Chippenham Town chairman hails Bristol Rovers relationship ahead of 'absolutely essential' clash

Bristol Live spoke to Chippenham Town chairman Neil Blackmore ahead of Bristol Rovers’ friendly with the Bluebirds on Friday

Daniel Hargraves Bristol Rovers reporter

16:30, 02 Jul 2025

Bristol Rovers will kick off their pre-season schedule at Chippenham Town on Friday evening(Image: Chris Vaughan – CameraSport via Getty Images)

You know that the start of a new football season is on the horizon once the pre-season friendly schedule gets underway and that will be the case for Bristol Rovers on Friday evening.

In recent years, the Gas have kicked off their preparations with a game at Melksham Town but this time around the Pirates will have an alternative opening opponent.

Rovers are maintaining the trend of facing a local non-league club away from home, but will instead play Chippenham Town, another outfit that has forged a strong relationship with the Gas down the years.

The Bluebirds finished 14th in the National League South last season and withhold ambitions of kicking on and progressing up the sixth-tier table with the play-off positions in sight this term, even if they are set to be in the same division as the likes of Dagenham & Redbridge and Torquay United this year.

Although some Gasheads may be more excited for an upcoming home fixture against last season’s Championship play-off semi-finalists Coventry City or will be waiting for the real stuff to start, the financial significance of hosting a local league club for Chippenham cannot be underestimated.

“A friendly against a league club like Rovers is absolutely essential, really,” Bluebirds chairman Neil Blackmore told Bristol Live. “We’re hoping for a good crowd. It will give the opportunity to both Rovers and Chippenham fans for them to see their new teams.

“For Chippenham, if we hopefully get a good crowd in, it would give the club a really good financial boost to start the season with, which would be fantastic.

“For me, just getting numbers in and people through the gates…I know I’m biased but Chippenham Town is a fantastic club. It’s a great family club and I know that once people come in and they see what it’s like they’ll enjoy it so if I can get a few Chippenham fans or a few football fans who aren’t necessarily Chippenham fans but are Chippenham people to come in because it’s Rovers, and they’ll like it and they’ll come back again for some Chippenham league games.”

A significant number of Gasheads are expected at the Thornbury Surfacing Stadium, not just to support their team and get a glimpse of their new players, but Friday night will also be their first chance to see Darrell Clarke back as Rovers head coach for the first time in nearly seven years.

The Gas legend, who led the Pirates to back-to-back promotions from the Conference to League One before consolidating their place in the their tier in his first spell, returned to the club in May just days after the season had concluded.

Darrell Clarke pictured during his first spell as Bristol Rovers head coach(Image: Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

Rovers, of course, will be playing in League Two this term following their relegation but the return of Clarke immediately lifted the mood as the Pirates target a memorable campaign that will end with promotion.

Chippenham are set to benefit from Clarke’s return too with ticket sales going very well, although the fixture is not yet a sell-out.

“It’s fallen quite well for us in that respect,” Blackmore confessed. “It would be good to get as many fans, Chippenham and Rovers, in as we can, and I think we’re positioned quite well. There are a lot of Rovers fans who live between Chippenham and this side of Bristol so hopefully we can capture them.

“The same applies to those guys really. If they like the club and think, well on days when perhaps Rovers aren’t playing or are away from home, if they’re looking for a game of football then maybe they would like to come back to Chippenham.”

On the Chippenham side of things, there is another amiable storyline in the sense that it will be a return home for Rovers defender Dan Ellison, who joined the Gas from the Bluebirds last summer.

Although Ellison has not yet made his competitive debut for the Pirates, he did impress on loan in the National League last season with Aldershot Town, scoring at Wembley as the Shots claimed the FA Trophy title.

Dan Ellison celebrates scoring for Aldershot Town in the FA Trophy final last season(Image: Tom West/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The 20-year-old centre-back is one to watch for Rovers fans this pre-season and is expected to be involved on Friday night which will see him return to the club where he came through as a youngster before getting his first taste of first-team football.

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“Really good,” Blackmore said on Ellison’s journey so far. “He’s a really nice lad. He came through our academy systems so it’s a really good story for the club and just shows other youngsters that there is a pathway at Chippenham to come through our system and get yourself into league football, which is every schoolboy’s dream and girls’ dream nowadays.

“So yeah, it’s fantastic for Dan and the club. I’m really pleased.

“We’ve always had a really good relationship with Rovers,” the Chippenham chairman added. “Obviously we sold Dan last year and we’ve had players on loan. So yeah, really, really good. I’m just pleased that we’ve been able to further that now with a first-team friendly.”

Tickets are still available for the fixture but fans are encouraged to purchase their tickets online ahead of the game on Chippenham Town’s official website.

A significant crowd is anticipated so those planning to attend are also encouraged to arrive at the stadium with plenty of time to spare ahead of the 7:30pm kick-off.

Following their clash with Chippenham, Rovers are due to jet out to Spain next week and will take on League One side Stockport County in a friendly clash on July 12 in Murcia.

They will also face Bath City, Yeovil Town, Coventry City and Oxford United during their pre-season schedule before kicking of the League Two season at home to Harrogate Town.

Chippenham Town chairman hails Bristol Rovers relationship ahead of ‘absolutely essential’ clash

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