A Season to Remember 1973/74

In the 1973/74 season, Bristol Rovers clinched promotion to the old ‘Second Division’ in one of the club’s most memorable campaigns. Thanks largely to the prolific goalscoring partnership between Bruce Bannister and Alan Warboys, dubbed ‘Smash and Grab’ by the national press, and a superb team spirit, manager Don Megson’s side went unbeaten for thirty-two games, setting a new club record. This is the story of that remarkable season, featuring many previously unpublished photographs, statistics and reports of every match. It also includes biographies of the full squad and interviews with all the players involved. Also included is a chapter on Rovers’ only major cup success, the Watney Cup victory in 1972, plus their two successful League Cup runs which led them to quarter-final glory in the early 1970s. Anyone who witnessed this exciting period in the club’s history will enjoy reliving some of the magic through the memories and images collected here, while all those fans who are too young to remember it for themselves can also gain some idea of just what made this season so special.