Bristol Rovers retained list: Seven players released with five subject to new deals

Bristol Rovers have confirmed that Sam Finley, John Marquis, Josh Grant, Lewis Gordon, James Gibbons, Harvey Greenslade and Ryan Jones will leave the club next month when their contracts expire, while Rovers have offered new deals to Jordan Rossiter, Scott Sinclair and Luca Hoole as well as triggering the one-year extension options in Chris Martin and Jerry Lawrence's contracts.

The Gas published their retained list on Wednesday afternoon with the biggest surprises arguably that Lewis Gordon won't be staying on at the club as well as the fact that academy product Harvey Greenslade will be leaving his boyhood club.

Finley's departure was seemingly confirmed by the club captain himself on social media while John Marquis and Josh Grant have struggled for game time under Matt Taylor during the second half of the season. Additionally, James Gibbons spent the second half of the campaign at League One rivals Cambridge United.

For Gordon though, the left-back had started to become somewhat of a regular in recent months, featuring in 15 out of 16 matches between late January and early April with 10 of those appearances starts. However, the 23-year-old remained on the bench for recent matches against Cheltenham, Cambridge and Peterborough before being left out of the squad entirely for last weekend's final game at Wigan.

Greenslade made just one senior appearance for Rovers, coming in last season's EFL Trophy and spent this campaign out on loan, initially at Truro City before going up a division to Oxford City who couldn't avoid relegation in their first season in the National League. During that time though, the 20-year-old striker has been training with Rovers at The Quarters while he netted three goals in the fifth tier.

Finley's exit will also leave a sizeable hole that'll need filling with the captain a key member of the dressing room having been integral to the side that secured promotion from League Two two years ago while helping the Gas consolidate their place in League One over the past two seasons. However, with no appearances since April 1, it's started to become more apparent that the midfielder wasn't in Taylor's plans.

The same can be said for Marquis who, in some ways, has been unlucky with the form of Martin limiting him to appearances from the bench but the striker last scored before Christmas and played his last game from the bench in the 2-0 defeat to Bolton Wanderers early last month.

As for Grant, the versatile midfielder, who has mainly played at centre-back this season, is one of Rovers' longest servants having joined from Chelsea in July 2020. Prior to this campaign, injuries had scuppered the 25-year-old's time at the club, particularly last season where Grant only made one appearance from the bench. However, 36 matches this term saw him a regular in the first half of the campaign but game time under Taylor has been limited with the 25-year-old last playing in the 1-0 win at Leyton Orient two months ago.

Bristol Rovers 2023/24 retained list in full

Under contract: James Connolly, James Wilson, Grant Ward, Luke Thomas, Connor Taylor, Jevani Brown, Antony Evans, Kamil Conteh, Luke McCormick, Jed Ward, Matt Hall, Jack Hunt, Kofi Shaw

Out of contract, one year options triggered: Chris Martin, Jerry Lawrence

Out of contract, new deals offered: Scott Sinclair, Jordan Rossiter, Luca Hoole

Released: Sam Finley, John Marquis, Josh Grant, Lewis Gordon, James Gibbons, Harvey Greenslade, Ryan Jones

Loan returns: Harvey Vale (Chelsea), Elkan Baggott (Ipswich Town), Matt Cox (Brentford), Tristan Crama (Brentford) Brandon Aguilera (Nottingham Forest), Harry Vaughan (Hull City)