BRFC Matchday programme articles on former players

"Introducing the former players – #3 – Kevin Westaway"

At the Southend United game we were joined by former player Kevin Westaway, pictured here with Zoe Young Kirkby, of the Bristol Rovers Disabled Supporters Association, who made sure Kevin and his carer were comfortable at the bitterly cold match.



Kevin joined Rovers as an apprentice in July 1979 and became a professional on his 18th birthday in November 1980. Kevin was a tough-tackling full-back in the days when full-backs were allowed to be normal sized (5’ 9”), and he was also a member of the England Youth ‘shadow’ squad.

After 23 matches at full-back for Rovers reserves during the 1980-81 season Kevin made his debut for the first team in April 1981at the penultimate game of the season, a 3-1 defeat at Wrexham.

His second, and final, appearance was at Turf Moor in February 1982, where Rovers were not uncommonly beaten 4-0 – we’ve still only ever won one League game at Burnley and that day certainly wasn’t it!

After leaving Rovers at the end of that season Kevin played locally for several local clubs, including Clevedon Town, St. Joseph’s and Cadbury Heath.

Sadly Kevin’s football career was ended in the late 1980’s by serious head injuries sustained in a road accident in Germany. He was helped with rehabilitation by the charity ‘Headway’ at Frenchay Hospital and was visited by Rovers physio Roy Dolling who monitored his progress. Kevin currently lives with the support of the charity Leonard Cheshire Disability.

Kevin was also one of a long line of Pirates that came out of the club now known as Oldland Abbotonians, which was formed in 1998 by the merger of Oldland and Abbotonians.

Abbotonians rose to heady heights under the leadership of Alan Bush in the 1980’s with the help of former Rovers player Jeff Meacham, and Rovers favourites Graham Day, Peter Aitken and Phil Bater. Youngsters who left Abbots to play for Rovers included Stuart Taylor, Phil Kite and Kevin.

Oldland was often described as a nursery for Bristol Rovers, with Vic Lambden, Peter Sampson, Bryan Bush and Mike Tippett all playing for the club before turning professional at Eastville. Former Rovers favourite Bobby Jones was one of many successful Oldland managers, a list which also included Vic Lambden and David Hillier.

Introducing the former players – #1 - Harold Jarman

Harold, Harold!

Our first visit from a former player this season was none other than Harold Jarman, who was warmly welcomed back to the Mem for the Peterborough United match.

Harold hardly needs any introduction to Pirates who will remember the ghostly chant of ’Harold, Harold!’ reverberating around Eastville, but some younger Gasheads may not realise that Harold entertained packed crowds for 14 years (1959-73), scoring a staggering 127 goals during 452 League matches; an incredible amount for a winger. Overall he holds the third highest amount of senior appearances in Rovers’ history and the third highest amount of goals, beaten only by Geoff Bradford and Alfie Biggs.

Harold’s final fling as a footballer was a brief sojourn at the New York Cosmos in 1974 and when he left a certain Edson Arantes do Nascimento took his place. That’s Pelé to you and me.

Remarkably Harold was also a genuinely excellent cricketer, playing first class cricket for Gloucestershire CCC for a decade (1961-1971). Ian Haddrell and Mike Jay’s book ‘Harold Jarman: Bristol Rovers Local Hero‘ (The History Press, 2014) is a great way to discover the full story of this loveable and humble man.


Harold Jarman (right) at the Inaugural BRFPA Former Players Dinner in April 2017, alongside Terry Oldfield (centre).


The wonder winger rather surprisingly became the first ever Bristolian manager of Rovers in the Football League when he took over from Bobby Campbell as caretaker boss on 12th December 1979. Harold managed Rovers for 23 of the League games that season and secured 23 of the measly 35 points Rovers gained all season (only 2 points for a win in those days young ‘uns), but just as Rovers were safe his application for the job full time was overlooked and ex-Leeds United and England legend Terry Cooper was appointed instead.

Harold was the first of many old faces to visit the Mem this season: please give a warm welcome to all those who follow.

Ooh arr he’s a Latvian

Today BRFC and the Bristol Rovers Former Players Association (BRFPA) welcome back a player who has surely deserved an entry or two in the record books.

We have Ash Belsten to thank for this, as Ash has organised the amazing Martin Belsten Memorial Match in aid of St. Peter’s Hospice in Brentry.  The game pits BRFC Veterans vs Fans and takes place tomorrow at Mangotsfield United.  Gates open 12.30pm, with a 2pm kick off.  Please get yourselves down there, get £5 out of your pocket, and enjoy a great afternoon.

Ash has arranged to help bring Vitalijs Astafjevs and his family over from Latvia for his game, and all are also joining us for today’s opening home match of a new season at the Mem.

Vitas has several potential entries in the Guinness Book of World Records starting with the evening of 19th August 1992 when he scored the first ever goal of the newly created UEFA Champions League; an 18-yard finish for Skonto Riga against KI Klaksvikin, of the Faroe Islands.

Years later Vitas told a reporter, “Of course we knew we were part of something really new; you could feel it.  Suddenly we were playing against Chelsea and against Napoli and Inter Milan. It was unheard of for us and just the most incredible time.”  Six years later he was their captain as they twice took the lead against Barcelona in the Camp Nou.  They knocked Aberdeen out of the UEFA Cup, but after seven years in the Latvian capital, Vitas had several trials in England and Ian Holloway signed him just before Christmas 1999.

He bolstered a Rovers midfield hoping for promotion, but an almost unexplainable run-in left everyone disappointed, and a shock relegation the following season hardly helped matters.  Former players though have testified that Vitas could do things with the ball that they’d never seen before!

With Latvia it was happier times, and in 2000 Vitas wore the armband as his country became the first former Soviet satellite to qualify for a major international tournament; the European Championships.  Vitas won 30 caps whilst at Rovers, which is a record number for any Rovers player whilst at the club, but in 2003, after 128 games and 19 goals, he moved on to Admira Wacker in Austria. 

Vitas skippered his country in three different decades before his 167th and final appearance for Latvia against China in 2010.    It wasn’t until 2016 that his record number of international caps for a European player was equalled by Spain’s Iker Casillas, and although Gianluigi Buffon has since overtaken them both, they were both goalkeeper’s so don’t complete count do they?!


We also see the first return to the Mem for Sergio Ommel, a team mate of Vitas’s.  

Sergio was brought in by Gerry Francis from KR Reykjavik in Iceland (where he had played alongside Moussa Dagnogo!) because Rovers couldn’t score for toffee (one goal in 10 League matches).  After Gerry resigned on Christmas Eve 2001, Sergio or Nathan Ellington got their names on the score sheet in 12 of Rovers’ next 15 league matches, and safety seemed to be on the horizon.

Sergio had a brilliant record for Rovers with 10 vital goals in just 21 starts (and seven sub appearances), including the winner against Kidderminster Harriers on April Fool’s Day 2002 which in effect secured Rovers’ survival in the Football League for another season. 

After a peripatetic journey around several other European clubs, Sergio worked his way back to his native Netherlands, where he still lives today.

Today the Mem sees the return of a recent former player, Jermaine Easter.

‘Jamma’ had a long career before joining us in our Conference season, and helped us back into League One before finally retiring.   His debut proved to be a bit of a body shock though, managing only eight minutes on a pig of a pitch at Dartford in January 2015; it was almost as though grass had been made illegal!

Strangely enough his early Bristol history was rather quirky, first turning down a move to City when an emerging youngster at Stockport County and then later in 2006, at the almost height of his powers at Wycombe Wanderers, losing to a Rovers side whose opening goal was scored by his younger brother, Jamal.  Jamal was on a short loan from their home town club Cardiff City, although Jermaine never actually got to play for the Bluebirds.

Jermaine scored goals at every club he played for (over 100 of them; goals that is, not clubs!) and even scored on his final ever appearance, that slightly crazy 4-3 loss to his previous club, Millwall, on the last day of the 2016/17 season.



My beautifully abiding memory of dear Jamma though is his part in the Browner goal that sent us straight up into League One. Whilst we all remember the aftermath, take a look at the build up...

Forgotten man Jake Gosling almost lost the ball whilst threading it through the legs of both a Daggers player and a leaping referee (my, what our history may have been if the ref hadn’t jumped...). Jamma’s sharp brain put in a delightful quick pass to Matty Taylor, but then watch as the Welshman involuntarily air kicks Taylor’s strike, AND Browner's winner.

That is how much it meant to him, just as it meant the world to us supporters.

Mr. Easter we salute you Sir, and please visit us any day you wish.