Steve Evans and another promotion? Bristol Rovers claim made for 2027 | OneFootball

Bristol Rovers are expected to challenge for automatic promotion next season under the management of Steve Evans.

Bristol Rovers didn’t have the season that they would have expected last summer but the Gas finished well and will be heading into this summer with a lot of optimism.

Following their relegation from League One last season, Bristol Rovers spent the first-half of this campaign looking as though they would be battling against relegation from League Two, once again.

However, following the mid-season appointment of former Rotherham United and Stevenage boss Steve Evans, Rovers pushed themselves clear and comfortably into the middle-of-the-table with some of the best form of anyone from January onwards.

On the final day of the campaign, they shared a 1-1 draw with a Notts County side that are now heading into the play-off final against Salford City – with that result extending their unbeaten run of form to nine matches and meaning that they suffered just one loss, against champions Bromley, in their final 14 games of the campaign.

Bristol Rovers will be expected to challenge under Steve Evans

That final two-and-a-half months of the campaign will give Bristol Rovers supporters immense confidence and belief that they can attack the fourth-tier next season.

Many will believe they, like last year, will be inserted as one of the frontrunners for automatic promotion and that is a view shared by FLW Fan Pundit Ziggy Carter.

Ziggy says: “I do believe that Steve Evans’ Bristol Rovers will be a genuine automatic promotion contender next season.

“I think the fans trust him with transfers, with everything on the pitch and I think that what he has done since coming in from January has been amazing to watch.

“The poor season from the start and in fact the past two years, I’d say, it’s been nice to see someone who can get us wins and the team look together again.

“A lot of his January signings the fans love. (Riley) Harbottle, Kofi Balmer, who we are hoping to get back on a permanent, the fans just completely trust him with the club.

“If you look at what he did to Stevenage. A similar situation down at the bottom end of League Two. He came in, took them up and now they have been in the play-offs in League One.

“We’ve got a bigger budget and a bigger fanbase than Stevenage so you’d hope he can take us further on because he’s got the finances that Stevenage don’t have.

“I do think that we should be up there for automatic promotion next season. I think it will be tough with some of the teams that have come up and are coming down. Some of them are in poor situations but some of them, especially the teams in the play-offs, especially the sides that got knocked out like Grimsby, for example, and Oldham will really push on next season so it will be tough but we should be up there in the automatic race.”

Steve Evans already has a good foundation at Bristol Rovers

Despite being considered to be a controversial figure by many, Steve Evans has been a stalwart of the managerial world in the EFL for around 20 years now.

From his famous time with Boston United and Crawley Town to topsy turvy stints with the likes of Leeds United, Mansfield Town, Peterborough United and Gillingham; Evans has seen it all.

Perhaps his two best pieces of work have come at Rotherham and Stevenage, leading the Millers from League Two to the Championship in successive seasons in the early-2010’s, before getting Stevenage from towards the bottom of the fourth-tier and up near the top of the third.

Unlike his more unsuccessful stints, like with Gills and Posh, the situation he found at the Memorial Stadium is more akin to that of Rotherham and Stevenage, with a disparate club majorly underperforming and ready to kick on once again.

The final few months of this season would be an indication that the Pirates are ready to set sail once more on a potential promotion voyage next season.