When Nathan Ellington's name is mentioned to any Bristol Rovers fan, it is a fair bet his or her mind will immediately turn to the events of Sunday, January 6, 2002.

The striker scored a hat-trick for the Pirates as Premiership side Derby County were beaten 3-1 at Pride Park in a classic FA Cup giant-killing.

The victory was all the more unlikely as just seven months earlier Rovers had been relegated to the basement division of the Football League for the first time in their history.

Quite what Italian superstar Fabrizio Ravanelli, scorer of a late goal that was no consolation to the Rams, made of it went sadly unrecorded.

While Ravanelli's previous clubs included Lazio, Juventus and Marseille, Ellington – once a part-time accountant – had been recruited from Walton & Hersham via a spell at Tooting & Mitcham.

Rovers paid £150,000 for Ellington's services in 1999 and he began to uphold the club's tradition for nurturing potent, young strikers – a roll of honour that includes Marcus Stewart, Barry Hayles, Jason Roberts and Jamie Cureton and has continued in more recent times with Junior Agogo and Rickie Lambert.

Ellington's first full season with Rovers (1999-2000) saw him score just four goals, but he did not look back in the following two campaigns.

It says everything for the rest of Rovers' team that they were relegated in 2000-01 despite 18 goals from Ellington, who scored twice in a game three times – against Luton, Bournemouth and Oxford.

Five strikes in the last seven matches couldn't save Garry Thompson's boys.

Ellington was expected to make easy meat of Division Three defences in the following season, but just two goals in the first 13 games was not part of the plan.

However a brace in a Football League Trophy win over Dagenham and Redbridge sparked him back into life and 19 goals were to follow in his next 23 matches as Ellington's pace and skill came to the fore.

Boxing Day marked the first of a treble of trebles as Ellington netted three times in a 5-3 home win over Leyton Orient, and 11 days later it wasn't just the local headlines he was making as Derby were overrun.

Time and again the fleet-footed striker left Horacio Carbonari and Co on their backsides or flat-footed – not least in the 15th minute when he nipped between the Argentinian and Youl Mawene to head goalkeeper Scott Howie's clearance past Mart Poom.

Ellington's second goal needed a deflection off Mawene to beat Poom. But there was no luck involved with his third. Che Wilson's long pass found Ellington on the edge of the penalty area but with his back to goal. After chesting the ball down the striker swivelled and hit it first time past Poom before he knew it was coming.

It was after that glorious Sunday afternoon that Ellington's stock began to rocket.

A third hat-trick inside a month came in a 4-1 thumping of Swansea City and a pre-transfer deadline move became as much of a certainty as his place in the PFA Division Three team of the year for 2001-02. On deadline day Wigan's offer of £1.2million was too good to turn down and Ellington was away.

Committed but also unassuming and approachable throughout his three years at the Mem, Ellington remains popular with Rovers fans who accepted he was always likely to move on.

Subsequent spells with West Brom and Watford have brought him back to Horfield for pre-season friendlies on a couple of occasions and he has always been warmly received.

HOW TO VOTE

It couldn't be simpler. Go to our Bristol Rovers page or our Bristol City page and make your selection.

Or you can write in to us at Player of the Decade, Sportsdesk, Bristol Evening Post, Temple Way, Bristol, BS99 7HD.

In the coming weeks we will feature further Bristol City and Bristol Rovers stars. But your vote isn't just restricted to those players. Choose your own favourite between now and Monday, December 28.