Bristol Rovers F.C. Player of the Year

The Bristol Rovers Player of the Year award has been presented annually to the player voted the best in the preceding season by the fans of Bristol Rovers Football Club. The winning player has been awarded a trophy by the Bristol Rovers Supporters club every year since 1983,^[1] and in 2018 the Football Club also began naming their own player of the year at an end-of-season awards dinner.^[2]

Bristol Rovers Supporters' Club player of the year

The first trophy was presented in 1983, but due to there being little space to engrave the names of any more winners the supporters' club commissioned a new trophy in 2018,^[3] which was named the Geoff Dunford Memorial Trophy in honour of the former football club chairman who had died the previous year.^[4]

Season	Player	Nation	Position	Age	Notes	Refs
1982–83	Aidan McCaffery	England	Defender	24
1983–84	Brian Williams	England	Midfielder	27
1984–85	Tim Parkin	England	Defender	26
1985–86	Tim Parkin	England	Defender	27	First multiple winner
1986–87	Geoff Twentyman	England	Defender	27
1987–88	Gary Penrice	England	Forward	23
1988–89	Nigel Martyn	England	Goalkeeper	21	Youngest ever winner
1989–90	Ian Holloway	England	Midfielder	26
1990–91	Carl Saunders	England	Forward	25
1991–92	Carl Saunders	England	Forward	26
1992–93	Gary Waddock	Republic of Ireland	Midfielder	30
1993–94	Worrell Sterling	England	Midfielder	28
1994–95	Andy Tillson	England	Defender	28
1995–96	Marcus Stewart	England	Forward	22
1996–97	Andy Collett	England	Goalkeeper	22
1997–98	Barry Hayles	Jamaica	Forward	25
1998–99	Trevor Challis	England	Defender	22
1999–2000	Andy Thomson	England	Defender	25
2000–01	Steve Foster	England	Defender	25
2001–02	Scott Howie	Scotland	Goalkeeper	29	First non-English-born winner
2002–03	Vitālijs Astafjevs	Latvia	Midfielder	31	First non-UK-born winner
2003–04	Kevin Miller	England	Goalkeeper	34	Oldest ever winner
2004–05	James Hunt	England	Midfielder	27
2005–06	Richard Walker	England	Forward	27
2006–07	Steve Phillips	England	Goalkeeper	28
2007–08	Stuart Campbell	Scotland	Midfielder	29
2008–09	Rickie Lambert	England	Forward	25
2009–10	Stuart Campbell	Scotland	Midfielder	31
2010–11	Stuart Campbell	Scotland	Midfielder	32	First three-time winner
2011–12	Danny Woodards	England	Defender	27
2012–13	Michael Smith	Northern Ireland	Defender	23
2013–14	Michael Smith	Northern Ireland	Defender	24
2014–15	Tom Parkes	England	Defender	22
2015–16	Matty Taylor	England	Forward	25
2016–17	Ollie Clarke	England	Midfielder	24		^[5]
2017–18	Ellis Harrison	Wales	Forward	23		^[6]
2018–19	James Clarke	England	Defender	28		^[7]

Notes:

• Footballing nationality is defined as the national team the player has represented at senior or youth level, or the player's country of birth where they have never played for a national team.
• Age shown is the players age at the beginning of the season during which they won the player of the year award.
• All winners from 1983 to 2018 are from Byrne & Jay (2018).^[1]

Players who have won more than once

Four players have won the award on more than one occasion. The record for most wins belongs to Stuart Campbell, who was player of the year in 2008, 2010 and 2011, while three other players have won the award twice.

Player	Nationality	Number of wins
Stuart Campbell	Scotland	3
Tim Parkin	England	2
Carl Saunders	England	2
Michael Smith	Northern Ireland	2

Number of wins by nationality

Nation	Number of wins
England	28
Scotland	4
Northern Ireland	2
Jamaica   Latvia   Republic of Ireland   Wales	1

Number of wins by position

Position	Number of wins
Goalkeeper	6
Defender	13
Midfielder	10
Forward	9

Bristol Rovers Football Club Player of the Year

Bristol Rovers Football Club held their inaugural end of season awards dinner in 2018, where they presented their own player of the year award. This went to midfielder Liam Sercombe.

Season	Player	Nation	Position	Age	Notes	Refs
2017–18	Liam Sercombe	England	Midfielder	27		^[8]
2018–19	Ollie Clarke	England	Midfielder	26		^[9]
2019–20	Not awarded
2020–21
2021–22	James Belshaw	England	Goalkeeper	30		^[10]
2022–23	Aaron Collins	Wales	Forward	25	Also League One Player of the Year and Club's Golden Boot winner	^[11]

Comparison of Supporters' Club and Football Club winners

Season	Supporters' Club winner	Football Club winner
2017–18	Ellis Harrison	Liam Sercombe
2018–19	James Clarke	Ollie Clarke
2021–22		James Belshaw
2022–23		Aaron Collins

References

1. Byrne & Jay (2018), p. 323
2. "End of Season Awards". Bristol Rovers Football Club. 19 April 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
3. "Player of the Year awards". Bristol Rovers Supporters Club. 14 April 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
4. "Ex-Bristol Rovers chairman Geoff Dunford dies at the age of 66". BBC News. 21 October 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
5. Vittles, Jack (16 May 2017). "YOUR Bristol Rovers player of the year revealed". Bristol Post. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
6. "Presentation Evening". Bristol Rovers Supporters Club. 29 April 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
7. "Supporters Club". The Pirate. Vol. 2019/20, no. 3. Bristol Rovers Football Club. 10 August 2019. p. 48.
8. Taylor, Laurence (26 April 2018). "Liam Sercombe on Ellis Harrison being a 20-goal striker, being Bristol Rovers player of the year and next season's target". Bristol Post. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
9. Evely, John (10 April 2019). "Bristol Rovers 2019 awards RECAP: updates from the end of season event". BristolLive. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
10. "Oh What a Night!". www.bristolrovers.co.uk. 13 May 2022.
11. "End of Season Awards 2022/23". www.bristolrovers.co.uk. 9 May 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.

Bibliography

• Byrne, Stephen; Jay, Mike (2018). Bristol Rovers Players' Who's Who. Bristol: Mike Jay.