BRISTOL Rovers fans are hoping to push their fundraising Share Scheme close to the £1 million mark following a new agreement with the club's directors.

The Supporters Club project has raised more than £748,000 so far but was due to end in November.

Fans attending the Supporters Club's annual meeting at the Memorial Stadium tonight (7.30pm) will be told the board has taken up the fans' offer to extend it for a maximum of another two years.

Money from the scheme has been used to help to buy several players in recent years, including Junior Agogo and Danny Coles.

It was launched nearly six years ago when Rovers were bottom of League Two, losing around £20,000 a week and having to repay loans of £2 million taken out to buy the Memorial Stadium.

The money was used to help bring in five players on transfer deadline day in 2003, which effectively stopped the club sliding into the Conference.

The £748,000 includes a £55,000 donation from Supporters Club reserves. Some 240,970 shares have been purchased so far, giving the fans an 8.68 per cent stake in the football club

Under the existing agreement, shares had been ring-fenced by the board just for the Supporters Club to purchase at £5.50 for two shares.

But Supporters Club members will be told tonight that those shares will now be made available to potential future investors. They would no longer have been ringfenced once the old deal ended in November.

Rovers' chairman Nick Higgs said: "We are delighted that the Scheme will continue to operate for the next two years.

"It has been really successful, allowing us to bring in players like Junior Agogo and Andy Rammell who both had such a huge impact at the club.

"I would like to say a big thank you to all supporters who have been involved with the Scheme up to now. Buying shares in the club allows the fans a say in the running of Bristol Rovers through their elected board representatives, and we are very glad to be keeping this link going for the next few years."

The Scheme has enabled the Supporters Club to have two full members on the board – Ken Masters and David Brain.

Brain, who is also Share Scheme chairman, said: "In my view, the fans' contributions have kept us in the Football League.

"You only need to look at the growing number of clubs who are or have been in administration to gauge where Rovers may have been without the magnificent support of a significant number of Gasheads.

"I am delighted that the Share Scheme can continue for a further two years and would urge fans to continue to support it and help the club whilst the rebuilding of the Memorial Stadium takes place and our fans get the ground they deserve."

Supporters Club chairman Jim Chappell said: "I'm really pleased that we have been able to negotiate continuance of the scheme with the board.

"Several of our members had approached me saying they wanted to continue paying in anyway, regardless whether or not it was to end, simply because they wanted to carry on making a positive contribution to the football club.

"Everyone could see that the Scheme was initially directly responsible for keeping Rovers out of the Conference thanks to Andy Rammell's goals.

"Subsequent payments have been a major factor in improving our eague status, allied with the efforts of the current management team backed-up by the board.

"I hope all the current members will renew their payments in December and that those who have contributed in the past will join a host of potential new members and join us in helping to make Rovers a major force in the Football League."