Bristol Rovers Assistant Paul Raynor Reveals Bowel Cancer Diagnosis: 'We Will Beat This'

Raynor confirms diagnosis after routine screening sample

Bristol Rovers assistant head coach Paul Raynor has been diagnosed with bowel cancer, the club has confirmed, with the 60-year-old set to begin chemotherapy and radiotherapy later this month.

Raynor said doctors had discovered a tumour, but that the cancer had not spread to any major organs — a development he described as a "massive positive" — and that he had been told the chances of success were high.

"We're going to try and beat this," Raynor told the club website. "We will beat this and then be back on the grass helping the guys later in the season with a bit of luck.

"The plan is I'm going to be here as much as possible. I'm going to be there on matchdays, and I aim to be and I want to be. If I'm well enough, I certainly will be."

Diagnosis followed a routine stool sample

Raynor revealed the cancer was discovered after he submitted a sample, having initially put off the test until his wife persuaded him to go through with it.

"I was a typical man and left it, with my wife badgering me into doing it," he said. "So I did it and a week later I was told there was an abnormal reading, and I had to go in for a full check. Within an hour, I was sat with a consultant and being told they had found a tumour."

The assistant was blunt about how differently events could have unfolded had he not taken the test, and urged others to get screened.

"If it wasn't for my good lady Karen I wouldn't have sent the sample off and it could've been too late and the ramifications could be anything," he said. "They're telling me there's a good chance it's curable but if I hadn't done that sample it could've been a lot, lot worse.

"The message is, get your samples done, whatever tests you need go and get it done because it's massively important."

Evans' long-time number two backed by the club

Raynor has worked alongside Rovers boss Steve Evans at nine different clubs, a partnership stretching back to Boston United and taking in spells at Crawley Town, Rotherham United, Leeds United and Stevenage among others.

He joined Evans at the Memorial Stadium in December 2025, helping Bristol Rovers avoid relegation to the National League, with the club among the favourites for promotion from League Two this season.

Paying tribute to those around him, Raynor said: "I've known and worked with the gaffer for 25 years and he's a massive friend and these last few weeks he's been absolutely immense but everyone has."

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