Football Season Guide

Bristol Rovers suffered a traumatic and highly unexpected relegation on the last day of the season and will need some time to get over the shock as they adjust to life in the non-league. It will be the first time in over a century that the team will be playing outside of the Football League. No one really saw that disaster coming for one of the biggest clubs in League Two but a dreadful run of results in the final couple of months, along with a streak of rotten luck, eventually saw them finish below the line. Darrell Clarke was promoted from an assistant to a first-team manager for the final eight games of the last season, replacing John Ward, but failed to stop the rot and will be starting afresh in the new season. He is a promising young coach who secured promotion to the Conference Premier for Salisbury an year ago and has the right credentials to steer Rovers back to the good times. Getting straight back up is a big ask for any relegated team from the Football League as the Conference is a nightmare to adjust to and really competitive league. There will be something of a culture shock for the Pirates at first but at least it helps that they have a manager who knows this level of football well. There was an expected exodus of good players over the summer and Clarke has been forced to mould a new team out of nothing. He has brought in a couple of players from his former club in Jamie White and Stuart Sinclair while Jake Gosling and Lee Mansell are good additions to the squad too. Matty Taylor is expected to be the lead striker in the coming campaign and he has proven that he can score goals at this level. However, the impression remains that Rovers need quite a lot more in the squad to really challenge at the top end. For the most part, it will be a season of adaptation and a place in mid-table should be expected.