Doncaster Rovers F.C.
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Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional
association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
club based in
Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
,
South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...
, England. The team compete in
League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
, the fourth tier of the
English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the Isl ...
. The club play their home games at The Keepmoat Stadium, having moved from Belle Vue in 2007. Their home strip consists of red and white hoops, which has been the main design of the club's home shirt since 2001 through different variations. Rovers often sport a third kit each season promoting mental health charity Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), with proceeds of the particular home games being donated to said charity.Doncaster Rovers Historical Kits
Historicalkits.co.uk. Retrieved on 24 September 2012.
The club was founded in 1879 and turned professional six years later, moving to the
Intake Ground The Intake Ground was a football ground in Doncaster in England. It was the home ground of Doncaster Rovers between 1885 and 1919, and is still used today as a football field. History Doncaster Rovers started playing at the Intake Ground in 18 ...
. They entered the Midland League in 1891 and were elected into the
Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
in 1901. The club lost re-election votes in 1903 and 1905 and so returned to the Midland League. They were admitted into the Football League for a third and final time in 1923 and went on to win the
Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...
in 1934–35. The club won two further Third Division North titles in 1946–47 and 1949–50, having been relegated from the
Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
in 1937 and 1948. Doncaster found themselves in the
Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...
after suffering successive relegations in 1958 and 1959, though would win the Fourth Division title in 1965–66 and 1968–69. The club continued to move between the third and fourth tiers, winning promotions in 1980–81 and 1983–84 and relegations in 1983 and 1988, before suffering relegation into non-League football in 1998. Doncaster regained their Football League status after winning the 2003 Conference play-offs and then went on to win the Third Division title in 2003–04. They won the
Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...
in
2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
and the next year won the League One play-offs to secure a place in the second tier for the first time. They spent four of the next five seasons in the Championship, winning the League One title in 2012–13, though were relegated out of the Championship in 2012 and 2014. Relegated into
League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
in 2016, they won an immediate promotion in 2016–17 and remained in League One until their relegation in 2022.


History


Early years

The club was formed in 1879 by Albert Jenkins, a fitter at Doncaster's Great Northern Railway works. He gathered together some friends to play a match against the Yorkshire Institute for the Deaf and Dumb in September 1879. The institute side took a 4–0 lead but the game ended as a 4–4 draw. On walking back from the game, the team took a rest at the Hall Cross, and had a discussion in which they decided to play more and called themselves Doncaster Rovers. The first match under the name was on 3 October 1879, a draw away against Rawmarsh. The club turned professional in 1885. Gradually, they became the main team in the town, and appear to have had their first professional players in 1887–88. Rovers first entered the FA Cup in 1888–89, losing 9–1 to Rotherham Town at home. Season 1890–91 was to be a significant move forward. The club were a founder member of the Midland Alliance League and came second. The following season, saw them enter the Sheffield and Hallamshire FA Challenge Cup, beating Sheffield United 2–1 at Bramall Lane to win the final. That same season, they also moved up to the Midland League, becoming Champions in 1896–97 and 1898–99. They were first elected to the
Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
in
1901 Events January * January 1 – The Crown colony, British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and Western Australia Federation of Australia, federate as the Australia, ...
, as a replacement for New Brighton Tower. Their first season in the League was in fact the one when Doncaster achieved their highest position ever (7th in the
Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...
). They only lasted two seasons in the league before being voted out in favour of local rivals
Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...
, having finished the 1902 season in the bottom three. They spent the following season in the Midland League, only managing 11th place out of 18 but were elected back to Division 2. This time, in
1904–05 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...
, Doncaster finished bottom with W3 D2 L29, adrift by 12 points, gaining only 8 points – an unfortunate still standing record. They were voted out once again. The following several seasons saw them finish lower midtable of the Midland League, till between 1910 and 1913 they had greater success. The last few years before the war mediocrity returned, and in August 1914 debts run up over the years led to voluntary liquidation. However, a new club was formed in time for the 1914–15 season and was accepted into the Midland League to continue where the old club had left off. The outbreak of the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
meant the club closed down, and the army took over its ground using it as a depot.


Inter war period

The Club reformed as a limited company after the war in 1919, rejoining the Midland League a year later playing at their new temporary Bennetthorpe Ground. The first two seasons Rovers finished lower-mid table. The third season they moved to Belle Vue, finished runners up and were accepted into the Football League Division 3 North for 1923–24 to replace
Stalybridge Celtic Stalybridge Celtic Football Club is an English football club based in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the and play at Bower Fold. The team traditionally plays in a blue and white strip. In 1921 Stalybridge Celtic ...
. The first match back in the Football League was a 0–0 draw against Wigan Borough at Belle Vue on 25 August 1923, with Rovers playing in red tops with white shorts. One of the players in that first match was Rovers legend Tom Keetley who went on to become the Club's highest scorer with 186 goals in 241 appearances. Doncaster ended the season in 9th place. The next few seasons saw them rise towards the top of the table, then decline towards the bottom, before in the early 1930s finishing consistently near the top and finally becoming Champions in 1934–35. Rovers spent two seasons in Division 2, relegated in 1936–37. However, they did well in the following two seasons before the outbreak of war, being runners up in Division 3 North, with only the champions being promoted at that time.


Second World War – late 1990s

Doncaster Rovers were involved in the longest ever competitive football match, against Stockport County at Edgeley Park on 30 March 1946, in a Division Three (North) cup tie. The match was deadlocked at 2–2 at 90 minutes, and after two 10-minute periods of extra time there was no further score. The rule at that time was that the game would carry on until one team scored. However, after 203 minutes, and with darkness closing in, the game was finally stopped. Fans were said to have left the game, gone home for their tea, and come back to watch the end of the game. The replay, at Doncaster, was won by Rovers 4–0, goals coming from Steven Bain, Billy Mortimer and a late double from Graeme Dunne. In 1946–47 Doncaster set a
record A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...
for the most games won in a league season (33), when they won the
Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...
title. The following season saw them relegated from the
Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
, but two years later with Peter Doherty as player-manager, they won the Third Division North again. This time they stayed in the Second Division for eight seasons, their most successful period to date. During this time, several high class players were with Doncaster including
Harry Gregg Henry Gregg, (27 October 1932 – 16 February 2020), was a Northern Irish professional footballer and manager. A goalkeeper, he played for Manchester United during the reign of Sir Matt Busby, with a total of 247 appearances for the club. He w ...
who kept goal, and was sold to
Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
in December 1957 for £23,500. At the time, he was the most expensive goalkeeper in the world. He went on to help save lives in the Munich air disaster and was a regular goalkeeper for
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. Another player, lesser known outside Doncaster, was Alick Jeffrey.
Matt Busby Sir Alexander Matthew Busby (26 May 1909 – 20 January 1994) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager, who managed Manchester United F.C., Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 197 ...
, manager of
Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
, had lined him up to be bought, however in October 1956 Jeffrey badly broke his leg playing for
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
under-23s. This ended his move and any chance of what was seen to be an almost certain glittering international career to come.
Billy Bremner William John Bremner (9 December 1942 – 7 December 1997) was a Scottish professional footballer and manager. Regarded as one of the game's great midfielders, he combined precision passing skills with tenacious tackling and physical stam ...
, who achieved fame for his playing career with Leeds United and
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, managed Doncaster twice, his final spell ending in November 1991 – six years before his death.


Richardson era

During the early 1990s, Ken Richardson, who was later described by detectives as "the type that would trample a two-year-old child to pick up a 2p bit", took over as the majority shareholder of the club. He ploughed a lot of money into Doncaster Rovers with one thing on his mind, a new stadium. When he was refused a new stadium by the council he soon lost interest. Richardson hired three men to torch Belle Vue and planned to sell the ground to developers. The attempt put Richardson in jail for four years, ruined Belle Vue and Rovers were edging closer to relegation. In 1998 Rovers dropped out of the league with a −83 goal difference. He withdrew his financial backing and as a result the club was subject to an administration order. The better players left to ease some of the financial burden but unfortunately, the players who were left at Rovers were just not up to the task. The fans blamed Richardson for effectively destroying Rovers and even a funeral was held at Belle Vue on the last game of the 1997/98 season complete with coffin along Carr House Road. Just weeks after Rovers were relegated, Richardson was found guilty of trying to set fire to the Rovers ground, apparently hoping to pay off the club's debts with the insurance money.


The rise

The Westferry Consortium took over the Club just before the beginning of the 1998–99 season with a commitment to invest heavily in the club. The details of this season are collected in Ian McMahon's book ''The Only Way Is Up''. They also brought in John Ryan as a non-executive chairman and he took over at the end of this season. Having aspirations of returning it to the second tier where he had seen them when he was a boy, he stated he would build a new stadium within ten years, both of which he went on to achieve within the ten years. Doncaster found their best form in 50 years in the 2000s. After five seasons in the Conference League, under the helm of manager Dave Penney the club returned to the fourth tier (known at the time as Division Three) after winning the 2003 Conference Play-Off final, in the only sudden death goal (also known as a "Golden Goal" and officially known as "Promotion Goal" in this game) in history of English football promotion play-offs. In 2003–04, the first season they were back in the Football League, Rovers achieved promotion to the third tier as Champions. Doncaster were the first team to win the Fourth Division/Third Division (fourth level) Championship three times, 1966, 1969, and 2004. Football League rules state that any team who wins a trophy three times can keep it. When Rovers tried to retain ownership of the actual Third Division trophy, the
Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
claimed that Rovers could not keep the trophy because the league names had changed from ''Fourth'' to ''Third'' Division, and so they had not won that particular league three times. Doncaster were the last team to win Division Three before it was renamed
League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
. In 2005–06, Doncaster beat two Premiership teams in the League Cup
Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
and
Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
. They reached the quarter finals of the competition where they met
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
. They went ahead in normal time and
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
equalised, and in extra time Rovers went up for a second time but
Gilberto Silva Gilberto Aparecido da Silva (; born 7 October 1976) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder most notably for English Premier League club Arsenal, Super League club Panathinaikos F.C., Clube Atlétic ...
equalised in injury time and the North London side went on to win on penalties. Penney left in August 2006 feeling he had taken the club as far as he could and was swiftly replaced with former
AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...
manager Sean O'Driscoll, with
Richard O'Kelly Richard Florence O'Kelly (born 8 January 1957) is an English former footballer turned manager; whose most recent position was Dean Smith's assistant head coach at Premier League side Aston Villa. He began his career at Walsall in 1979, as they ...
as assistant manager. A new stadium was completed in December 2006. Doncaster's first game at the new Keepmoat Stadium was against Huddersfield Town on
New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...
, 2007Doncaster 3–0 Huddersfield
BBC News (1 January 2007). Retrieved on 24 September 2012.
and the first goal scored at the Stadium was by
Mark McCammon Mark Jason McCammon (born 7 August 1978) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker. Born in England, he represented the Barbados national national team at international level. After starting his career with Cambridge United ...
.


2007–present

On 1 April 2007, Doncaster Rovers travelled with their new manager to the
Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...
,
Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
to play Bristol Rovers in the
Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...
final. Playing in front of over 59,000 people, this was Rovers' first major cup final in the club's history. They got off to the perfect start when a tap in from
Jonathan Forte Jonathan Ronald James Forte (born 25 July 1986) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker; he last played for League Two club Exeter City. Born in Sheffield, he represented Barbados at international level. Forte's first profe ...
and a brilliant finish from Paul Heffernan put Rovers 2–0 up within the first 5 minutes. However, after a brave fight back from Bristol Rovers, the game finished 2–2, so it went to extra time. In the second half of extra time a
Sean Thornton Sean Thornton (born 18 May 1983) is a former professional footballer. He made 11 appearances in the Premier League for Sunderland in the 2002–03 season and has made over 200 appearances in the Football League, mostly for Sunderland, Doncast ...
corner was headed home by skipper Graeme Lee who had come forward from his central defensive position. Doncaster held on to claim their first major trophy. 2007–08 proved to be one of the most exciting seasons in Doncaster's history. After a slow start they were in serious contention for a top-six finish for much of the second half of the season. Defeat away at
Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...
on the final day of the season cost them automatic promotion and they finished third, with Nottingham Forest taking 2nd place. After a 0–0 draw away to Southend United in the playoff semifinals first leg, Rovers beat their opponents 5–1 at home in the second leg including a James Coppinger hat-trick to advance to the League One play-off final at
Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
on Sunday 25 May 2008 where they beat Leeds United 1–0 to move into
Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...
after a half century absence. A James Hayter headed goal in the 47th minute was enough to secure victory in front of over 75,000 fans at Wembley. The first half of the 2008–09 season saw Doncaster struggling to adapt to the Championship despite a promising start with an away win over newly relegated Derby County. A long run of bad results saw them bottom of the Championship on 20 December 2008 following a narrow 1–0 defeat to
Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...
at home. Rovers managed to turn things around soon after and enjoyed an undefeated run of 8 Championship games, starting with a thrilling 4–2 win at relegation rivals
Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
on Boxing Day. The win against
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
on Saturday 14 February was especially memorable considering it was the first time Doncaster had defeated the Owls in any league competition. The streak ended at the hands of
Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...
on Saturday 21 February after a 3–1 defeat at the
Liberty Stadium The Swansea.com Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Swansea.com; formerly Liberty Stadium) is an all-seated sports stadium and conferencing venue located in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales. The stadium opened in 2005 and was named the Liberty Stadium. It ...
. Doncaster Rovers secured their place in the Championship for the 2009–10 season after an emphatic 3–0 win at Home Park against
Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...
. Doncaster ended their first season in the Championship comfortably in 14th position, finishing above 8 former
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
teams, including
Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...
,
Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
, Crystal Palace and Derby County. The survival was also a major feat, as before the start of that season, they were tipped by many as strong favourites for relegation. Doncaster finished the 2009–10 season marginally better than their first season back in the Championship, in 12th and earning two more points than the previous season with 60 points. This was despite a promising period towards the end of the season which saw Doncaster close to the play-off places, thanks in part to Sheffield United loanee Billy Sharp who scored 15 goals during his stay. The 2009–10 season's success became a football league record. Having become the first team to be bottom of the table at Christmas, but still managed to survive the drop. The
2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
season proved to be Doncaster's most trying season in the Championship thus far. Despite a club record signing of £1.15 million for Billy Sharp, the season was plagued by injuries to key players, as well as poor form. They finished in 21st place, 6 points clear of relegated local rivals Sheffield United and
Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...
. Rovers struggled in the 2011–12 season; seven games into the season, Rovers had failed to win a game ( no wins, one draw, six losses). This led to the sacking of manager
Sean O'Driscoll Sean Michael O'Driscoll (born 1 July 1957) is a former professional footballer and manager. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, Doncaster Rovers, Crawley Town, Nottingham Forest, Bristol City and Walsall. He was known by the nickname "N ...
and assistant manager
Richard O'Kelly Richard Florence O'Kelly (born 8 January 1957) is an English former footballer turned manager; whose most recent position was Dean Smith's assistant head coach at Premier League side Aston Villa. He began his career at Walsall in 1979, as they ...
. On 23 September 2011,
Dean Saunders Dean Nicholas Saunders (born 21 June 1964) is a Welsh football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a striker in a career which lasted from 1982 until 2001. He played for Liverpool and Aston Villa in the 1990s, and s ...
was unveiled as the new boss, leaving
Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
. His reign started unbeaten in three games. With the controversial help of football agent
Willie McKay Willie McKay is a British football agent, based in Monaco. He was the agent of many top-level footballers, mainly based in England and France, specifically the Premier League His clients include James McFadden, Joey Barton, Henri Camara, Scot ...
, Rovers brought in several players on loans and short-term contracts, and on low wages, including
El Hadji Diouf El Hadji Ousseynou Diouf (; born 15 January 1981) is a Senegalese former professional footballer. Throughout his career, Diouf played as a winger or a forward. Having started his professional football career in France with Sochaux, Rennes an ...
,
Pascal Chimbonda Pascal Chimbonda (born 21 February 1979) is a French former professional footballer who played as a right-back. Chimbonda began his professional career in 1998 with Le Havre, where he featured over 100 times combined for the club's first team ...
, Herita Ilunga, Carl Ikeme,
Frédéric Piquionne Frédéric Michel Piquionne (born 8 December 1978) is a Martiniquais former professional footballer who played as a forward. Piquionne's former clubs are Golden Star of Martinique, Nîmes, Rennes, Saint-Étienne, Monaco, Lyon, Portsmouth, ...
, and
Habib Beye Habib Frédéric Beye (born 19 October 1977) is a former professional footballer who played as a right-back. He is the manager of Championnat National club Red Star. Born in France, he represented the Senegal national team. He is also a pundit ...
. However, Doncaster were relegated to League One with three games still to play. Many supporters blamed the failure to stay in the Championship on McKay's involvement, others felt it was worth the try. At the end of the 2011–12 season, chairman John Ryan deemed the McKay "experiment" over as it "didn't work" and "wouldn't work in the third tier" anyway. The squad was rebuilt for the
2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
season with 19 players leaving. Expectations were low, but after an average start, Saunders' team ended up firmly in the promotion positions by the end of 2012. On 7 January, Saunders filled the vacant managers position at Wolves and on 17 January caretaker manager
Brian Flynn Brian Flynn may refer to: * Brian Flynn (footballer) (born 1955), Welsh football manager * Brian Flynn (baseball) (born 1990), American baseball player * Brian Flynn (cricketer) (1929-1986), Australian cricketer * Brian Flynn (ice hockey) Brian ...
was given the permanent managers job till the end of the season with Rob Jones as player coach. In an incredible finale to the season at
Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...
, they beat
Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...
0–1 when James Coppinger scored in the last seconds of 5 minutes of added time, only seconds after Brentford's
Marcello Trotta Marcello Trotta (born 29 September 1992) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Avellino. Club career Early career Born in Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Italy, Trotta began his career in the youth team at Serie A cl ...
had hit a penalty against the crossbar. If Brentford had won, they would have been promoted and Doncaster would have to compete in the play-offs. As it was, the goal put Doncaster one point above Bournemouth as champions. Following promotion to the Championship for the 2013–14 season, Brian Flynn was moved to become Director of Football and overseeing the newly formed ''development squad'' which would be playing competitive games.
Paul Dickov Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...
was brought in as manager with Brian Horton as his assistant. To boost support for their chosen charity, Bluebell Wood Children's Hospice, the club signed One Direction singer
Louis Tomlinson Louis William Tomlinson (; born Louis Troy Austin; 24 December 1991) is an English singer and songwriter. He rose to fame as a member of the boy band One Direction. Tomlinson began his career appearing in television dramas before he auditioned ...
on a non-contract basis. On 9 November, John Ryan gave an emotional farewell and stepped down as Chairman of the Club after 15 years, minutes before the kick-off against a Championship encounter against Barnsley at Oakwell, amid reports of boardroom disagreements following a proposed takeover bid by a hedge-fund consortium led by Sequentia Capital. On 3 May 2014 Doncaster were relegated back to League One after just one season following a 1–0 defeat to Leicester City on the final day of the season. Rovers finished the 2014–15 season in 13th place, before being relegated to League Two after finishing 21st in 2015–16 with new manager Darren Ferguson. The 2016–17 season saw them being promoted back to League 1 at the first attempt in 3rd position Darren Ferguson left his post in June 2017 and was replaced by another former Peterborough boss in
Grant McCann Grant Samuel McCann (born 14 April 1980) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder in the Football League. He was most recently the manager of EFL League One club Peterborough United. Born in ...
ahead of the 2018/19 season. Under McCann, Rovers finished sixth in League One, qualifying for the end of season play-offs where they faced Charlton Athletic over two legs. A 2–1 defeat in the first leg and an early
Krystian Bielik Krystian Bielik (; born 4 January 1998) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a centre back and defensive midfielder for club Birmingham City, on loan from club Derby County, and for the Poland national team. He first played senio ...
goal in the second left Rovers with a mountain to climb at The Valley, but goals from captain
Tommy Rowe Thomas Malcolm Rowe (born 24 September 1988) is an English professional footballer who primarily plays as a winger but can also operate at left back and currently plays for Doncaster Rovers. Career Stockport County Rowe was born in Wythenshaw ...
and
Andy Butler Andrew Peter Butler (born 4 November 1983) is an English football manager and player who plays for Farsley Celtic F.C., Farsley Celtic as well as being youth development phase coach at Scunthorpe United F.C., Scunthorpe United. Born in Doncast ...
forced extra time.
John Marquis John Edward Marquis (born 16 May 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-forward for EFL League One club Bristol Rovers. Career Millwall Born in Lewisham, London, Marquis progressed through the ranks of Millwall, sign ...
put Rovers ahead for the first time in extra time, only for Darren Pratley to equalise a minute later. Rovers lost the penalty shoot-out 4–3 with misses coming from Rowe and Marquis as they fell just short of making the
Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
showdown. McCann left in the summer for Championship side Hull City and was replaced by former defender
Darren Moore Darren Mark Moore (born 22 April 1974) is a professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. He is the current manager of Sheffield Wednesday. Born in England, he earned two international caps for Jamaica. Moore is a ...
ahead of the 2019–20 campaign. Moore moved to struggling
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
on 1 March 2021, and
Andy Butler Andrew Peter Butler (born 4 November 1983) is an English football manager and player who plays for Farsley Celtic F.C., Farsley Celtic as well as being youth development phase coach at Scunthorpe United F.C., Scunthorpe United. Born in Doncast ...
was appointed as interim manager for the remainder of the season. For the 2021-22 season, former trophy winning Doncaster Rovers player Richie Wellens was installed as first team manager, with Noel Hunt as assistant manager.


Players


Current squad


Out on loan


Academy

The youth system currently has Category 3 status with the U18 academy team playing in the EFL Youth Alliance North East Conference league.


Non-playing staff

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:left;" , - !colspan=2 style="background:#FF6347", First-team staff , - ! style="width:150px;", Role !! style="width:140px;", Person , - , Head Of Football Operations , , James Coppinger , - , Head Coach , ,
Danny Schofield Daniel James Schofield (born 10 April 1980) is an English former footballer and manager who is currently head coach of EFL League Two club Doncaster Rovers. Playing career Huddersfield Town Schofield was signed by Huddersfield Town from Brod ...
, - , Assistant Manager , , Chad Gribble , - , First Team Coach , , Paul Green , - , Goalkeeping Coach , , Ian Bennett , - , Head of Sports Science , , Sam Bowring , - , Head of Performance Analysis , , Ryan Simpson , - , Head Scout , , Michael Cairney , - , Physiotherapist , , Michael McBride , - , First Team Coach , , Jessica Jardine , - , Club Doctor , , Dr Tim Douglas , - , Head of Academy , , Tony Cook , ,


Stadium


1885–1915 – Intake Ground

For the first six years the club began playing their games wherever they could, on playing fields at Town Moor and the Racecourse. They gained a permanent ground in 1885 when they started playing their games near the Institute for the Deaf and Dumb and so was known as the Deaf and Dumb Ground. A year later the stadium was officially named as the Intake Ground. A few months after completion, the roof blew off the stand, and the same happened in 1894 on the press and team officials stand after a gale. They played their football there until August
1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...
when the club went into liquidation. A new company did take over the club soon after but all English league competition was suspended in
1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". *January 1 ...
due to the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and the club was closed down and the ground turned into an
Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
depot.


1920–1922 – Bennetthorpe Ground

When the Club was reformed after the war in the summer of 1919, the Army were still occupying the old Intake Ground as a depot. They had wanted to move to Low Pastures but restrictions set by the local council meant this was not a viable option. The Club did not join the Midland League until 1920–21, by which time and as a temporary solution, a field was found on the south side of Bennetthorpe for which they were given a two-year lease. On the first day of the second season (1921–22) there, in the Midland League, the Bennetthorpe Ground saw 7,219 people watch Rovers against
Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsbo ...
. The ground consisted of a small stand on one side and small organised terraces around the pitch. Some of the fencing/gates on Town Moor Avenue remain.


1922–2006 – Low Pasture, Belle Vue

With council restrictions on the six acre Low Pastures site having been satisfactorily negotiated, the Club moved there for the beginning of the 1922–23 season. Large amounts of ash from nearby coal tips was laid as a base for the pitch, serving it well throughout its years of use with superb drainage. Initially, there was a stand for 4,000 seated fans with terracing in front for another 3,000. The ground had a unique feature in that home and away teams had separate entrances. The stadium was opened in 1922 by Charles Sutcliffe, a representative of the
Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
when it was named Belle Vue. The first match there was against Gainsborough Trinity in the Midland League with an attendance of 10,000. After two years, shelter was added for standing spectators on the "Popular Side". A few years later in 1927, the stand from the Bennetthorpe Ground was jacked up and moved to the new venue providing a sheltered stand at the "Town End". The "Popular Side" was extended in 1927 and concreted in 1928.
Turnstile A turnstile (also called a turnpike, gateline, baffle gate, automated gate, turn gate in some regions) is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. A turnstile can be configured to enforce one-way human traffic. In addition, a t ...
s, gates and fencing were added in 1935, and in 1938 the "Popular Side" stand roof was replaced and put further back increasing the capacity of Belle Vue to 40,000. In 1947 the stadium recorded its highest attendance of 37,099 against Hull City, although apocryphal accounts refute this and claim that many more gained entry to the ground by climbing over walls and thus avoided having to pay. Following the Bradford City stadium fire disaster, in 1985 the wooden "Cow Shed", as the old Bennetthorpe stand was known, had to be removed for safety reasons. Mining subsidence in 1987 meant much of the "Pop Side" was removed, drastically reducing the grounds capacity to around 10,000. Further safety conditions imposed after the
Hillsborough disaster The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal human crush during a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the ...
led the capacity to fall to 7,294. When the Westferry Consortium took over the club in 1998 one of the first guarantees was to help establish a new stadium for the club. Belle Vue had never been upgraded heavily since 1938 and despite minor cosmetic changes and the addition of some seating was really showing its age by the time Westferry took over. Despite this, some improvements were made in the last few years of its use as the Club rose out of the Conference, through Division 3 and into League 1. The Town End terracing was made safe and usable with portacabins added as executive stands behind it. The Rossington End was also extended and updated, with the capacity in its final years rising to around 11,500. In 2003 it was renamed the Earth Stadium after Earth Finance started sponsoring the ground. Belle Vue was Doncaster's home for 84 years.


2007–present – Keepmoat/Eco-Power Stadium

A new 15,231 all-seated stadium owned by Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council and rented by the club, was completed in December 2006. The first game at the new Keepmoat Stadium was against Huddersfield Town on
New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...
, 2007. The game also saw the first three red cards in the new stadium. Doncaster Rovers' centre forward Mark McCammon was the first player ever to score on the new pitch in a football match. The official opening of the Keepmoat Stadium was on 3 August 2007, with Doncaster Rovers playing a
Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
XI in front of a crowd of 13,080. United won the game 2–0 with Anderson making his debut for them. On 19 June 2012 it was confirmed that Doncaster Rovers F.C. had secured a 99 Year operating lease from Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council to lead the management of the Keepmoat stadium with a view to improving operating results. The change placed the Club back in charge of its home Stadium after the period of renting since its move from Belle Vue (also leased from the Council) in 2007. On 11 August 2012, the stadium was officially handed over to chairman John Ryan in a presentation before the League Cup tie with York City. On 27th December 2021, the stadium underwent a name change in line with the sponsorship rights being handed over from Keepmoat Homes to the Eco-Power Group


Training facilities

Doncaster train at Cantley Park which has been their main training facility since June 2000. The site was originally leased from Case IH.


Crests

Like most of the early English football clubs, the original crest adopted by Doncaster Rovers was that of the local
coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
. The coat of arms of Doncaster at the time was of two lions holding Yorkshire roses in their mouths as well as a red shield depicting the old medieval Doncaster Castle. The coat of arms is primarily red and white which explains the team's decision to adopt red and white as their colours. The club stopped using Doncaster's coat of arms in 1972 when the Viking crest was introduced. In the sixties Doncaster council denied Rovers permission to use the coat of arms and therefore a competition was held, from which the best design would be selected as the club's new badge. The winner and current crest was designed by a group of local students and named "the Viking". When the new crest was introduced it included a monochrome Viking image overlaying a red and white circle, which denoted the club's colours, along with the year of the club's formation 1879. The Viking image would become known as "The Turk's Head". Also included on the crest was a shield with the club's initials – D.R.F.C. as well as the Yorkshire white rose in reference to the club's location. The inset shield was also coloured red and white to denote the team colours. In the early 1990s the crest was altered, omitting the red and white circle background and the Viking image was coloured gold. A further modification to the Doncaster Rovers crest was introduced in 2006 and used until 2012. This version included a new Yorkshire rose design on the shield as well as a slightly different Viking image in dark yellow. The club reverted to the previously used design in 2012 with a two-tone gold background. This is the version still in use by the club today.


Honours


League

English third tier
''Champions'':
2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

''Play-off winners'': 2007–08
— Northern half
— ''Champions'': 1934–35, 1946–47, 1949–50
— ''Runners up'': 1937–38, 1938–39 English fourth tier
''Champions'': 1965–66, 1968–69, 2003–04
''Runners up'': 1983–84 ''Promoted'': 1980–81, 2016–17 English fifth tier
''Play-Off Winners'': 2002–03 Midland Football League
''Champions'': 1896–97, 1898–99
''Runners up'': 1900–01, 1922–23 Midland Alliance League
''Runners up'': 1890–91 Yorkshire League
''Runners up'': 1898–99


Cup

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

2006–07
Sheffield and Hallamshire County Cup The Sheffield & Hallamshire County Cup was a county cup competition involving the professional sides within the Sheffield and Hallamshire County Football Association. It ran from 1920/21 to the mid-1990s, with several gaps between tournaments. E ...

1935–36, 1937–38, 1940–41, 1955–56, 1967–68, 1975–76, 1985–86 Conference Cup
1998–99, 1999–2000


League history

Doncaster Rovers have played their football in the following leagues: Midland Alliance League
1890–91 Midland Football League:
1891–92 to 1900–01,
1903–04 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...
,
1905–06 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...
to 1922–23
Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
:
1901–02 to
1902–03 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...
,
1904–05 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...
, 1923–24 to 1997–98, 2003–04 to Present 2nd Tier – Division 2, Championship:
1901–02 to
1902–03 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...
,
1904–05 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...
, 1935–36 to 1936–37, 1947–48, 1950–51 to 1957–58, 2008–09 to 2011–12, 2013–14 3rd Tier – Division 3 North, Division 3, League 1:
1923–24 to 1934–35, 1937–38 to 1946–47, 1948–49 to 1949–50, 1958–59, 1966–67, 1969–70 to 1970–71, 1981–82 to 1982–83, 1984–85 to 1987–88, 2004–05 to 2007–08,
2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
, 2014–15 to 2015–16, 2017–18 to
2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...
4th Tier – Division 4, Division 3:
1959–60 Football League, 1959–60 to 1965–66 Football League, 1965–66, 1967–68 Football League, 1967–68 to 1968–69 Football League, 1968–69, 1971–72 Football League, 1971–72 to 1980–81 Football League, 1980–81, 1983–84 Football League, 1983–84, 1988–89 Football League, 1988–89 to 1997–98, 2003–04, 2016–17 English Football League, 2016–17 Football Conference, 5th Tier – Football Conference
1998–99 Football Conference, 1998–99 to 2002–03 Football Conference, 2002–03


Last 10 seasons

{, class="wikitable" , +Doncaster Rovers: League Standings for last 10 Seasons , - ! Season !! League !! Pos !! P !! W !! D !! L !! F !! A !! GD !! Pts , - , 2020-21, , 2020-21 EFL League One, League 1 , , 14th , , 46 , , 19 , , 7 , , 20 , , 63 , , 67 , , -4 , , 64 , - , 2019–20, , 2019–20 EFL League One, League 1 , , 9th , , 34 , , 16 , , 11 , , 9 , , 51 , , 33 , , 18 , , 54 , - , 2018–19, , 2018–19 EFL League One, League 1 , , 6th , , 46 , , 20 , , 13 , , 13 , , 76 , , 58 , , 18 , , 73 , - , 2017–18, , 2017–18 EFL League One, League 1 , , 15th , , 46 , , 13 , , 17 , , 16 , , 52 , , 52 , , 0 , , 56 , - , 2016–17, , 2016–17 EFL League Two, League 2 , , 3rd , , 46 , , 25 , , 10 , , 11 , , 85 , , 55 , , 30 , , 85 , - , 2015–16, , 2015–16 Football League One, League 1 , , 21st , , 46 , , 11 , , 13 , , 22 , , 48 , , 64 , , −16 , , 46 , - , 2014–15, , 2014–15 Football League One, League 1 , , 13th , , 46 , , 16 , , 13 , , 17 , , 58 , , 62 , , −4 , , 61 , - , 2013–14, , Football League Championship, Championship , , 22nd , , 46 , , 11 , , 11 , , 24 , , 39 , , 70 , , −31 , , 44 , - , 2012–13, , 2012–13 Football League One, League 1 , , 1st , , 46 , , 25 , , 9 , , 12 , , 62 , , 44 , , 18 , , 84 , - , 2011–12, , Football League Championship, Championship , , 24th , , 46 , , 8 , , 12 , , 26 , , 43 , , 80 , , −37 , , 36 , - Pos = Position; P = Played; W = Won; D = Drawn; L = Lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points


Managerial history


Kits and sponsorship

From 1879 to 1885 Doncaster played in blue and white, and since then red and white. The club's first strip was a navy blue and white strip with a yellow diagonal cross. The kit uniquely included a blue Tam o' Shanter (cap), Tam o' Shanter with a red Pom-pon#Toorie, toorie at the centre. A solid red shirt with a black collar was the first design adopted when the club first entered the English Football league in 1901. Since 2001 the club have played in a red and white hooped home shirt. The home shirts have been red and white hooped (44 seasons), solid red (37), solid white (18), and red and white striped (10). {, class="wikitable" , - ! Season(s) !! Shirt manufacturer !! Main sponsor !Second shirt sponsor* , - , 1879–1977 , , ''None'', , rowspan="5", ''None'' , rowspan="20" , ''None'' , - , 1978–1979 , , Umbro , - , 1979–1981 , , Sereena , - , 1981–1982 , , Lynx , - , 1982–1984 , , Gertroot , - , 1982–1984 , , rowspan="2", Hobbott, , CIL , - , 1984–1987 , , Pilkington Glass , - , 1987–1988 , , rowspan="2", Spall, , St. George's Car Centre , - , 1988–1990 , , rowspan="3", Doncaster Free Press , - , 1990–1992 , , Ribero , - , 1992–1993 , , rowspan="4", Matchwinner , - , 1993–1994 , , European Car Rental , - , 1994–1995 , , Sheffield Star, Doncaster Star , - , 1995–1996 , , Hayselden Motors , - , 1996–1997 , , Patrick (shoe company), Patrick, , rowspan="2", East Riding Sacks , - , 1997–1998 , , Olympic Sports , - , 1998–1999 , , ASICS, Asics, , rowspan="2", Beazer Homes , - , 1999–2001 , , Viking Leisurewear , - , 2001–2002 , , rowspan="2", Vandanel, , One Call Insurance , - , 2002–2003 , , Ledger Mobility , - , 2003–2006 , , Carlotti, , Sports Direct, Streetwise Sports , rowspan="2" , Toyota , - , 2006–2007 , , Sports Direct, Streetwise Sports, , Carlotti , - , 2007–2008 , , Carlotti, , rowspan="2", Wright Investments , rowspan="9" , Stoneacre Motor Group , - , 2008–2010 , , Vandanel , - , 2010–2013 , , Nike, Inc., Nike, , rowspan="3", One Call Insurance , - , 2013–2016 , , Avec , - , 2016–2017 , , rowspan="3" , FBT (company), FBT , - , 2017–2018 , , Virgin Trains East Coast , - , 2018–2019 , , rowspan="3" , London North Eastern Railway, LNER , - , 2019– , Elite Pro Sports , - London North Eastern Railway, LNER pledged their sponsorship for 2 further years after the 2018–2019 season. Stoneacre Motor Group, Stoneacre also agreed a new contract with the club to last until the end of the 2021–2022 season extending the partnership to 13 years. *This sponsor appears on the back of the home kit


Player of the Year

The following players have won Doncaster Rovers Player of the year award. {, class="wikitable" , - ! Season !! Winner !! Notes , - , 1991–92 in English Football, 1991–92 , , Eddie Gormley , , - , 1992–93 in English Football, 1992–93 , , Eddie Gormley , , - , 1996–97 in English football, 1996–97 , , Colin Cramb , , , - , 1997–98 in English football, 1997–98 , , Lee Warren , , , - , 1998–99 , , Ian Duerden , , , - , 1999–2000 , , Simon Marples , , , - , 2000–01 in English football, 2000–01 , , Jamie Paterson (footballer, born 1973), Jamie Paterson , , , - , 2001–02 in English football, 2001–02 , , Jamie Paterson (footballer, born 1973), Jamie Paterson , , , - , 2002–03 in English football, 2002–03 , , Paul Barnes (footballer), Paul Barnes , , , - , 2003–04 , , Gregg Blundell , , , - , 2004–05 in English football, 2004–05 , , Michael McIndoe , , , - , 2005–06 , , Michael McIndoe , , , - , 2006–07 in English football, 2006–07 , , Adam Lockwood / Graeme Lee , , , - , 2007–08 , , Richie Wellens , , , - , 2008–09 , , Matt Mills, Matthew Mills , , , - , 2009–10 , , James O'Connor (footballer born 1984), James O'Connor , , , - ,
2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
, , Billy Sharp , , , - , 2011–12 , , George Friend , , , - ,
2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
, , Rob Jones , , , - , 2013–14 in English football, 2013–14 , , Chris Brown (footballer born 1984), Chris Brown , , , - , 2014–15 in English football, 2014–15 , , Nathan Tyson , , , - , 2015–16 in English football, 2015–16 , , Craig Alcock , , Voted by Sheffield Star , - , 2016–17 , ,
John Marquis John Edward Marquis (born 16 May 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-forward for EFL League One club Bristol Rovers. Career Millwall Born in Lewisham, London, Marquis progressed through the ranks of Millwall, sign ...
/ James Coppinger, , , - , 2017–18 in English football, 2017–18 , , James Coppinger, , , - , 2018–19 in English football, 2018–19 , , Benjamin Whiteman, Ben Whiteman, , , - , 2019–20 in English football, 2019–20 , , n/a , , Season void , - , 2020–21 in English football, 2020–21 , , James Coppinger, , , - , 2021–22 in English football, 2021–22 ,
Tommy Rowe Thomas Malcolm Rowe (born 24 September 1988) is an English professional footballer who primarily plays as a winger but can also operate at left back and currently plays for Doncaster Rovers. Career Stockport County Rowe was born in Wythenshaw ...
,


Records


Other teams

Doncaster Rovers Belles L.F.C., Doncaster Rovers Belles have historically been one of the most successful sides in the women's game, however over recent years, partly due to highly controversial FA decisions and policy, they have fallen down the league ladder. They were formed by Rover's lottery ticket saleswomen in 1969 as Doncaster Rovers Belles L.F.C., Belle Vue Belles. They merged with the Official DRFC Women's side in 2003 becoming Doncaster Rovers Belles, though they were still run independently. In 2019 they became part of Club Doncaster. They currently play in the FA Women's National League Division One Midlands. Their home games are played at Rossington Main F.C., Oxford Street, Rossington. Whilst not affiliated in any way to the English club, Doncaster Rovers SC, Doncaster Rovers of Melbourne, Australia, who play in the Football Federation Victoria, Victoria Leagues, were formed in 1967 and named after them.


Mascot

The team's mascot, previously portrayed by Andrew Liney, is a brown dog known as ''Donny Dog'' that wears a red and white Rovers jersey. Before a scheduled appearance during the game against Huddersfield Town at the Galpharm Stadium on 4 March 2006, police prevented Liney from entering the stadium in costume, citing unspecified "police intelligence", and refused him permission to wear any part of the costume within 50 metres of the stadium. Mr Liney later received a full written apology for these unfounded allegations from the head of West Yorkshire Police. The mascot was next portrayed by Tracy Chandler and in June 2011, she was relieved from the position after she posed in her underwear for a Sunday newspaper. Later in the same week she was reinstated back as the club's mascot. A second mascot, a yellow haired and bearded Viking with a helmet and wearing the away shirt named Eric the Viking, made its first appearance at the home game against Yeovil on 25 February 2013.


Fanzine

Doncaster Rovers' fanzine is called "Popular Stand" which was first launched in January 1998. Previously there have been several other fanzines "Raise The Roof", "Warboys is still God" and "Keegan Was Crap Really" which are no longer being published. The fanzine sells at £1 which is the same price as when it was first published in 1998. All of its profits of the fanzine are donated to Doncaster Rovers or related causes. Popular Stand is currently edited by Glen Wilson. In 2016 Popular Stand won the Football Supporters' Federation Fanzine of the Year.


Rivalries

Doncaster Rovers' main rivals are Rotherham United F.C., Rotherham United, Barnsley F.C., Barnsley, and
Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...
, with
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
, Sheffield United, Chesterfield F.C., Chesterfield, Leeds United F.C., Leeds United and Mansfield Town F.C., Mansfield Town all being rivalries to a lesser extent.


TV

In 1998 Rovers featured in a documentary on Yorkshire Television. This episode titled ''"Trading Places"'' documents and contrasts the 1997–98 season for two of the region's football clubs; Rovers heading out of the
Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
and Halifax Town A.F.C., Halifax Town heading the opposite the way as Champions of the Conference National, Conference. Also in 1998 the club was featured in the 1998 Channel 5 (UK), Channel 5 'fly-on-the-wall' documentary ''"They Think It's All Rovers"'' in which it showed the fall of Rovers. In the early 1980s there was a documentary about Billy Bremner as the manager of Rovers. The documentary is notable not only for the inside look at the pre-match preparations, warm-up conducted in the dressing rooms, starting line-up read out as if it is coming to Bremner there and then, but for such rare footage of early 1980s Belle Vue, with a full-size Popular Stand and the Cow Shed still standing at the Town End.


References


External links


Official website

Doncaster Rovers club and player records and statistics at Statto.com
{{Authority control Doncaster Rovers F.C., Football clubs in England Sport in Doncaster Association football clubs established in 1879 Football clubs in South Yorkshire English Football League clubs EFL Trophy winners 1879 establishments in England Sheffield & Hallamshire County FA members Midland Football League (1889) National League (English football) Companies that have entered administration in the United Kingdom