Bristol Rovers Football Club
The game that made history
The stage was set for one of the most dramatic games to ever be played at the Memorial Stadium.
And it didn't disappoint:
Bristol Rovers were 45 games into the season and everything came down to the last day. Northampton Town were in third place, the last of the automatic promotion places.
What was to happen over the next 90 minutes would be written in both clubs' histories for different reasons.
Bristol Rover vs Scunthorpe United
Saturday 7th May 2022 will live long in the memory of every Bristol Rovers fan as they bounced back to Sky Bet League One at the first attempt.
It came only 2 weeks after Forest Green Rovers had confirmed their own promotion at the Memorial Stadium with a 0-0 draw being enough to get the Nailsworth club into the third tier of the English football pyramid for the first time in their history.
Many Bristol Rovers fans thought that this was an opportunity missed as others had leapfrogged them into better positions in the league.
Bristol Rovers pulled off a remarkable 7-0 win over Scunthorpe to seal promotion back to League One at the first time of asking.
Rovers made three attacking changes to their line-up for the final home game of the season. In came Trevor Clarke, Luke Thomas and Glenn Whelan as the Gas looked to take the game to already-relegated Scunthorpe.
The changes were a surprise for most of the Rovers faithful as they had pulled off a 4-3 victory away to Rochdale the week before, only scoring the winning goal in the 95th minute, Aaron Collins smashed the ball into the empty net for his hat-trick to send the travelling Gasheads into ecstasy.
Rovers were playing some lovely football and Aaron Collins made it 3-0 in the 52nd minute, firing low beyond Watson into the bottom corner.
The clincher
Then came the moment that mattered in the 85th minute as Elliot Anderson rose high at the back post to head home to send Rovers fans into delirium.
Elliot Anderson
Elliot Anderson
The celebrations for the goal caused supporters to run onto the pitch, meaning referee Breakspear took both teams off the pitch, threatening to abandon the match.
Bristol Rovers Owner Wael al-Qadi followed by Joey Barton took to the microphone to plead with supporters. Everyone wanted the game to finish because, as it stood, the Gas were going straight up.
Whilst the game was looking to be restarted, the final whistle had gone for Northampton Town who were now waiting for the outcome of the Rovers game.
After ten minutes off the field, the players returned to finish the game. Scunthorpe knew that one goal would make a big difference in the promotion race but Rovers held on.
The scenes at the final whistle were pure jubilation with the players and staff being mobbed by supporters to have pictures with the victorious players.
Bristol Rovers
Promoted back to Sky Bet League One
7th May 2022
Built with Shorthand