Bristol Rovers Football Club are an English professional football club, based in Bristol. They play their home matches at the Memorial Stadium, in the Horfield area of the city, and have played in League One since being promoted via the League Two playoffs at the end of the 2006–07 season.
The club was founded in 1883 as Black Arabs F.C., and was also known as Eastville Rovers and Bristol Eastville Rovers before finally changing its name to Bristol Rovers in 1898. They were admitted to the Football League in 1920 and have never dropped out of it since. The closest they came to going out of the league was in 1939, when they were re-elected after finishing bottom of Division Three (South), and in 2002 when the team finished just one league position away from relegation to the Football Conference. Their best ever finishes were in 1956 and 1959 when they finished in 6th place in Division Two, which was the second tier of English football at the time.
The club's official nickname is The Pirates, reflecting the maritime history of Bristol. The local nickname of the club is The Gas, from the gasworks next to Eastville Stadium, their former home. Their main rivals are Bristol City, and according to a survey conducted in December 2003, Cardiff City and Swindon Town are considered the second and third biggest rivals.

Sign up now for your free Bristol Rovers F.C email address and webspace!