Doncaster Rovers Football Club

Doncaster Rovers Football Club is an English football club, based at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The team currently competes in the Football League Championship, after being promoted via the League One play-offs in 2008.

The club was founded in 1879 and turned professional in 1885. Doncaster have spent the majority of their playing history between the third and fifth tiers of the English football league system and are one of three clubs to win the Division 3/League Two title 3 times.

However since 2008 they have been playing in the second tier of English football. This marks only the fourth time they have played at this level in their history and is the highest league the team has ever played in. They were elected into the old Second Division in 1901 where they only spent two years before going back into the regional league. They were once again re-elected to the league in 1904 however only lasted a year before failing to be re-elected in 1905. Their third stint at this level of English football was for 8 years from 1951-1958. This is seen as the club's most successful period and was spearheaded by one of the club's all-time great players, Alick Jeffrey.

The club's colours have traditionally been red and white. Their home strip is red and white hoops which has been the main design of the club’s home shirt since 2001.

Sean O’Driscoll has been the manager of club since August 2006, joining from Bournemouth after the late summer depature of Dave Penney. The current club captain is Brian Stock.

History
The club was formed in September 1879 by Albert Jenkins, a fitter at Doncaster's Great Northern Railway works in response to the emerging popularity of the game in the nearby city of Sheffield. The team turned professional in 1885 and were first elected to the Football League in 1901, as a replacement for New Brighton Tower. Their first season in the League was precisely the one when Doncaster achieved their highest position ever (7th in the Football League Second Division). They only lasted two seasons in the league before being voted out in favour of local rivals Bradford City due to finishing the 1902-03 season in the bottom three. They spent the subsequent season in the non-league Midlands Division. A second attempt, in 1904-05, lasted only one season with Doncaster finishing dead last and were voted out once again. They would have to wait until 1923 before playing English league football again, when they were elected to the Football League Third Division North to replace Stalybridge Celtic.

The club didn't have a permanent ground until 1885 when they started playing their games from the Intake Ground. They played their football here until August 1914 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 due to the First World War and the club was closed down and the ground was turned into an Army base. The club did eventually reform in 1920 after the war's end and due to losing their old ground to the Army were forced to build a new ground. The ground was called Belle Vue and initially had a 10,000 people capacity. Doncaster played their first game there in 1922. Belle Vue was Doncaster's home for 84 years and in that time only received one major upgrade when in 1938 the grounds capacity was increased to 40,000.

They hold the record for the most games won in a league season (33 in 1946-47, won the Third Division North title). In 1997-98, Doncaster also set the record for losses in a season, suffering the humiliation of enduring a record 34 league defeats as they finished bottom of Division Three and went into the Football Conference. Just after this relegation, the then chairman Ken Richardson was sent to prison for four years after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit arson after a fire in June 1995 within the Main Stand at Belle Vue. They returned to the Football League five years later as Conference playoff winners, and were Division Three champions the following season.

Doncaster were the first team to win the Fourth Division/Third Division (fourth level) championship more than twice (three times in 1966, 1969, and 2004). These changes in League names led to a complication however, when Rovers tried to retain ownership of the actual Third Division trophy. Football League rules state that any team who wins a trophy 3 times can keep it. The Football League however, claimed that the Rovers could not keep the trophy because the name had changed and in theory, Rovers had not won that particular league 3 times. The titles won in 1966 and 1969 were in fact Fourth division (albeit the same in all but name) and Doncaster were the last team to win the Division Three before it was renamed League Two.

In 2005-06, Doncaster beat two Premiership teams in the League Cup - Manchester City and Aston Villa. They reached the quarter finals of the competition where they met Arsenal. They went ahead in normal time and the Arsenal got a goal back, and in extra time Rovers went up for a second time but Gilberto Silva equalised in a controvertionally long injury time and the North London side went on to win by one penalty.

Harry Gregg kept goal for Doncaster in the 1950s, and was sold to Manchester United 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.

The late Billy Bremner, who achieved fame for his playing career with Leeds United and Scotland, managed Doncaster twice, his final spell ending in November 1991 - six years before his death.

Doncaster Rovers were involved in the longest ever football match, against Stockport County at Edgeley Park on March 30, 1946. The match was the second in a Division Three (North) two-legged cup tie and, after 30 minutes of extra time, was deadlocked at 2-2 (also the score in the first leg). After the referee had sought advice from the authorities, it was decided that the game would carry on until one team scored. However, after 203 minutes, and with darkness closing in, the game was finally stopped. Stories abound of fans leaving the game, going home for their tea, and coming back to watch the end of the game. The replay, at Doncaster, was won by Rovers 4-0.

After difficult times for the club in the 1980s and 1990s they found their best form in 50 years in the 2000's. The club has few financial worries due to owner John Ryan's commitment to invest heavily into the club and a new stadium was completed in December 2006. Their first game at the new Keepmoat Stadium was against Huddersfield Town on New Year's Day, 2007 and The first goal scored at the Stadium was by Mark McCammon.

Successive promotions in 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 under the helm of manager Dave Penney returned them to the Coca Cola League I. Penney left in August 2006 feeling he had taken the club as far as he could and was swiftly replaced with former AFC Bournemouth manager Sean O'Driscoll, with Richard O'Kelly as assistant manager.

On 1 April 2007, Doncaster Rovers travelled with their new manager to the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff to play Bristol Rovers in the Johnstones Paint Trophy 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 and brilliant finish from Paul Heffernan put Rovers 2-0 up within the first 5 minutes. However, after a brave fight back from Bristol, the game finished 2-2, so it went to extra time. In the second half of extra time a Sean Thornton 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 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 semi-finals 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 on Sunday 25th May 2008 where they beat Leeds United 1-0 to move into Football League Championship after a half century absence. A James Hayter headed goal in the 47th minute was enough to secure the famous 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 the 20th December 2008 following a narrow 1-0 defeat to Wolves 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 on Boxing Day. This run included derby victories against Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday. The win against Sheffield Wednesday 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 on Saturday 21 February after a 3-1 defeat at the Liberty Stadium. 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. Doncaster ended their first season in the Championship comfortably in 14th position, finishing above 8 former Premier League teams, including Charlton Athletic, Watford, Crystal Palace and Derby County.

Doncaster started the 2009-10 season away at Vicarage Road with a 1-1 draw against Watford. Their first win of the season came at home against Cardiff City 5 games into the season when they won 2-0. Doncaster finished the 2009-10 season marginally better than their first season back in the Championship, finishing two places higher in 12th and earning two more points than the previous season finishing on 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 for Doncaster during his stay.

Crest
Like most of the early English football clubs, the original crest adopted by Doncaster Rovers was that of the local coat of arms. 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 teams decision to adopt red and white as their colours. The club stop using Doncaster’s coat of arms in 1972 when the Viking crest was introduced.

The actual reason behind the Viking appearing on the crest dates back to a sponsorship deal struck between the club and a local Rover car dealership back in 1972 by then owner Morris Setters. The Rover Car Company’s mascot was the Viking, and therefore the decision was made to include a Viking as part of the club’s new crest to subtly symbolise the sponsorship deal between the club and car dealership. The fact that Doncaster was called ‘The Rovers’ was purely coincidental.

When the new crest was introduced it included a monochrome Viking image overlayed over 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 teams 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 is the one currently in use today. The new adaptation includes a new Yorkshire rose design on the shield as well as a slightly different Viking image in dark yellow.

Intake Ground
Doncaster Rovers' first permanent ground was established in 1885 after six years of playing football wherever they could. The ground was based 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. When professional competition was suspended in 1915, the club closed down and the Intake Ground was taken over by the Army and used as a military depot

Welfare Ground
In the summer of 1920 Rovers were revived but were without a home ground as the Army were still using their former home. A new ground was built and named Belle Vue. The stadium opened in 1922

Belle Vue
In 1938 the capacity of Belle Vue was increased to 40,000 and it was in 1947 that 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. Belle Vue was Doncaster's home for 84 years. In 2003 it was renamed the Earth Stadium after the Rotherham based finance company Earth Finance started sponsoring the ground. When John Ryan took over the club in 1998 one of his 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 it's age by the time Ryan took over.

Keepmoat Stadium
A new 15,000 all-seated stadium was completed in December 2006 and their first game at their new Keepmoat Stadium was against Huddersfield Town on New Year's Day, 2007.

Supporters
Notable fans include local born singer Tony Christie, fellow singer Joe Longthorne, Doncaster born retired professional footballer and manager Kevin Keegan, and professional boxer Junior Witter. All have been featured on Doncaster Rovers' official website.

Rivalries
Doncaster Rovers main rivals are usually those of neighbouring football teams with Rotherham United considered by fans their main rival. Others include Leeds, Barnsley, Scunthorpe United, Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday. A rivalry of sorts has also arisen with Nottingham Forest who were promoted alongside Doncaster to the Championship in 2008 and spent most of the 2008–09 season battling against the Rovers to avoid relegation back to League One. During Doncaster's days in the Football Conference, rivalries also emerged with clubs such as Chester City, Boston United, Rushden and Diamonds and Yeovil Town.

Current Players
See: 2010/2011 Squad

Board of Directors

 * Chairman: John Ryan
 * Chairman of Football Operations: John Ryan
 * President: Trevor J Milton
 * Vice Chairman: Dick Watson
 * Chief Executive Officer: David Morris
 * Finance Director: Mike Collet
 * Operations Director: Stuart Highfield
 * Commercial Director: Andrew Liney
 * Non-Executive Directors: Peter Hepworth, Paul May, Terry Brammall

Honours

 * '''Football League Trophy Winners
 * 2006/2007
 * '''Football League One Play-Off Winners
 * 2007/2008
 * '''Division Three Champions
 * 2003/2004
 * '''Third Division North Champions
 * 1934/1935, 1946/1947, 1949/1950
 * '''Fourth Division Champions
 * 1965/1966, 1968/1969
 * '''Conference National Play-Off Winners
 * 2002/2003
 * '''Conference League Cup Winners
 * 1998/1999, 1999/2000
 * '''Sheffield & Hallamshire FA Senior Challenge Cup Winners
 * 1890/1891, 1911/1912, 2000/2001, 2001/2002

Club Records

 * Highest Overall League Finish: 7th, Second Division, 1901-02 Season.
 * Record League victory: 10-0 v Darlington at Belle Vue, Football League Fourth Division, 25 January 1964
 * Record Cup victory: 7-0 v Blyth Spartans at Belle Vue, FA Cup First Round, First Leg, 27 November 1937
 * Record defeat: 0-12 v Small Heath, Division 2, 11 April 1903
 * Record home attendance at Belle Vue: 37,149 vs Hull City, Football League Third Division North, 2 October 1948
 * Record home attendance at Keepmoat Stadium: 15,001 vs Leeds Utd, Football League One, 1 April 2008.
 * Record league points: 92, Division 3, 2003-04
 * Record league goals: 123, Division 3 (N), 1946-47
 * Record League goal-scorer: Tom Keetley, 180 league goals, between 1923-1929
 * Record Cup goal-scorer: Paul Heffernan, 18 cup goals
 * Highest league scorer in a season: 42, Clarrie Jordan, Division 3 (N), 1946-47
 * Most goals in one match: 6 by Tom Keetley in 7-4 win at Ashington, 1928-29
 * Most capped player: Len Graham (14 caps for Northern Ireland)
 * Record appearances: Fred Emery, 417 league matches, 504 total matches
 * Youngest player: Alick Jeffrey (15 years, 229 days, 1954)
 * Record Transfer Fee: £300,000 to Man City for Matthew Mills
 * Record Fee Received: £2,000,000 + clauses from Reading for Matthew Mills

Doncaster Rovers in popular culture
Ricky Tomlinson's Mike Bassett is said to have played for Doncaster in 1975. This is affirmed by Mike's wife who states "I first met Mike in 1975, when he was with Crewe Alexandra, and he was at loan from Doncaster at the time so I remember thinking they might ask for him back, luckilly Doncaster told Crewe they could keep him". Due to the following statement of Mike; "playing for 14 clubs, in 9 different positions, including goalie" (of which is followed by a clip of Mike in net, and an atrociously bad back pass going passed him).

Official

 * Official website

Independent sites

 * Viking Supporters' Co-operative
 * Doncaster Rovers at footymad.net
 * Doncaster Rovers at skysports.com
 * Doncaster Rovers at teamtalk.com
 * Doncaster Rovers at vitalfootball.co.uk
 * BBC's Rovers 'Til I Die Documentary Feature Site
 * BBC's Rovers 'Til I Die Documentary Feature Site