Bristol Rovers star climbs traffic lights and pours beer on head after promotion

Joey Barton’s side sealed a stunning final day promotion out of League Two thanks to a 7-0 win over Scunthorpe, with top scorer Aaron Collins chipping in with a brace on a memorable day

Bristol Rovers’ Aaron Collins has had quite the season – and he made sure he let his hair down on Saturday night.

Earlier in the day Collins had scored twice in a quite simply extraordinary 7-0 win for the Gas against Scunthorpe United. That mammoth win ensured the most dramatic of promotions out of League Two for Rovers, despite not being in the top three for any part of the season.

They overtook Northampton Town – who won their final game of the season 3-1 at Barrow – by virtue of goals scored with both sides having otherwise identical records with each accruing 80 points with a goal difference of +22.

The Memorial Stadium was a scene of mass hysteria after the final whistle eventually blew, following a lengthy stoppage following an earlier pitch invasion.

Joey Barton’s side can now celebrate an immediate return to the third tier following relegation last year. And by the looks of it they certainly partied hard into the night on Saturday. Star striker Collins, who finished on 16 league goals for the season, went viral on social media after a video emerged of him atop a set of traffic lights in the centre of Bristol surrounded by hundreds of partying Gas fans.

He then duly poured the rest of his can of beer over his head, and it seems the party went on long into the night for Collins, who tweeted a selfie at 11.30am on Sunday saying: “THE WHEELS ARE FALLING OFF. WE NEED A LIFT TO THE PUB.”

Collins’ boss Barton will no doubt be understanding of such celebrations given Rovers’ most unlikeliest of promotions.

Speaking on Saturday night to reporters outside an understandably loud home dressing room, Barton said of the achievement: “I put our previous team talks up all around the dressing room and said it’s nothing you haven’t heard from me all season.

“It was about keeping it simple today. We knew we had an opponent and we had to respect that and make sure we got the first goal and the second goal. The fans were incredible for 20 minutes and then it went quiet which I presumed was Northampton scoring at Barrow, but I didn’t realise they’d score three in something like 20 minutes.

“But again the spirit and the endeavour of the players and the fanbase supporting them at every junction. 7-0 is not a normal football score. I’m surprisingly speechless. For me it was a case of believing in the group. We’ve worked tirelessly every single training session. The lads have turned up and they’ve competed and it’s my belief that if you do that over the course of a season, you get what you deserve.”

For every winner there has to be a loser of course, and Northampton now have to somehow pick themselves up and go again in the play-offs. They face Nigel Clough’s Mansfield over two legs with the final, against either Swindon or Port Vale, at Wembley on May 28.

Brady said: “It’s pretty hard to comprehend now. We were excellent. To go 3-0 up was the perfect start. We’ll dust ourselves down and get ready for the play-offs now. It’s an incredible group. The players couldn’t help what’s been done.”