A New Year’s Day Record

Following our game against MK Dons on New Year’s Day, Rovers Historian Stephen Byrne has come up with this interesting statistic.

“When Jordi van Stappershoef went on for Anssi Jaakkola (after sustaining a dislocated shoulder) in the 12th minute, I think we saw the earliest goalkeeping substitution in a League match involving Rovers.

Anssi Jaakkola  [Photo courtesy of Keith Brookman]

The previous fastest appears to have been on 5th  November 2011 when Accrington Stanley’s Ian Dunbavin was injured after 13 mins 18 secs in a collision with Scott McGleish and replaced by Sean Murdoch

In the Football League Trophy tie against Portsmouth at Fratton Park on 8th November 2016, Kelle Roos went off after 2 mins 8 seconds and his replacement, Will Puddy, saved a penalty from Michael Smith after seven minutes.”

As an aside, the FLT match above earned Rovers a £3,000 fine as that rapid (and utterly fake) substitution was deemed to be a blatant attempt to circumvent the ludicrous and complex rules of the day in regards to what players you had to play in that tournament.  Pompey were hit with a £15,000 fine for three offences, and our match drew the worst post-war attendance ever at Fratton Park. Some of the debate can be found HERE.