Bristol Rovers League 1 2024/25 fixtures in focus

For many football fans, kick-off day is seen as Christmas as it essentially allows them to plan where they will be for the next nine months and is also the first major step towards the return of club football.

We’re still over a month away from the start of the 2024/25 League One campaign, but it’s now starting to feel that much closer as Bristol Rovers’ pre-season plans have been confirmed and now announced and the full league log.

For the more cynical fans, yes, you’re right, Rovers will play all 23 other teams once at home and once away between mid-August and early May. However, how they go down tends to be of interest to most game-going fans.

There are undoubtedly some interesting fixtures to watch with a number of divisional magistrates this year, particularly Birmingham City, who have not played outside the top two divisions for 30 seasons. Although, as we have often seen in League One, they could be shocked.

What Matt Taylor’s side look like in the first leg at home to Northampton Town is yet to be seen, but it is expected to be quite different with a summer full of recruitment. Where Rovers will place at the end of the campaign remains to be seen, but you can imagine that many, if not all, Gasheads would be happy with an improvement on last season’s 15th place, given the strength and competitiveness of the league this year. .

All things considered, here are some of the major talking points to take away from Gas’ schedule announcement, with curses set to end and early miles to be put on the clock…

Rovers are looking to finally end the EFL’s worst opening day record

As the EFL kindly pointed out in their own talk piece, Rovers have the worst opening day record in the Football League, going 12 games without a win, losing nine and drawing three.

They were just minutes away from breaking that hoodoo last season at eventual League One winners Portsmouth as Kusini Yengi’s added-time equalizer canceled out a Luke Thomas opener in what was a strong performance from Gas.

However, 13 years have passed since that 3-2 win at AFC Wimbledon on the opening day of the 2011/12 season. However, with Northampton Town at home as the opener, Rovers were given a decent chance on paper to put an end to it once and for all.

The Gas beat the Cobblers 2-1 in last season’s meeting at Mem under interim manager Andy Mangan and generally have a decent home record against them, winning four of their last five meetings in BS7 with the anomaly at equality.

However, there will always be a bit of spice with these fixtures, especially while Northampton boss Jon Brady remains in charge following the Cobblers manager’s comments regarding the end of the 2021/22 season as Rovers promoted strictly the team to promotion from the Second League.

Death, taxes and Charlton Athletic vs Bristol Rovers being under the lights

What is it about Rovers’ trips to the Valley that make them scheduled to be played in the dark? Not only on the move, but also at Mem.

This season, Rovers and Charlton will meet again in two evening games after facing each other under lights in both of their last term encounters. Furthermore, Gas’ journey in the Valley in the 2022/23 season darkened rather quickly, given that he went down in mid-December.

Having done the double against the Addicks in both seasons since Rovers’ return to League One, six consecutive wins seems quite a stretch, especially with Charlton now looking a much stronger threat under Nathan Jones.

However, a change from the previous two campaigns is that it will be Gas’ turn to host the former with the pair meeting at Mem on Tuesday, October 1, with the trip to south London set for Tuesday, January 26. that cold already.

Both 2-1 last-quarter wins were sealed with late winners from Luke McCormick and Chris Martin respectively, making them two of the most memorable games of the entire campaign. We will definitely get some more positive results against the Addicks this time.

A festive period we can all embrace

It was always going to be hard to beat last season’s festive period not only in terms of mileage but also results as Bristol Rovers beat eventual league winners Portsmouth with a last minute goal at home on Boxing Day before doing the same working with Charlton three days later. Rovers then had one of the shortest trips of the campaign on New Year’s Day to Wycombe, although the less said about that game the better.

This time, yes, the Gas will run more miles, but it could have been a lot worse, and for you party animals, New Year’s Eve can be at home this year.

A Boxing Day jaunt down the M5 to Exeter is something we can all get behind, with no ungodly hour alarms necessary, unless you’re particularly keen to keep the festivities going. Three days later, the trip to Stevenage is less favourable, although kicking off at 3pm as opposed to last season’s 7.45pm should make the trip much more enjoyable, speaking from experience.

Then, starting in 2025, with a New Year’s Day home game against Leyton Orient, it will give supporters more time to rest from the previous nights’ celebrations. What’s more, although you can never really tell at this stage, on paper the fixtures are relatively favorable for Rovers to pocket a few points in quick succession.

A number of departure days highly anticipated from the start

Pardon the lack of creativity with the caption above, but based on what supporters have been saying in the build-up to the games to be released, Bristol Rovers have a number of the most anticipated away days of the first half of the season.

As for the new boys, Rovers will play all three relegated sides from the Championship before Christmas, which could prove to be daunting or exciting. Rotherham United (August 17) is the first away trip of the campaign, with Huddersfield Town (October 19) and Birmingham City (December 14) to follow.

In addition, last season’s League Two winners Stockport County will be the Gas’ second away trip on August 24, with Mansfield Town also facing top-flight sides on November 23.

Wrexham was certainly one of the most anticipated away trips and the Gasheads will have to wait until Easter for that one, which falls on Good Friday (April 18), while the game at play-off winners Crawley Town on March 22 was not one. stand out especially after recent cup defeats at Broadfield Stadium.

Given the geography of League One clubs this year and Rovers being based in the South West, total mileage is always going to be high, but a decent amount of time will be spent on the road early this year with trips to Rotherham, Stockport, Barnsley, Peterborough, Burton and Huddersfield will all come before the end of October.

A particularly significant matchup

With League One expected to be the toughest for some time, it’s difficult to predict exactly where Bristol Rovers fall, especially given that their final squad is expected to look significantly different to now.

A 15th place finish with the players Rovers had at their disposal was a poor achievement but, as Matt Taylor rightly pointed out after that final day defeat at Wigan Athletic, the second season in League One can prove to be extremely difficult for clubs and indeed consolidation. was the most important.

Of course, it depends on who you ask, but given the caliber of several clubs in the third tier this year, you’d imagine the vast majority of Gashead’s would improve on 15th, with some suggesting they simply will be happy to avoid relegation. Meanwhile, while no fan you’d think expects a promotion, there’s always one or two wildcards who are there for a decent run of the campaign against the odds.

Regardless of their ambitions, in April, Gas’s matchup is tough. Whether it’s picking up points to stay in the division or stay in the chasing pack, or even achieving a commendable achievement such as a top-half finish, there are a number of tough games to be played over the course of the last month .

Starting with promotion favorites Birmingham City at home, who you’d imagine will be up there or thereabouts, looking to get over the line before a trip to play-off finalists Bolton Wanderers, who should to really be a championship team this season. on their efforts in the last campaign.

Home games against Exeter City (April 12) and Stevenage (April 21) will no doubt be targeted as their best final opportunities to pick up some wins as they face Reading at the Mem on April 26 will be, also a decent opportunity for points if the Gas can sort their form in BS7.

However, a trip to Wrexham on Good Friday is a bit of an unknown at present, with many expecting them to thrust themselves into the promotion conversation, but the Red Dragons could well be in for a shock to the system in terms of how tough it’s actually the league. Plus, who knows what to expect from Blackpool, who host Rovers on the final day of the season, but they’re still one of the division giants who, you’d imagine, will at least be in the play-off picture.