History of Bristol Rovers F.C. - The 2010s

The 2010s

Rovers' poor form continued into the 2010-11 season, and they were in the relegation zone from the first weeks of the campaign. Paul Trollope resigned near the end of 2010, and a few weeks later was replaced by Dave Penney. Under the new manager Rovers proceeded to lose 9 of the next 13 games, and Penney's tenure as manager was brought to an end after barely two months, with the club bottom of the table and looking completely doomed. Stuart Campbell took over as caretaker manager for the rest of the season, and despite steering the side to a creditable 16 points from 12 games, Campbell was unable to prevent relegation, the club's horrid mid-season run ultimately proving too much to recover from.

While Campbell was favourite to be installed as full-time manager, the board instead chose to appoint Paul Buckle, manager of that season's losing League Two play-off finalists, Torquay United. Buckle failed to repeat the success he had brought to Torquay, and only exacerbated the situation by selling a number of fan favourite players, leading to his dismissal in January 2012 with the club in the lower reaches of League Two. He was replaced by Mark McGhee, who improved the club's fortunes and steered them to safety and a 13th place finish.

McGhee heavily invested in the squad in the post-season, and Rovers were considered among the favourites for promotion to League One. However, the club made a dire start, and were near the bottom of the table from the earliest weeks of the season. By December 2012 it was clear that Rovers were in perhaps the biggest danger of dropping out of the Football League they had ever been, which resulted in McGhee being sacked and former manager John Ward returning to the club.