Heroes & Villains – Bristol Rovers
Hero – Rickie Lambert
The story of Rickie Lambert’s career is great. He plied his trade in the lower leagues of English after being rejected by Liverpool before Southampton came in for him and gave him the opportunity to perform in front of bigger crowds.
He was given the chance to play for England and scored the winner against Scotland at Wembley on his international debut. He then joined Liverpool after they came back for him all those years later.
His time at Bristol Rovers is remembered fondly by their fans. Lambert found the back of the net 51 times in 128 league games.
In his first season at the club, he scored the only goal of the game in the Football League Trophy Southern Area Final against bitter rivals Bristol City. He also scored the goal that sent Rovers to the Play Offs on the last day of the league season. They were eventually promoted through the play offs.
Lambert was the top goalscorer in the next campaign and the joint-top goalscorer in the season after that. He is still held in the highest regard by Rovers fans.
Villains – Bristol City
The hatred between these two clubs is very real. They might not be as big as Celtic and Rangers, Arsenal and Tottenham, Everton and Liverpool or other clubs, but this rivalry is bitter.
There were 50 arrests at the last meeting between the two clubs and three police officers were injured. Animosity might be a good word to describe the feeling between both clubs!
The Rovers fans probably dislike their City rivals all the more as City have the better record in matches between the two. Of the 232 matches played, City have been victorious 105 times to Rovers’ 65. 62 of the games have ended in draws.
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