Azimghur Barracks is home to the 21st Signal Regiment, which provides communications for the Royal Air Force’s Support Helicopter Force, but Bristol Rovers are beginning to assert their tenant’s rights. Promoted last season into League One, the Pirates have consolidated their position after a shaky start to the current campaign and today, for the first time in 50 years – and only the third in the club’s history – they will compete in the FA Cup quarter-finals, which is as far as they have ever progressed in the competition. Spitfires and Hurricanes flew out of here during the second world war and Rovers, who have trained on the base for several years, have embarked on their own defiant mission. While Bristol City are battling at the top of the Championship for a place in the Premier League, their rivals across the River Avon are pushing hard in the slipstream. The £36m redevelopment of the Memorial Ground is testament to the club’s ambition, and building 100 flats adjacent to the new 18,500-seat stadium will make the project self-financing. From the start of next season and for the following 18 months, supporters will have to endure an hour-long trip to Cheltenham’s Whaddon Road ground for every home game but the advances being made on the pitch under Paul Trollope have guaranteed their happy endurance of this inconvenience.

When Trollope, 35, assumed the coach’s role after a spell as caretaker manager in November 2005, entering into a clearly defined working relationship with director of football Lennie Lawrence, he was sure he could inspire Rovers’ resurgence. The veteran Lawrence has become his mentor and Trollope has drawn on his experiences of working under three England managers – Glenn Hoddle, Kevin Keegan and Steve McClaren – as a player at Swindon, Fulham and Derby. He also played under Ossie Ardiles and Jean Tigana, and the Frenchman’s influence, especially, is evident in the kind of management Trollope has embraced. From diet and physical preparation to the passing game and young players he and Lawrence favour, Trollope has stamped his character and philosophy on the club and in a little over two seasons has demonstrated his quality and ambition. He wants Rovers to be playing Championship football within another few seasons and their progression already suggests his goal is attainable.

“We’re progressing as a football club, and we want to reach the Championship in our new stadium,” declared the former Wales midfielder. “I knew I wanted to get into the coaching and managing side from my mid-20s and I’ve been fortunate to work with great managers and great coaches, right from being a kid. I played under Ossie Ardiles and Glenn Hoddle at Swindon, Jim Smith and Steve McClaren at Derby, Ray Wilkins, Kevin Keegan and Jean Tigana at Fulham and I’ve picked up little nuggets from all of them. Jim Smith would be quite harsh at times – he could hammer players – yet you always wanted to play for him because he could pick players up, too, and he had fantastic knowledge. He and Steve McClaren were great at Derby, with Jim’s experience and Steve’s ideas. Steve was fresh in his approach and they brought [psychologist] Bill Beswick in at that time as well. For Steve, that was his first first-team job and you could see straight away that he was something different.

“Tigana was a big influence on my philosophy because he wanted the team to play and pass the ball. He was very disciplined and structured in training and diet, and I always felt an affinity to his programme and how he treated everyone with respect. He also brought freedom within his structure and with the play. I’m also fortunate to have Lennie here as my mentor, a man with fantastic experience. I have final say in team selection and tactics and he makes sure that everything is as it should be at the club, handling agents and all that side of the game, which is time-consuming. This gives me the time to produce quality training sessions. We share the same philosophy on how the game should be played and we want a team that is young and hungry, made up of players who want to improve.”

For players such as Sean Rigg, a 19-year-old attacking midfielder who suffered a broken jaw in last season’s FA Cup first round – which warranted a four-month prison sentence for assault for Barrow defender James Cotterill – this is an ideal breeding ground. Striker Andy Williams is 21 as is Joe Jacobson, who plays alongside 29-year-old Aaron Lescott, brother of Everton’s Joleon, in defence.

Another midfielder, Chris Lines, is 22 and even striker Rickie Lambert, who scored the winning goal in the previous round against Southampton and is one of the more experienced players, is only 26. “When we took over we had a lot of players over 30 coming to the end of their careers, so the longer-term programme was put in place and the age of players was important in that,” said Trollope. “We’re not into quick fixes. The players here are all hungry for success and they’re hungry to improve, and that’s crucial.”

Goalkeeper Steve Phillips has played a significant role in Rovers’ run in the Cup, saving a Paul Terry penalty in a shootout against Leyton Orient and another by Jimmy Bullard in another shootout against Fulham. He also stopped a Barnet penalty and is likely to be called on against a fluid, attacking team such as West Bromwich Albion.

“For local bragging rights, it’s imperative for the fans that we’ve managed to keep on Bristol City’s coat-tails by reaching the quarter-finals,” said the former City keeper. “You’ll realise what the FA Cup is all about, especially for a lower league club, in this game. The atmosphere will be unbelievable. I’ve heard West Brom players commenting about the state of our pitch but I’ve heard them say nothing about how good we are as a team, which is fine by us. They could be in for a surprise.”

TV match
Bristol Rovers v West Brom
Today, BBC1, 5.45pm, kick-off 6pm

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