New Bristol Rovers head coach Darrell Clarke has admitted that his emotional connection with the club and its supporters played a major role in his return to the Memorial Stadium. Clarke described his relationship with Gasheads, built during his first spell in north Bristol, as a “massive pull,” while also praising the club’s “massive potential.”
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00:00New Bristol Rovers head coach Darryl Clark has admitted that his emotional connection
00:07with the club and its supporters played a major role in his return to the Memorial Stadium.
00:14Clark described his relationship with Gas Heads built during his first spell in North
00:18Bristol as a massive pull while also praising the club's massive potential.
00:24Clark was confirmed as Rovers' new head coach just two days after the sacking of Inigo Calderon
00:29who departed following the club's final League One fixture, a 4-1 loss at Blackpool that confirmed
00:35relegation to League Two.
00:38Despite the disappointment, news of Clark's return lifted the mood among fans.
00:43His previous four and a half year spell included two successive promotions taking the club from
00:48the National League back to League One where he achieved their highest league finish in
00:5325 years in 10th place.
00:56Since leaving the Mem in December 2018, Clark has managed Warsaw, Port Vale, Cheltenham Town
01:02and Barnsley.
01:03Notably, he secured promotion with Port Vale via the League Two playoffs in 2022 at Cheltenham.
01:09He almost kept the League One club up after they began the season with 10 games without scoring.
01:15Even at Barnsley where he lasted just nine months, many supporters felt he was unlucky to lose his job.
01:21It was a massive pull for myself, but also it's still a club with massive potential.
01:27It's still, you know, if you take away from my previous period here, you'd still look at a club to be, you know,
01:35a very big club in a division that we shouldn't be in and where we should be competing is where we need to get back into.
01:40Now at 47, Clark has signed a three-year deal with Rovers and is aiming to reignite the momentum he wants brought to the club.
01:49While his long-term vision involves moving Rovers closer to their untapped potential, the immediate task is clear to bounce back from relegation and win promotion from League Two as quickly as possible.
02:01With his proven track record and strong ties to the fan base, Clark's return represents both a nod to the past and a hopeful step toward a brighter future at the Memorial Stadium.