07:49, 15 Aug 2025Updated 07:56, 15 Aug 2025<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_GettyImages-1697452622.jpg\")
New Bristol Rovers loanee Kacper Lopata pictured in action for Barnsley(Image: Pete Norton\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Darrell Clarke has called new Bristol Rovers defender Kacper \u0141opata “aggressive and dominant” after the two reunited following a spell working together at Barnsley.<\/p>\n
The six-foot-four centre-back has joined Rovers on a season-long loan from the Tykes, becoming the club’s 10th signing of the summer.<\/p>\n
Although born in Krak\u00f3w, the 23-year-old, who turns 24 later this month, lived in Bristol as a youngster and attended SGS College in Filton.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Darrell Clarke shares latest on transfers as Bristol Rovers close in on addition number 10<\/a>READ MORE: Bristol Rovers to support local non-league club after vandals drove onto pitch at home ground<\/a><\/p>\n He adds extra depth and quality to the defensive ranks, which took a significant blow last week when Connor Taylor’s departure for Wycombe Wanderers was confirmed.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are pleased to welcome Kacper to Bristol Rovers<\/a>,\u201d Clarke said to club media. \u201cWe have been looking to bring in reinforcements to our defensive options and he brings a strong profile to our group.<\/p>\n \u201cI worked with Kacper at Barnsley and I know about his strengths, ability and what he can bring to the team. He is an aggressive and dominant centre-back that we are looking forward to working with in the coming months.\u201d<\/p>\n Director of football Ricky Martin added: \u201cKacper is an imposing and powerful centre-back who is passionate about the role of a defender in the team.<\/p>\n Bristol Rovers are preparing for a new season in League Two with Darrell Clarke back at the helm and you won’t miss a beat with our free newsletter.<\/p>\n All the latest news, views, interviews, gossip and analysis concerning the Gas, delivered straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n It’s completely free and you can sign up HERE<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWhile only 23 years old, Kacper already has a good number of appearances in the EFL and SPL, and an understanding of the demands of football at this level. We are looking forward to working with him and furthering his development both on and off the pitch while he is with us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u0141opata featured in two cup matches for Barnsley under Clarke last season before heading out to Scotland to play for Ross County on loan in the Premiership. During that spell, the defender made 31 appearances across all competitions.<\/p>\n The campaign prior, the 23-year-old played 19 times in League One for both Barnsley and Port Vale on loan. He featured in both of the Reds’ league matches against Rovers, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1-1 draw at the Mem in August 2023.<\/p>\n \u0141opata had joined the South Yorkshire outfit in the summer of 2023 from National League side Woking, having also played for Southend United on a permanent basis.<\/p>\n Earlier in the defender’s career, he had spells in the youth systems of Bristol City<\/a>, Brighton and Hove Albion and Sheffield United before going on to make two senior appearances for the Blades as well as having a loan spell back in Poland with Zaglebie Sosnowiec.<\/p>\n Join Bristol Rovers Live’s Whatsapp community for all the biggest Bristol Rovers stories sent straight to your phone<\/strong><\/p>\n Bristol Rovers Live<\/a> is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community.<\/p>\n Through the app, we\u2019ll send the Bristol Rovers news, live match coverage, team news, transfers, fixtures, analysis and more straight to your phone.<\/p>\n To join our community you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select \u2018Join Community\u2019.<\/a><\/p>\n No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Bristol Live<\/a> team.<\/p>\n We also treat community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you don\u2019t like our community, you can check out at any time you like.<\/p>\n To leave our community, click on the name at the top of your screen and choose \u2018Exit group\u2019.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.<\/a><\/p>\n Click here to join our WhatsApp community.<\/a><\/p>\n The centre-back arrives as one of four additional signings Clarke stated he would like last week before the window closes, detailing that they would ideally come in the form of two central defenders and two midfielders.<\/p>\n Following Taylor’s departure, Rovers only had four recognised centre-backs in the form of Alfie Kilgour, Taylor Moore, Clinton Mola and 20-year-old Dan Ellison who is yet to make his competitive debut for the Gas having joined from Chippenham Town last summer.<\/p>\n \u0141opata is understood to be eligible to be involved in Saturday’s League Two trip to Chesterfield.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Chesterfield receive mixed midfield injury update days before Bristol Rovers visit<\/a>READ MORE: ‘Let’s hope so’ – Darrell Clarke shares transfer hint as Bristol Rovers target fresh additions<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bristol Rovers have signed 23-year-old centre-back Kacper \u0141opata on a season-long loan from Barnsley Daniel Hargraves Bristol Rovers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":346210,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,2707,748,46615,393,10300,4884,197,10299,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-346209","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-bristol-rovers-fc","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-darrell-clarke","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-filton","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-sky","16":"tag-south-gloucestershire","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115032144491086040","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/20250513_DCSigns_WC063-copy.jpg\")
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