Football Bilongo looking forward to resuming his Rovers career

BRYANT Bilongo insisted he is “so happy to be back” at Bristol Rovers following his loan spell at Harrogate Town, which rounded off an eventful first season in league football.

- Dan HARGRAVES

The left-back became a fan's favourite in north Bristol following his arrival last summer for his infectious smile and upbeat attitude. His popularity grew further when a stoppage-time winner against Northampton Town sealed victory for his new club on the opening day - the full-back's EFL debut.

Despite being contracted to Middlesbrough for nearly two-and-a-half years, Bilongo’s sole first-team appearance for Boro came in a League Cup tie against Barnsley with his other appearances before joining the Gas coming in non-league.

Having started the first five League One games of last season, the 23-year-old’s game-time slowly started to decrease before he played just once in nine matches around the festive period.

A loan spell at League Two club Harrogate Town in the second half of the campaign followed, where the left-back played 16 times before returning to BS7 this summer.

"From a personal perspective, I enjoyed it," Bilongo reflected on his first season at Rovers to the club's media team. "Obviously, things didn’t go to plan and how everyone would have wanted to end, but from a personal point of view, I had fun. Especially at the start, as everyone knows, from the opening day, we had a good couple of months where we were rolling, we were playing, we were enjoying it, and I was smiling everywhere. It was good.