Click on the links below to go directly to the relevant parts of the guide :

Club Background; We've Met Before; Photo Galleries; Club News; Club Statistics; Club Information; Directions To The Ground; Web Resources; Food And Drink; Local Amenities

Doncaster's Logo : The Viking. Their more usual nickname is 'Rovers' but you may find kids wearing viking helmets in the ground.

We first came across Doncaster in 1998 when came down to the Conference. Donny fans suffered more than most ex-League clubs from a huge collective chip on their shoulders - unsurprising really, given the fact that their club had barely escaped alive after the predations of the disgraced Richardson regime when a concerted effort was made to bankrupt the club. Richardson eventually went to prison for conspiring in an attempt to burn the stadium down. Gradually however the real Rovers fans emerged - passionate about their football and their team, yes, but welcoming and generous too, as over 1,000 Glovers found out when visiting Belle Vue in April 2003 to witness and celebrate Yeovil's capture of the Conference title and their promotion to the Football League. Donny finished third that season, and then became the first club to gain promotion through the new Conference play-off system. The following season, whilst the bride was just missing out on a play-off spot in Division Three, the bridesmaid stormed straight through to secure their first title since 1969.

The away end at Belle Vue - the away accommodation at the Keepmoat will be a bit more salubrious.

As well as progressing on the pitch, Donny were finally doing well off it as well. Belle Vue (Earth Stadium) was a crumbling wreck more suited to the outskirts of downtown Kabul than a thriving Football League team. After years of false starts a new 15,000 all-seater ground was built as they rose up the divisions. The Lakeside Sports Complex (the stadium is known as the Keepmoat Stadium), mostly funded by the council, is the new home for Doncaster Lakers Rugby League Club, Doncaster Rovers Football Club, Doncaster Rovers Belles Women’s Football Club and the Doncaster & Stainforth Athletics Club. The Rugby League and Ladies sides use the stadium pitch, whilst various other associations use the adjoining facilities. Rovers played their first match there on 1st January 2007.

Chairman/benefactor John Ryan has shown in the past that he's not afraid to put his money where his mouth is when bankrolling the club, and Ryan himself admitted to pumping over £5 million into keeping the club afloat during their years in the Conference - excuse enough then to indulge his life long dream of playing in the red and white colours of the Vikings, accomplished when he took the pitch as a 90th minute substitute at Hereford on the final league game of the 2002-03 season, incidentally becoming at 52 years and 11 months the oldest registered player in the professional game. Shame he didn't actually touch the ball, but the spirit was certainly willing. More recently he's tended to have a rather lower profile, but has continued to head up the club since their non-league days, and deserves credit for not being one of these boom'n'bust Chairmen that end up doing long term damage to their clubs.

Doncaster's Main Stand at Belle Vue. Once the target of an arson attempt by former Chairman Richardson after a couple of idiots managed to blow it up at 3.00 a.m in the morning after tampering with the gas main.

After getting into League One Donny were very solid for three seasons, finishing 10th (2004-05), 8th (2005-06), 11th (2006-07). During this time though, they swapped Dave Penney - the man who had got themselves two promotions - for Sean O'Driscoll. He was to take them up another level during the 2007-08 season, getting them in the Play-Off Final where they defeated Yorkshire rivals Leeds United by a single goal. The man who became a Rovers legend on that day was none other than James Hayter.

That meant that Donny had by now achieved promotion in 2003 (Conference), 2004 (League Two) and 2008 (League One) and were now at Championship level for the first time since 1958. They were probably expected to find that a bridge too far, but started pretty well, managing a 14th (2008-09) and a 12th (2009-10) placed finish before gravity started to catch up, with them finishing 20th (2010-11) and then 24th (2011-12) thus ending a four year stay at second tier level. O'Driscoll departed in September 2011 and he was replaced by Dean Saunders, who was the man who took Rovers down, although with the downward trend having already set in.

Down in League One once again, Saunders got off to a very slow start this season, and it looked as though they were set for an extended stay at this level ... or quite possibly worse! However, they found their feet after the psychological scars of relegation, and gradually pulled themselves up the table and into the top six ... only for Saunders to jump ship and take up a vacancy at Wolverhampton Wanderers. Former Wales Under-21 manager Brian Flynn, who had been working as a Scout at the club has taken up the reins with the aim of continuity. Donny have wobbled since that switch, but they will be praying that they hold their nerve for a quick return back up to the Championship by the end of the season.

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RECENT RESULTS

01/04/2013	Swindon Town	Home	NPL1	W	1-0	8106		McCombe 80
06/04/2013	Tranmere Rovers	Home	NPL1	W	1-0	7979		Jones 63
09/04/2013	Carlisle United	Home	NPL1	L	0-2	7884
13/04/2013	Crewe Alexandra	Away	NPL1	W	2-1	5465		Paynter 66, 70
20/04/2013	Notts County	Home	NPL1	L	0-1	12624
27/04/2013	Brentford	Away	NPL1	W	1-0	12300		Coppinger 90

FORTHCOMING FIXTURES

CLUB GOALSCORERS

Name	LGE	FAC	FAT	LGC	CC	Total
Billy Paynter	13	0	0	0	0	13
Chris Brown	8	1	0	2	0	11
David Cotterill	10	0	0	0	0	10
Rob Jones	7	0	0	1	0	8
Iain Hume	6	1	0	0	0	7
David Syers	3	0	0	2	0	5
James Husband	3	0	0	0	0	3
Kyle Bennett	3	0	0	0	0	3
James Coppinger	2	0	0	0	0	2
Martin Woods	1	1	0	0	0	2
Jamie McCombe	1	0	0	0	0	1
Tommy Spurr	1	0	0	0	0	1
Robbie Blake	0	1	0	0	0	1
Danny Hollands	1	0	0	0	0	1
Jordan Ball	0	0	0	1	0	1
Paul Keegan	1	0	0	0	0	1
Own Goals	2	0	0	0	0	2

ATTENDANCE STATISTICS

Highest League Attendance: 12785, vs Sheffield United, 01/01/2013
Lowest League Attendance: 5411, vs Crewe Alexandra, 06/11/2012
Average League Attendance: 7239

CURRENT LEAGUE SEQUENCE STATISTICS

Games Without A Win:	0		Games Without A Home Win:	2
Games Without An Away Win:	0		Games Without Defeat:	1
Games Without A Home Defeat:	0		Games Without An Away Defeat:	2
Games Without A Draw:	8		Games Without A Score Draw:	8
Games Without A No-Score Draw:	15		Games Without Scoring:	0
Games Without Conceding:	1		Home Results Sequence:	WDWWLL
Away Results Sequence:	LWWLWW		Overall Results Sequence:	WWLWLW

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Leave the M18 at Junction 3, taking the first exit (left) at top of sliproad signed Doncaster. Follow the A6182 towards the town Doncaster and after two and a half miles you'll meet a giant roundabout, the Lakeside Shopping Centre on your right........... and the stadium is behind it. That's it.

However you might wish to travel on to Belle Vue, not for the nostalgia but the parking (see Parking below). Follow the brown signs for the Racecourse.

Parking

There is space for 1,000 cars at the new stadium, but this will cost you £5.00 per car. They appear to have dropped the early regulations that forced you to have a minimum number of people in your car to park there.

Alternatively you can make use of the 'Park & Walk' scheme. That large unsurfaced car park is still in front of the old Belle Vue stadium. Our interpretation is that this should now be free. When you leave the Belle Vue car park you should find yellow direction signs to help you get to the stadium.

The nearby leisure complex between the two grounds is not advised for parking unless you can demonstrate you are a customer of one of the facilities there. Wheel clamping is in operation.


By Rail

There's normally a good direct service to Doncaster from London King's Cross, with several trains an hour through the day taking from one hour forty-one minutes to one hour fifty-one minutes. Services are offered by Hull Trains and GNER.

Doncaster railway station is near the town centre and a long walk from the ground so you may want a bus or taxi (see below).

By Bus

The First Bus 72 and 75 services will operate from the Doncaster Frenchgate Interchange bus station every 20 minutes between 5.30a.m. and 6.00pm (Monday - Saturday) then hourly thereafter until 9.15p.m. and on every 30 minutes between 9.35a.m. and 6.05p.m. on Sundays. Both go via the Lakeside. They provide an 'enhanced' service on matchdays in addition to the above standard timetable provisions.

By Taxi

A selection of Doncaster taxi companies can be found here.

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Local Pubs :

It has to be said that, fairly or unfairly, Doncaster doesn't have the best reputation as a friendly place to visit. They're somewhat better than they used to be during their Belle Vue days - probably the general vibe of the lakeside retail parks and a new shiny stadium tends not to provoke the feeling that the crumbling old ground evoked. Plus over the years as peers we have followed each others paths to a fairly decent extent. Sometimes that breeds contempt - in Donny's case there appears to be a fair bit of respect, but of the town itself we'd suggest that you don't stray too far from the mainstream places.

There is the usual mix of chain pubs and local boozers in town. The prices are generally good and there’s plenty of pool tables and Sky Sports screens to go round. Of those nearer the ground there are a couple of pubs that seem to be geared towards the races rather than the football but could easily satisfy your thirst. The first of these two is the Grand St Leger Hotel. It can be found on the corner of the last roundabout before you reach the old ground, diagonally opposite the race course. The Cheswold is about ten to fifteen minutes walk from the ground deep into a large leisure park. Family friendly - if you have a family utterly lacking in taste - but not keen on colours.

We've tried quite a few hostelries in the area over the years. The two that have stood out for good beer are The Salutation in Doncaster and the Scarbrough Arms a few miles away in Tickhill.

An alternative in Tickhill to the Scarbrough Arms © Hugh Gleave Carpenters Arms: Also in Tickhill and an alternative to the Scarbrough Arms if you also want food. Real ales are Jennings Cumberland Ale, Black Sheep Best Bitter and John Smith's Bitter. Good portions of food, and a fairly wide ranging menu. Children are welcome in the conservatory, and there is a garden and play area for younger ones. Opening 12.00 p.m. - 11.00 p.m. everyday, except Saturday when it closes at 12.30 a.m. and Monday when it doesn't open at all. Own car park. Carpenters Arms, Westgate, Tickhill, South Yorkshire, DN11 9NE. Tel: 01302 742839. Map: Click Here.

Cheswold: Brewers Fayre pub in the Doncaster Leisure Park, ten minutes from the ground. Caters particularly for those with younger families. Standard Brewers Fayre menu, large children's area, etc. The chain makes lots of money so some people must like their pubs. We don't. Cheswold, Doncaster Leisure Park, Bawtry Road, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN4 7NW. Tel: 01302 533000. Map: Click Here.

Posh, but has no problem with serving football fans © Hugh Gleave Grand St. Leger Hotel: A couple of minutes walk if you've chosen to use the old Belle Vue car park and your party want a drink. Up-market looking outside, London prices inside, 3 star hotel which perhaps surprisingly has never had any issues with football fans dropping in. Hotel style bar - as one would expect given it's a hotel - open to non-residents. Mostly standard fizz, though there was one real ale on. Can't now recall what it was, so nothing exciting presumably. Open all day. Grand St. Leger Hotel, Racecourse Roundabout, Bennetthorpe, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN2 6AX. Tel: 01302 364111. Map: Click Here.

Salutation : best pub in the area © Hugh Gleave Salutation: Old coaching inn dating from 1745. Large single bar, partially divided into smaller areas. Good cheap food served 12 noon - 9.00 p.m. The large screen had gone last time we used the place but word is it's now been replaced by a couple of plasma TVs. Does an excellent range of real ales. Tetley Bitter and Dark Mild are regulars, with a changing series of up to seven guests. There's also a beer brewed in aid of Doncaster Rovers - but you don't have to drink that. Popular with Donny fans, and a chatty and friendly crew they were too. The only downside is that it is a long walk to the ground. Opening 12 noon - 11.00 p.m. (12.00 midnight Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, 10.30 p.m. Sunday). Some (very) limited parking. Wheelchair friendly. Salutation, 14, South Parade, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN1 2DR. Tel: 01302 368464. Email: salutationdoncaster@gmail.com. Website: Click Here. Map: Click Here.

Traditional pub out in Tickhill © Hugh Gleave Scarbrough Arms: Those preferring to drink outside Doncaster will find this repeated winner of local CAMRA awards is still OK but not what it was in our opinion after a change of ownership. Opening hours are 11.00 a.m. (noon Monday) - 3.00 p.m and 6.00 p.m. - 11.00 p.m. on weekdays, 11.00 a.m. - 11.00 p.m. Saturday. The pub is divided into three smallish rooms each with a different atmosphere. For those who have eaten there in the past - and excellent it was too - the news is..... they don't do food any more. Beers are now the rather dull Greene King Abbot, John Smith's Bitter and Courage Directors as regulars, though the guests were interesting last time we called in. Children welcome. Tables outside for good weather. Good sized car park. Scarbrough Arms, Sunderland Street, Tickhill, South Yorkshire, DN11 9QJ. Tel: 01302 742977. Map: Click Here.

The Park Hotel: A venue we haven't used so just going on reports: stacked out with Doncaster fans, but friendly before kick-off. However some have mentioned problems after games, so this may be one for a pre-match sup. They do food there as well, with decent sized chip baskets to keep the stomach quiet. The Park Hotel, 232 Carr House Road, Hyde Park, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN4 5DS. Tel: 01302 364008. Map: Click Here.

Likelihood the Natives Will Understand You :

Low, unless you insert a collection of localised additions around your usual conversation. Useful sentences would include "Di’ye know the way t’ground?" and "Amaye a’rite fer a pint?" We suggest you also shy away from heavy usage of phrases containing ‘mate’, ‘geezer’ and ‘gert any zider, boy’ as this will swiftly identify you as a bit of an outsider.

Top-Tip :

If there's a race meeting on the day before or after the game, stay overnight and have a go on the Gee-Gees whilst you're there. Although that would mean you'd have to sample some of the Doncaster nightlife. On second thoughts ...

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[No responsibilty is taken for any inaccuracies. This page is entirely the product of bias and prejudice.]

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