Ian Haddrell – författare

Harold Jarman is a Bristol-born sporting legend. A highly talented winger for Bristol Rovers, he made almost 500 League appearances for the club, scoring over a century of goals. Although he has taken on many different roles for clubs in the UK and the United States, his heart has always belonged to Bristol – he returned initially as youth team manager, then caretaker manager (saving the Rovers from relegation) before coaching and managing the youth and reserve teams During the summer months between 1961 and 1972, Harold also enjoyed playing professionally for Gloucestershire County Cricket club, delighting crowds with his skill and particularly his astute fielding. In this book, Mike Jay and Ian Haddrell explore a remarkable life, accompanied by fascinating pictures, many unpublished from Harold’s own collection.

In the 1989/90 season, Bristol Rovers clinched promotion to the old ‘Second Division’, thanks largely to the tremendous team spirit of a side exiled in Bath, away from its traditional Bristol home. The ‘Ragbag Rovers’, as they became known, set an outstanding club record, remaining undefeated in 41 matches throughout the season, the highlight of which was a 3-0 victory against local rivals Bristol City in the penultimate game of the season. This remarkable time is remembered with many previously unpublished photographs, statistics and reports from every match, interviews with the players involved, plus a feature on the club’s first ever visit to Wembley Stadium for the Leyland Daf Cup Final. Anyone who was there will relish in reliving some of the magic through the memories and illustrations collected here, while those who are too young to recall it themselves can discover the thrill and anticipation that made it a season to remember.

In 1897 Herbert William Rudge founded Dings Crusaders Rugby Club as a part of the Dings’ Club, one of the activities of the Shaftesbury Crusade, a Christian and social mission founded in the 1880s in the Dings, a notorious area of poverty and degradation in the St Philip’s area of Bristol. This book tells the story of how the rugby club grew from humble beginnings to competing in the fourth tier of English rugby. The club’s move to Lockleaze in 1948 established close links with the local community and schools, and the publication of this history coincides with Dings Crusaders’ move to a new home, Shaftesbury Park, heralding an exciting new chapter in the club’s story.