"Really sad" - Tony Pulis makes Bristol Rovers ownership claim amid Bristol City comparison | OneFootball

Tony Pulis has shared his reaction to his former club Bristol Rovers' relegation to League Two.

Former Bristol Rovers defender Tony Pulis believes that the club could one day rival neighbours Bristol City under the right ownership.

After a positive start to life under new head coach Inigo Calderon, Bristol Rovers sat nine points clear of the relegation zone in mid-March, and they looked well on course to secure another season of League One football.

However, a horror run of form that saw the Gas pick up just one point from their final 10 games of the season saw them dragged back into danger, and they were relegated to League Two with one game to spare.

Calderon had indicated a desire to remain in charge at the Memorial Stadium despite relegation, but the Spaniard was sacked less than 24 hours after the final game of the season, and the board moved quickly to bring former manager Darrell Clarke, who previously led Rovers to back-to-back promotions from the National League to League One, back to the club as his replacement.

In addition to the return of Clarke, the Gas have also appointed Ricky Martin as their new Director of Football, but the pair will have plenty of work to do this summer to rebuild the squad and repair the relationship between the club and a fan base that have become increasingly frustrated with chairman Hussain AlSaeed and the rest of the hierarchy in recent months.

Tony Pulis makes bold Bristol Rovers, Bristol City claim

While Bristol Rovers suffered the heartbreak of relegation to League Two this season, the contrast with their bitter rivals Bristol City could not have been greater, with the Robins making the Championship play-offs for the first time since 2008.

Speaking to OLBG, former Rovers player and City manager Pulis claimed that the Gas could potentially become a force again if they had an owner like Robins chief Steve Lansdown, who has now been involved at Ashton Gate for 28 years.

"I've spoken to people about Bristol Rovers. Bristol Rovers is one of those clubs that if someone got hold of it and really, really did it the right way, it could be a fantastic football club," Pulis said.

"Steve Lansdown has done an unbelievable job at Bristol City. But if you spin the coin and you got someone to go in at Bristol Rovers who understood what was necessary to push the club on, you'd get really, really big crowds there.

"Obviously it's a great city to live in, it's a great area to be in. Again, they bounced back and forth from the third division to the second division and it was really sad to see them go down.

"I spent a lot of time in Bristol as a young kid and all. I've still got lots of friends there and most of them are on the Rovers side, not the City side."

Darrell Clarke appointment is the perfect first step in Bristol Rovers rebuild

Of course, it is always a risk going back to a former club, but Bristol Rovers' decision to re-appoint Clarke will bring some much-needed positivity back to the Memorial Stadium.

Given that they looked to be in a position of certain safety in March, it is difficult not to feel that the Gas' relegation to League Two was completely avoidable, but it is a reflection of how poorly the club has been run since AlSaeed's takeover in 2023.

After the arrivals of Clarke and Martin, Rovers do now at least have experienced football people in place in key positions, but with big question marks still hanging over the board, AlSaeed has lots of work to do to convince supporters he is the right man to take the club forward.