00 GMT	Dimaio 25' Evatt 28' Mitchell 31' O'Shea 37', 50'	Report	Hartley 3' Leadbitter 26' Lockyer 45+1' Lines 63' Bodin 76' Clarke 89'	Stadium: Proact Stadium Attendance: 6,330 Referee: Andy Haines

10 December 2016 21	Bristol Rovers	4–2	Bury	Bristol
15:00 GMT	Gaffney 32' Sinclair 41' Taylor 45+2' Clarke 67' Hartley 82'	Report	Burgess 25' Miller 75' Danns 88'	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 7,843 Referee: Rob Jones

17 December 2016 22	Shrewsbury Town	2–0	Bristol Rovers	Shrewsbury
15:00 GMT	Dodds 16' Brown 68' Black 73' (pen.) Waring 84'	Report	Hartley 51' Harrison 60'	Stadium: Greenhous Meadow Attendance: 6,139 Referee: Seb Stockbridge

26 December 2016 23	Bristol Rovers	4–1	Coventry City	Bristol
15:00 GMT	Hartley 18' Bodin 35' 54', 74', 83' (pen.) Clarke 58'	Report	Turnbull 18' Willis 57' Reid 72' Page 78'	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 11,200 Referee: Brendan Malone

31 December 2016 24	Bristol Rovers	2–0	AFC Wimbledon	Bristol
15:00 GMT	Montaño 42' Taylor 61', 70' Clarke 86'	Report	Reeves 23' Bulman 51'	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 10,093 Referee: Brett Huxtable

2 January 2017 25	Charlton Athletic	4–1	Bristol Rovers	Charlton, London
15:00 GMT	Fox 28' Magennis 41', 50', 73' Teixeira 61' Chicksen 75' Solly 81'	Report	Easter 12' Brown 32' Mansell 58' Moore 67'	Stadium: The Valley Attendance: 12,252 Referee: Darren Deadman

7 January 2017 26	Bristol Rovers	5–0	Northampton Town	Bristol
15:00 GMT	Bodin 7' Harrison 17', 21', 24', 54' McChrystal 45+1'	Report	Hoskins 67'	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 8,424 Referee: Gavin Ward

14 January 2017 27	Fleetwood Town	3–1	Bristol Rovers	Fleetwood
15:00 GMT	Hunter 13' 78' Bolger 23' Ball 82'	Report	Lockyer 45+1' Bodin 54' Lines 84' James 90+3'	Stadium: Highbury Stadium Attendance: 3,728 Referee: Darren England

21 January 2017 28	Walsall	3–1	Bristol Rovers	Walsall
15:00 GMT	O'Connell 45' Jackson 68' Edwards 73'	Report	Brown 22' Taylor 82'	Stadium: The Banks's Stadium Attendance: 6,029 Referee: Nigel Miller

28 January 2017 29	Bristol Rovers	1–0	Swindon Town	Bristol
12:30 GMT	Bodin 29' Sweeney 35'	Report	Thompson 57'	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 10,557 Referee: James Linington

4 February 2017 30	Rochdale	0–0	Bristol Rovers	Rochdale
15:00 GMT	McNulty 62' Camps 64'	Report	Lockyer 32'	Stadium: Spotland Stadium Attendance: 3,168 Referee: Mark Brown

11 February 2017 31	Bristol Rovers	1–1	Bradford City	Bristol
15:00 GMT	Lines 15' Sweeney 62'	Report	Law 26' 31'	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 9,043 Referee: Graham Salisbury

14 February 2017 32	Bristol Rovers	0–0	Sheffield United	Bristol
19:45 GMT		Report	Wright 69'	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 9,175 Referee: Kevin Johnson

18 February 2017 33	Port Vale	1–1	Bristol Rovers	Stoke-on-Trent
15:00 GMT	Harris 54' (o.g.) Knops 80' Pugh 90+1'	Report	Sweeney 41' Harris 42' Harrison 45+1' Bodin 78'	Stadium: Vale Park Attendance: 4,460 Referee: Dean Whitestone

25 February 2017 34	Bristol Rovers	1–1	Scunthorpe United	Bristol
15:00 GMT	Clarke 39'	Report	Sutton 10' Lockyer 73' (o.g.)	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 8,784 Referee: Darren Deadman

28 February 2017 35	Bolton Wanderers	1–1	Bristol Rovers	Bolton
20:00 GMT	Vela 7' 45+2' Long 65' 90' Osede 79'	Report	Bodin 75' Clarke 90+4'	Stadium: Macron Stadium Attendance: 13,383 Referee: Jeremy Simpson

4 March 2017 36	Oxford United	0–2	Bristol Rovers	Oxford
15:00 GMT	Dunkley 7' Ledson 59' Martínez 84'	Report	Clarke 16' 45+2' Sinclair 36' Brown 74' Lumley 85'	Stadium: Kassam Stadium Attendance: 9,862 Referee: Carl Boyeson

11 March 2017 37	Bristol Rovers	2–0	Southend United	Bristol
15:00 GMT	Bodin 1' Gaffney 31' Mansell 58'	Report	Atkinson 22' Cox 73' Demetriou 90+1'	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 9,274 Referee: Trevor Kettle

14 March 2017 38	Bury	3–0	Bristol Rovers	Bury
19:45 GMT	Tutte 14' Vaughan 50' (pen.) 66' Kay 53' Leigh 65' Miller 75' Barnett 75' Bryan 90' Murphy 90+5'	Report	Sinclair 24' 39' Gaffney 90+5'	Stadium: Gigg Lane Attendance: 2,535 Referee: Ben Toner

18 March 2017 39	Bristol Rovers	2–1	Chesterfield	Bristol
15:00 GMT	Clarke 1' Gaffney 18' Sweeney 82'	Report	Dennis 20' Nolan 67' Dimaio 69' Ebanks-Blake 85'	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 8,524 Referee: Darren Handley

25 March 2017 (2017-03-25) 40	Coventry City	1–0	Bristol Rovers	Coventry
15:00	Thomas 80' Bigirimana 90+5'	Report	Lockyer 37' Leadbitter 65'	Stadium: Ricoh Arena Attendance: 11,946 Referee: Graham Horwood

1 April 2017 41	Bristol Rovers	2–0	Shrewsbury Town	Bristol
15:00 BST	Bodin 54' (pen.), 83'	Report	Yates 22' 41'	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 9,498 Referee: Brett Huxtable

8 April 2017 42	AFC Wimbledon	0–1	Bristol Rovers	Kingston upon Thames, London
15:00 BST	Taylor 44'	Report	Bodin 1' Sweeney 90+2'	Stadium: Kingsmeadow Attendance: 4,742 Referee: Robert Jones

14 April 2017 43	Gillingham	3–1	Bristol Rovers	Gillingham
15:00 BST	Quigley 22' Wright 64' Oshilaja 73' McDonald 90', 90+6'	Report	Harrison 38' Mansell 48' Bodin 73' (pen.)	Stadium: Priestfield Stadium Attendance: 5,916 Referee: Mark Heywood

17 April 2017 44	Bristol Rovers	1–0	Oldham Athletic	Bristol
15:00 BST	Sinclair 63' Harrison 75'	Report		Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 9,083 Referee: Chris Sarginson

22 April 2017 45	Peterborough United	4–2	Bristol Rovers	Peterborough
15:00 BST	Lopes 13', 56' Maddison 30' Mackail-Smith 64' Chettle 68'	Report	Harrison 25' Sweeney 45+1' Lockyer 64' Gaffney 85', 90+2'	Stadium: London Road Stadium Attendance: 5,498 Referee: Richard Clark

30 April 2017 46	Bristol Rovers	3–4	Millwall	Bristol
12:00 BST	Easter 33' Lines 42' Bodin 74'	Report	Gregory 5', 35' Craig 20' 25' Hutchinson 85' Morison 90+4'	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 11,750 Referee: Darren Handley

FA Cup

5 November 2016 First round	Crawley Town	1–1	Bristol Rovers	Crawley
12:00 GMT	Blackman 19' 69' Smith 32' Clifford 35'	Report	Brown 15' Harrison 72'	Stadium: Checkatrade.com Stadium Attendance: 2,281 Referee: Darren Deadman

15 November 2016 First round replay	Bristol Rovers	4–2 (a.e.t.)	Crawley Town	Bristol
19:45 GMT	Taylor 34', 102' (pen.) Gaffney 52', 96'	Report	Roberts 45+1' Harrold 65' Garnett 80' Collins 114'	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 3,676 Referee: Ben Toner

4 December 2016 Second round	Bristol Rovers	1–2	Barrow	Bristol
14:00 GMT	Gaffney 10'	Report	Harrison 16', 61' Bennett 38' Yates 55'	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 4,570 Referee: Dean Whitestone

EFL Cup

On 22 June 2016, the first round draw for the EFL Cup was made. Rovers were drawn at home to Championship side Cardiff City, managed by former Rovers boss Paul Trollope.^[57] The game was later picked for live broadcast by Sky Sports.^[58] Rovers progressed to the second round thanks to a 115th-minute winner from Chris Lines^[59] to set up a trip to Premier League side Chelsea.^[60]

11 August 2016 (2016-08-11) First round	Bristol Rovers	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Cardiff City	Memorial Stadium
19:45 BST	Lockyer 90+1' Lines 115'	Report	Manga 100'	Attendance: 4,851 Referee: Chris Kavanagh

23 August 2016 (2016-08-23) Second round	Chelsea	3–2	Bristol Rovers	Stamford Bridge
19:45 BST	Batshuayi 29', 41' Moses 31' Pedro 48'	Report	Hartley 35' Harrison 48' (pen.) Easter 71' Taylor 86'	Attendance: 39,266

EFL Trophy

On 27 July 2016, the group stage draw for the EFL Trophy was made. Rovers were drawn in Southern Group A along with Reading Academy, Portsmouth and Yeovil Town.^[61]

Pos	Div	Team v t e	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	L2	Yeovil Town	3	2	0	1	0	6	3	+3	7	Advance to Round 2
2	ACA	Reading U21	3	1	1	0	1	5	6	−1	5	Advance to Round 2
3	L2	Portsmouth	3	1	0	1	1	6	6	0	4
4	L1	Bristol Rovers	3	0	1	0	2	2	4	−2	2

Source: Sky Sports

30 August 2016 (2016-08-30) Southern Group A	Bristol Rovers	2–3	Reading Academy	Memorial Stadium
19:45 BST	Taylor 60' Gaffney 73' Easter 74' 81' Roos 77' Lines 83' Mildenhall 90+4'		Stacey 33' Samuel 59' Watson 72' Sheppard 76' Mendes 84' (pen.)

4 October 2016 (2016-10-04) Southern Group A	Bristol Rovers	0–0 (5–3 p)	Yeovil Town	Memorial Stadium
19:45 BST	Clarke 88' Colkett 90+4'	Report	Lawless 63' Dawson 74' 74' Mugabi 90+4'	Attendance: 2,117 Referee: James Adcock
	Penalties
	James Bodin Taylor Colkett Montaño		Dickson Hedges McLeod Lawless

8 November 2016 Southern Group A	Portsmouth	1–0	Bristol Rovers	Portsmouth
19:45 GMT	Smith 6' Bennett 37' Davies 59' Naismith 88'	Report	Mansell 56' McChrystal 72'	Stadium: EN TR JP RU DE €4.95 / month Favourites List Audio Listining Color Mode Monthly New Updates Fullname * Email * Credit or debit card A PHP Error was encountered Severity: Notice Message: Undefined variable: userid Filename: user/popup_modal.php Line Number: 68 Backtrace: File: /var/www/wikizero/data/www/wikizero.com/application/views/user/popup_modal.php Line: 68 Function: _error_handler File: /var/www/wikizero/data/www/wikizero.com/application/views/page/index.php Line: 478 Function: view File: /var/www/wikizero/data/www/wikizero.com/application/controllers/Main.php Line: 107 Function: view File: /var/www/wikizero/data/www/wikizero.com/index.php Line: 315 Function: require_once "> €4.95 ~~€ 9.90~~ / 2016–17_Bristol_Rovers_F.C._season" id="cancelSubscription" name="cancelSubscription" class="mb-0"> A PHP Error was encountered Severity: Notice Message: Undefined variable: user_membership Filename: user/popup_modal.php Line Number: 192 Backtrace: File: /var/www/wikizero/data/www/wikizero.com/application/views/user/popup_modal.php Line: 192 Function: _error_handler File: /var/www/wikizero/data/www/wikizero.com/application/views/page/index.php Line: 478 Function: view File: /var/www/wikizero/data/www/wikizero.com/application/controllers/Main.php Line: 107 Function: view File: /var/www/wikizero/data/www/wikizero.com/index.php Line: 315 Function: require_once A PHP Error was encountered Severity: Warning Message: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() Filename: user/popup_modal.php Line Number: 192 Backtrace: File: /var/www/wikizero/data/www/wikizero.com/application/views/user/popup_modal.php Line: 192 Function: _error_handler File: /var/www/wikizero/data/www/wikizero.com/application/views/page/index.php Line: 478 Function: view File: /var/www/wikizero/data/www/wikizero.com/application/controllers/Main.php Line: 107 Function: view File: /var/www/wikizero/data/www/wikizero.com/index.php Line: 315 Function: require_once A PHP Error was encountered Severity: Notice Message: Undefined variable: userid Filename: user/popup_modal.php Line Number: 208 Backtrace: File: /var/www/wikizero/data/www/wikizero.com/application/views/user/popup_modal.php Line: 208 Function: _error_handler File: /var/www/wikizero/data/www/wikizero.com/application/views/page/index.php Line: 478 Function: view File: /var/www/wikizero/data/www/wikizero.com/application/controllers/Main.php Line: 107 Function: view File: /var/www/wikizero/data/www/wikizero.com/index.php Line: 315 Function: require_once "> Harry Potter Books A PHP Error was encountered Severity: Notice Message: Undefined variable: products Filename: user/popup_harry_book.php Line Number: 24 Backtrace: File: /var/www/wikizero/data/www/wikizero.com/application/views/user/popup_harry_book.php Line: 24 Function: _error_handler File: /var/www/wikizero/data/www/wikizero.com/application/views/page/index.php Line: 479 Function: view File: /var/www/wikizero/data/www/wikizero.com/application/controllers/Main.php Line: 107 Function: view File: /var/www/wikizero/data/www/wikizero.com/index.php Line: 315 Function: require_once A PHP Error was encountered Severity: Warning Message: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() Filename: user/popup_harry_book.php Line Number: 24 Backtrace: File: /var/www/wikizero/data/www/wikizero.com/application/views/user/popup_harry_book.php Line: 24 Function: _error_handler File: /var/www/wikizero/data/www/wikizero.com/application/views/page/index.php Line: 479 Function: view File: /var/www/wikizero/data/www/wikizero.com/application/controllers/Main.php Line: 107 Function: view File: /var/www/wikizero/data/www/wikizero.com/index.php Line: 315 Function: require_once

[30] On 10 January 2017, Kelle Roos' was recalled back to Derby County.^[29]

[38] Following Fallon's release on 12 May 2016, he later agreed to join Truro City on 9 June 2016.^[36]

[40] Following Preston's release on 12 May 2016, he later agreed to join Grantham Town F.C. on 14 July 2017.^[37]

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