It looks like, at long last, the divisions at Bristol Rovers caused by the boardroom split of 2006 are now behind us.
The team is winning, at last, or at least not losing which is almost as good, and attention has finally shifted fully to what is happening on the pitch.
There are reasons to be cheerful, right?
I suppose it depends on who you listen to, and if it’s the chairman, Nick Higgs, your cup will be overflowing. The UWE Stadium is around the corner because Sainsburys have been backed into one, the team has forced its way into a position on the edge of the play offs and attendances have held up wonderfully well.
The unity has been achieved mainly by dragging things out. There were promises of a root and branch review at the club and the chairman promised to tell Kevin Spencer why he remained banned by the club. Of course, neither of these things happened but the club followed the simple maxim that if you want something to go away, then just hope it will and over time it probably will.
I think it’s disappointing that the club did not make an effort to review how and why Rovers ended up in the Conference because lessons need to be learned. But once the new season starts, people soon forget and get behind the team. That is, after all, what supporters are there for!
There were attempts to bring about change at the club with the formation of an independent supporters group and a more informal pub gathering. Both have tanked now with the former having been run by two brave supporters and the latter is now back sponsoring games.
It is easy blaming supporters’ apathy but it was ever thus. And it’s different at the Rovers anyway. A failed supporters club investment scheme, two failed attempts at trusts; god knows how many other types of alternative styles of governance have been put forward and the truth is none of them have worked or been accepted. And the one that did almost work saw £1m poured into the club by supporters for literally no return. People won’t get fooled again.
My feeling is that Gasheads are happy now. Many were attacking the chairman in the summer, but he has had the benefit of the doubt, despite his poor record in charge. The manager was getting slaughtered too after a few dodgy results but as those in the game knew, he was a great choice because he knew the Conference whereas no one else at the club did.
The home gates are astounding, and appear to exceed this season’s break even figure, and the away following is even more impressive. But then it always was. There have always been plenty of things wrong at the Rovers but the supporters was never one of them. (My only criticism is that many of them are not angry or ambitious enough and some even enjoy the Ragbag Rovers image, but maybe that’s just how we are!)
So, on the face of it, the losses must be well down on previous years and it’s quite possible Rovers may even be breaking even now. The team has really picked up and the chairman insisted the stadium is on track, whatever Sainsburys are saying.
Nick Higgs knows infinitely more than I do about building and construction (which is not saying much because I know nothing) so when both he and the financial director Toni Watola tell us that the deal to sell the Mem to Sainsburys is part of a cast iron agreement, despite their publicly stated intention (via Rovers) that they no longer wish to proceed with the project, how can we disagree or contradict?
And the UWE stadium really is shit or bust for Rovers because without it we are doomed.
I suppose the one worry is that Sainsburys employ the Rovers tactic when things are difficult; to drag things out in order for it to go away. I suspect that as one of the top companies in the land, they are not short of a bob or two when it comes to legal matters and whilst they will not welcome legal shenanigans with the Rovers, they won’t throw good money at a supermarket they no longer wish to build.
The chairman told us at a special Q&A that he did not care whether a chewing gum factory was built on the Mem site as long as Rovers got their money and I doubt whether anyone else would either (apart from the locals who don’t chew gum).
But if Sainsburys sit tight, arms metaphorically folded and gazing into the sky whistling contentedly, this could take a long time.
There was no desire at the top of the club to heel the wounds of division and by adopting the above policy over eight years, they have got their way.
I think it’s a shame because Rovers should never have tumbled into the Conference and they should never have run up huge debts (which will all need to be paid one day, even if they are mostly owed to the directors: they are not a charity).
The crowds are comparable to a mid to higher League One club and so they should be in a catchment area as big as this one.
The trick will be to build gates that will sustain the club in the Championship which to lower league (and non league) clubs is in reality the height of our ambitions these days.
Whether the club’s owners have really won any kind of battle is open to debate but they certainly have unqualified and unchallenged control of the club.
I certainly wish them good luck for the future because, UWE Stadium or no UWE Stadium, they are going to need it.
