Yahoo Sports Season preview: Newly promoted Bristol Rovers prepare for the National League
Women’s football in England is undoubtedly still on the rise. From sell-out crowds last season, to guarantees of all home fixtures hosted at main stadiums. The Women’s Super League continues to enjoy a meteoric rise as the top tier of the FA’s Women’s Football Pyramid.
It is worth also casting an eye over the emerging successes in other leagues. Let’s have a look at Bristol Rovers in the National League Division One South.
Bristol Rovers on the up
One such example of a club being newly promoted is Bristol Rovers. For many fans of the women’s game, Bristol may be a city exclusively associated with former top flight club Bristol City. However, there is also movement on the other side of the city, over in BS7.
Bristol Rovers gear up for their first season playing in Division One South West of the FA’s Women’s National League. This will happen after being promoted from the South West Regional Women’s Football League’s Premier division.
To further the anticipation surrounding the 2024/25 season for the club, it has also been announced that the team will play their home games at Memorial Stadium. This is Bristol Rovers’ home ground this coming season.
Our @FAWNL fixtures are here! 📆
All home games are to be played at the Memorial Stadium 🙌
Which games are you most excited for, Gasheads? 🤩#UTG | #BristolRoversWFC pic.twitter.com/iIOBwO1HY9— Bristol Rovers WFC (@Official_BRWFC) July 15, 2024
Bristol Rovers 2024/25 season
Looking ahead to the club’s team for the upcoming season, they have retained many of their players. They were part of last season’s squad that helped them secure promotion, while also welcoming some exciting new signings.
One such signing is Daisy Ackerman. The forward brings experience from her time at Cheltenham Town and the Arsenal Academy to Bristol Rovers ahead of their first game of the 2024/25 season. They will face AFC Bournemouth, a strong side who finished second in the league in the 2023/24 season. Being interviewed on the Bristol Rovers’ official website, Ackerman said: “The team vision for further progression was impressive.”
This sentiment — that Bristol Rovers is a club with ambitious plans for the future and further progression — can undoubtedly be seen in their signings and their commitment to move the women’s side in line with the men’s, by playing home fixtures at Memorial Stadium.
While the opening match of the season, set to take place on the 18th August, will undoubtedly offer the newly promoted team a challenge, it is one to watch closely to see how the club’s ambitions will begin to take shape during their first season in the fourth tier of the English Football Pyramid.
