Why The Gas Cupboard?

The Gas part comes not from the modelling world, but from my other great passion, football. I’m a Bristol Rovers fan and we are known as Gasheads.

When James and I were looking for a name for the shop, we wanted to keep away from all the ‘normal’ model shop names. XYZ Models; Models of ABC etc etc. I threw Gas into the ring and Cupboard seemed to fit with it and so The Gas Cupboard was born.

…….and if you want to know about Bristol Rovers……..

Bristol Rovers Football Club, is the oldest of the two Bristol clubs. Formed in 1883, Bristol Rovers Football Club went through several names before finally deciding on Rovers. Their first incarnation was as The Black Arabs, so named because they played in black shirts on a ground across from a rugby team known as The Arabs. This was changed to the Eastville Rovers and then the Bristol Eastville Rovers before they settled on simply Bristol Rovers.

However the club also has two other names. Its official nickname is “The Pirates” and this is something that has been integrated into the club as a pirate features on the club badge and the supporters club badge. Their other nickname is the “The Gas” which the team acquired because of the gasworks next to their former home ground Eastville Stadium. This is why Rovers supporters are called "GASHEADS".

Rovers currently play in Coca-Cola League One, after defeating Shrewsbury Town 3-1 in the League Two Play-Off Final at Wembley Stadium on May 26, 2007 (I was there!!)

Rovers currently play at the Memorial Stadium, where they have played since August 1996. The ground is due to be demolished in May 2008 and rebuilt as an 18,500 capacity all-seater stadium. During the rebuilding process, the team will temporarily play their home games away from the city, at Whaddon Road in Cheltenham (tbc).

On February 16th 2008, Bristol Rovers reached the quarter finals of the FA Cup for the first time since 1958 with a goal by Ricky Lambert in a 1-0 win over Southampton. This completed something of a clean sweep for the club in the rounds of the competition that year, with the club gaining victories over teams from all top five divisions in English Football; the Premiership, the Championship, Football League 1, Football League 2 and the Football Conference.

Dave (April 2008)