Chester City boss Keith Curle has confirmed that Chester have not yet received permission from Doncaster Rovers to speak to striker Gregg Blundell about a proposed six-figure transfer to the Deva Stadium. Curle, who released 20 of his 29-strong squad at the end of last season, has been talking to three players this week, and is now aiming to sign an experienced midfielder.
Of the Blundell situation, Curle said: “I have not spoken to Gregg Blundell because we have not received permission from Doncaster to speak to him. I would be interested in signing him because I think he is a proven goalscorer who has been a thorn in my side on more than one occasion when I was manager of Mansfield Town. But until Chester receive permission to speak to him we can’t pursue our interest in him.”
Previous press reports suggested that the chairmen of the two clubs had agreed a £110,000 transfer fee, but the Chester Evening Leader report that interest has also been shown by another club in the north-west.

Former Doncaster Rovers striker Glenn Kirkwood, recently released by Burton Albion, has signed for Nationwide North club Hinckley United, along with strikers Marc McGregor and Paul Brown.

As a result, former Rovers striker Paul Barnes has been released by the club.

The Doncaster Star have reported that the two players from Denmark which are expected to be unveiled by Rovers as new signings on Wednesday are both goalkeepers. We also understand that one is "an experienced shot-stopper" and the other a promising younger player.
Dave Penney has also confirmed that he will be making a further scouting visit to Denmark to check on potential new signings. "I feel that Danish players are well suited to playing over here. They have a good technique and have proved sucessful at other clubs over here in the past. They also speak English which is a big plus." Penney is understood to be concentrating on younger players with ambitions of playing at top flight level in this country.
John Doolan's future at Rovers continues to be in doubt after it emerged that he has still not signed the new one-year contract on offer.

Southern League Division One East club Wivenhoe Town have made a major surprise announcement with the news that former Doncaster Rovers player and manager Steve Wignall has been appointed as their assistant manager. Wignall has been a regular visitor to the Broad Lane club last season, with his son, Jack, playing for the club.

Doncaster Rovers are set to announce two new signings on Wednesday, with the still-unnamed players set to arrive at Belle Vue from Scandinavia, where the Rovers management have made a number of visits in recent weeks. The players concerned will not be joining the club until 1st July, when existing contracts expire, and are understood to be from Denmark, where the football season does not finish until 19th June. Rovers chairman revealed the news on Radio Sheffield last week, saying: "We've been doing a lot of work in Scandinavia, particularly in Denmark. We're looking to bring players from abroad as well as the UK as that's the way forward."

Following the triple fracture of his leg in Hucknall Town's FA Trophy final defeat against Grays Athletic at Villa Park last week, former Rovers defender Dean Barrick faces at least six months out of action. He also faces the prospect of his playing career being at an end, but bears Gary Hooper, the Grays player involved in the 25th minute incident, no grudges, dismissing the incident as "oen fo those things."
Dean went on to say: "I thought the ball was there to be won. I haven't seen a TV replay. But Mick Heathcote (one of Town's substitutes) said he thought I was second favourite to win it. I respect his opinion and if that's what he says, then that is good enough for me."
Barrick's injury required a four hour operation last Monay, but surgeons are pleased with the outcome of the operation, and he may be allowed to return to Wakefield this week.

Former Doncaster Rovers winger Jamie Lawrence is one of six players to be given a free transfer by League One club Brentford, with the others leaving Griffin Park being John Salako, Deon Burton, Stephen Hunt, Andy Myers and Scott Fitzgerald. Lawrence joined the club last September in a non-contract deal following his release by Grimsby Town.

As usual, Doncaster Rovers are holding a soccer skills course this week at the Hall Cross Lower School, St Michael's Road, Bessacarr. The courses are being held between Tuesday (31st May) and Friday (3rd June), with a 5 to 7 year age groups being run between 10.30am and 12.30pm, and the 8 to 14 year group between 9am and 12.30pm.
The courses, which are available to all boys and girls regardless of ability, cost £5 per day for the 5-7 age group, and £10 per day for the 8-14 age group. Discounts are available if any child want to attend all four days.
Further information is available at the Rovers in the Community office (01302 370250).

Ross Flitney, who ws signged by Rovers during last season as goalkeeping cover when Stuart Jones was injured, is one of seven players to be released by his club, Fulham. He spent the last three months of the 2004/05 season at Ryman League Premier Division club Yeading.

Michael Ingham, who played for Doncaster Rovers on loan during last season, has been released by newly promoted Premiership club Sunderland. He has signed for League Two club Wrexham on a two-year contract, having already played for the club during a previous loan spell at the end of the 2003/04 season.
Ingham is currently back in Northern Ireland, and is expected to link up with Lawrie Sanchez's squad for the Northern Ireland v Germany friendly match on June 4th. He has previously played for Carlisle United, Coleraine, Stoke City, Stockport County, Darlington and York, in additon to the aforementioned times at Sunderland, Wrexham and Rovers. Ingham is expected to line up for Northern Ireland next week.

Doncaster Rovers Belles' midfielder Vicky Exley has been awarded the "Player of the Month" award for her inspirational display in the Rovers Belles' final match of the season against Birmingham City, with the Doncaster victory saving them from relegation. The 29-year old also celebrated by being named in the England squad for the European Championships next month, said: "I love the club, and I couldn't even think about leaving, despite a lot of other players going."
Vicky was presented with a magnum of champagne by Doncaster Rovers boss Dave Penney, who wished the Rovers Belles well for next season.

Former Doncaster Rovers striker Robert Gill, who has just been released by Scarborough after just one season at the club, has signed for Dean Barrick's Hucknall Town side for next season. Gill, best known for his hat-trick as Rovers demolished Dagenham & Redbridge 5-1 a couple of seasons ago, also spent some time at Whitby Town on loan last season.

With the retirement of Joan Oldale as Football Secretary at the end of last season, Rovers have announced that Chief Executive Dave Morris is to be the new secretary. The club also announced that Jenny Short has joined the club staff as Assistant Secretary, having previously performed the same role at Scunthorpe United.

John Reed, manager at Nationwide North club Stalybridge Celtic, has signed four players as he strives to turn his side, which only just avoided relegation this season, into promotion contenders. Reed, who joined Stalybridge from Harrogate Town during the season, has signed three players from his former club, including former Rovers youth keeper Nick Buxton and ex-Rovers left back Mark Barnard.
The Rovers connection at the club also includes assistant manager Mark Atkins.

Ricky Ravenhill and Tim Ryan have both signed one year extensions to their contracts. The players both had one year left on their current deals but Dave Penney was keen to tie them to longer deals. Both players' contracts now expire in June 2007.

Following the news that Northwich Victorian manager Steve Burr has agreed a new deal to stay at the Nationwide Conference club, news has emerged that ex-Rover Jon McCarthy has agreed a new 12-month deal at the club. The former Northern Ireland international winger played just sixty mintues for the Rovers - against Stevenage Borough in October 2002.

Doncaster Rovers have confirmed that they will be holding an Open Day at Belle Vue on Saturday, 9th July, with the event running between 11am and 4pm. The players will be training on the pitch, and will be available to sign autographs and pose for pictures with the supporters.

Workington won promotion to the Nationwide North to make a dramatic return to Football League football possible after a 28-year absence after defeating Farsley Celtic in the UniBond Premier Division play-off final at Borough Park on 17th May. With the kick-off delayed to allow the 1,725 crowd to get into the ground, the match finished goalless and went into extra time and penalties. Even though two Workington penalties were missed, former Rovers keeper Adam Collin produced two crucial saves which enabled his side to edge through 6-5 in the penalty shoot-out.
Collin was signed for Rovers on transfer deadline day of the 2003/04 season, but never played a first team game for the club.

On Radio Sheffield last night, John Ryan said that he hoped that two players would be signing for the club today. When quizzed he confirmed that both players were from Scandinavia and hinted that they were both from Denmark. Manager Dave Penney was in Denmark last week and was quoted at the time as saying that he would rather bring in two from the same country in as it would help them to settle. It is also known that Penney would prefer to take Danish players because most of them speak English.

In the same interview, Mr Ryan confirmed that a bid of approximately £110,000 has been made by Chester City for Gregg Blundell. The management feel that it a reasonable offer for the 29 year old, but stressed that no final decision can be made as yet as Blundell is in Istanbul to watch Liverpool in the Champions League Final.

Finally, when quizzed on the situation with popular midfielder John Doolan, Mr Ryan said that he didn't know whether Doolan would sign the new contract on offer. The offer of a one year contract still stands but is apparently a substantially better deal than he has been on this season. Dave Penney is insistant that no longer than a one year deal will be offered whilst Doolan insists on living in the North West.

Frickley Athletic have held their end of season presentation dinner at the Rogerthorpe Manor Hotel, with the event raising almost £2,500 for the UniBond Premier League club. Neil 'Razor' Ruddock was their special guest for the evening, and he made various presentations, with former Doncaster Rovers goalkeeper Gary Ingham winning the Player's Player of the Year. Ingham has played for Rovers in two spells, during the 1993/94 season, and the 1997/98 season.

Doncaster Rovers have confirmed that kit sponsorship for next season is now available, with prices for all kit being held at the same prices as for last season. This means prices are as follows:
Home Shirts £250
Away Shirts £200
Home & Away Shorts £50
Home & Away socks £20.
VAT is applied to all the above prices.
Please contact the commercial department at Belle Vue on 01302 539441 for more details.

Kidderminster Harriers, who are in the middle of a takeover battle following their relegation to the Conference, are set to lose former Rovers striker Chris Beardsley. Beardsley was one of a small number of Harriers' players to be offered a new contract for next season, but is reported to be interesting Mansfield Town, his former club. Harriers boss Stuart Watkiss said: "The player, club and agent have admitted to me Mansfield have spoken to the player which I'm quite happy to tell a tribunal," said the boss.
Kidderminster are reported to be demanding a £5,000 transfer fee from Mansfield, and are wanting the Stags to take over his wages with immediate effect. However, under the terms of Beardsley's transfer from Rovers, Rovers would be entitled to 50% of any transfer fee received by Kidderminster.

With Dave Penney having being reported to be searching for ten new players during the summer, Rovers are to search throughout Scandinavia to bolster their squad. Dave Penney and Mickey Walker are due to visit Denmark, where the season has not yet finished, to check on several targets. He said that they would be looking at potential signings from the highest level of Danish football, saying "There are players over there aiming to play in our Premier League eventually, but they need to get a foot in the ladder in this country first. We may not be successful at all, but I'm very hopeful of bringing in two or three players. It would be good to bring in more than one, then they won't feel isolated and they can bond together."
Penney also confirmed that they will continue to check for players in Norway and Sweden.

The presentation evening, at which the kit sponsors for the 2004/05 season will receive their sponsored kit items from the respective players, is due to be held at the Viking Supporters' Bar on Wednesday, 6th July.

Dean Barrick's Hucknall Town were beaten on penalty kicks in the final of the FA Vase at Villa Park yesterday. After the game with Grays Athletic ended 1-1 after extra time, Grays won the penalty shoot out 6-5. Player boss. Barrick was strechered off after 27 minutes following a challenge by Gray's Garry Hooper and Dean has a suspected broken leg. We'd like to wish Dean a speedy recovery.

Former Rovers defender Dean Barrick, now manager at Hucknall Town, is taking his squad to Villa Park for their final of the FA Trophy this afternoon against Conference South champions Grays Athletic. His Hucknall Town side faced a daunting close to the season due to a fixture backlog caused by their cup exploits, with the side being forced to play 14 games inside the last five weeks.
"I am glad the league season is over," admitted Barrick. "It was an exhausting time and we were all shattered, especially me because I had to manage as well as play. When you're tired, you make silly mistakes and it was a tough period for everyone." The backlong took its toll, with Town only winning four of their last 13 games, but signed off in style with a 4-2 win over Altrincham, who were subsequently promoted to the Conference National via the play-offs.
Hucknall have no new injury worries for the final, with Steve Palmer, who missed several matches of the run-in with an ankle injury, fit to play. Captain and centre-back Mick Heathcote made a return to action a couple of matches before the end of the season, but is unlikely to play today.
Among the dozens of coaches expected to make the trip to Villa Park are one from the school where Barrick teaches and also one from the Yorkshire village of Fitzwilliam where he was brought up.
Essex outfit Grays are also expected to take a big following to the final. And they remain long odds-on favourites to win.

Rovers goalkeeper, Andy Warrington, is recovering from abdominal surgery to repair a hernia that was troubling him for the latter part of the season. Warrington had the operation last Thursday, and Rovers physio Barrie Windle has said that Andy was feeling a bit sore, as he would expect would be the case after a double hernia operation.

Rovers have announced that they will be holding a "Doncaster Rovers Barbeque" in the Viking Bar and the Belle Vue car park on Thursday, 16th June. The event was announced at the 125 Club presentations on Thursday evening. Tickets will be priced at £5, and will go on sale on Monday morning (23rd May) at the Rovers ticket office.

Dave Penney has spoken out about the continued reports from the Cheshire press about Chester City being about to sign striker Gregg Blundell in a £75,000 move. Penney denied that talks had taken place, and said "Chester did enquire about Gregg, but hey have not been back with any offer at all."

Doncaster Rovers manager Dave Penney is trying to get a number of new signings tied up before he goes on holiday at the end of the month. He said: "I am speaking to a lot of players' agents, and have a number of irons in the fire, but I am not going to mention any names."

Vicky Exley, the Doncaster Rovers Belles midfielder, has been selected for the England squad to play in the European Womens' Championships next month, which are to be played in England.

The Viking Supporters' Co-operative have changed the address of their on-line forum, following a change of servers, with the site previously being hosted by the www.confguide.com web site. The forum has been transferred to www.vikingsc.co.uk/donny.mpl - users should not notice any difference to their service, as all messages were transferred over yesterday morning. Anyone dialling the old web address will be automatically diverted for a limited amount of time.

The fifth pre-season game for the 2005/06 season has been provisionally announced, with Rovers due to travel to non-league club Billingham Synthonia in July, although the exact date is yet to be confirmed. This comes after our news of recent days which have detailed pre-season games against Notts County (Friday 22nd July - home), Grimsby Town (Wednesday 27th July - home), Worksop Town (Saturday 30th July - away) and Peterborough United (date to be confirmed).

Many Doncaster Rovers fans are to make their way to Villa Park on Sunday to watch former Rovers defender Dean Barrick, now manager at Hucknall Town, take part in the FA Trophy Final against Grays Athletic at the end of his first season as a manager. One coach leaving Hatfield is already full, but there are still some places on the Retford Branch bus. The coach will leave Retford at 7.45am, Bawtry 8am, Belle Vue 8.15am. The cost is £30 for adults and £17 for juniors - this includes the coach travel and the match ticket. If you want to book, or want further details, please telephone 0770 453066.

With the Daily Post in Chester reporting that Chester City are seeking permission to talk to Doncaster Rovers striker Gregg Blundell, news emerged yesterday that Chester City chairman, Stephen Vaughan, was forced to dip into his own pocket at the eleventh hour to sign a cheque for almost £169,000 to the Inland Revenue. Vaughan confirmed: "'The club has no money. I did a deal to pay the outstanding instalments personally and that was accepted provided the cheque cleared, which it did. This takes the total amount of money I have put into the club to nearly £4m and I must admit it is beginning to hurt."
Chester had been reported in their local press to have being quoted a six-figure transfer fee for Blundell, but are still interested in signing the player.

Three pre-season friendly fixtures now appear to have been arranged, with a home game against Grimsby Town being pencilled in for Wednesday, 27th July (kick-off 7.30pm)
The fixture has been confirmed on Grimsby Town's official web site, and comes after confirmation of fixtures against Notts County and Worksop on respective web sites. No confirmation has yet been released by Rovers on any of these fixtures.
This means that the pre-season list so far is:
Friday 22nd July - Rovers v Notts County (kick-off 7.30pm)
Wednesday 27th July - Rovers v Grimsby Town (kick-off 7.30pm)
Saturday 30th July - Worksop Town v Rovers (kick-off 3pm)
We also understand that a further match, against Peterborough United, is to be confirmed soon.

Former Doncaster Rovers defender Chris Beech has been released by newly promoted Carlisle United, after joining them from Rovers in March. However, he only played two games for the Cumbrians, with the last being against Northwich Victoria on 19th March.

Doncaster Rovers will be holding a presentation evening at the Viking Supporters' Bar this evening, when chairman John Ryan will present certificates to those supporters who have enrolled as members of the 125 Club.
Rovers have also announced that Dinah Rodd, who performed a very successful concert to a packed house earlier in the season, will be making an appearance at the event. Everyone is welcome to the evening, and tickets cost £5, and include pie and peas.

Worksop Town have announced that Doncaster Rovers will travel to Sandy Lane for a pre-season friendly fixture on Saturday, 30th July, which is the last Saturday before the League One season begins. They report that Rovers have promised that they will send their full first team for the game. The match is scheduled to begin at 3pm.
Worksop have also lined up pre-season games against both Sheffield clubs, with Sheffield Wednesday visiting on July 12th, and United on 25/26/27th July.
This news comes in addition to Notts County having announced that they will travel to Belle Vue for a game on Friday, 22nd July (kick-off 7.30pm).

Rovers manager has said that despite being disappointed that his side missed out on the play-off places, next season will be one to look forward to, with the prospect of so many local derbies. He said:"It's a great league for us with so many local derbies. We may have lost Hull, but Rotherham are coming down and are close to us, Nottingham Forest are not that far away and we've also got Scunthorpe coming up as well."

Darlington manager David Hodgson has released ten players - a third of his squad - as he strives to improve on their 8th place finish in League Two this season. Amongst the departures is former Doncaster Rovers winger Ian Clark, who has been at the club since November 2001, and has made over a hundred appearances for them. Clark made over fifty appearances in a Rovers shirt between 1995 and 1997, before departing for Hartlepool United. Rovers were his first League club.

After the news had been leaked last week, it was confirmed yesterday afternoon that Wrexham's 25-year old Welsh international defender Steve Roberts will sign for Doncaster Rovers for next season. Roberts yesterday informed Wrexham that he had rejected their offer of a new contract.
Expressing his disappointment at losing Roberts, Wrexham boss Denis Smith said: "First of all I would like to wish him well for the future. He has performed well for me over the years and I would have liked to have seen him stay with us. Had we been able to offer him a deal earlier in the year, then his decision might have been different, but as it is he's going to join his brother at Belle Vue. It's obviously frustrating to lose Steve, but he has made his decision. We now have to move on and look to the players who want to remain with us, and also at bringing in a few replacements."
As his contract at Wrexham runs until the end of June, Roberts will sign for Rovers on July 1st.

Former Doncaster Rovers midfielder/defender Lee Warren has left Nationwide North club Barrow after being at the club for five years. Warren, 36, made the decision as he wants to keep playing, but accepted that his chances of keeping his place at Barrow were limited. He was also acting as assistant manager at Holker Street, with manager (and another ex-Rover) Lee Turnbull expressing his surprise at Warren's departure. Turnbull said: “We had a meeting on Friday, me, Paul Raven and Lee Warren where we just sat down and discussed plans for next season. After it Lee pulled me to one side and just said he’d decided to leave. He wants to continue playing but he realises his time is coming to an end on the playing front with us."

The Doncaster Rovers programme has been placed tenth in League One in the CMMA Programme Awards for the 2004/05 season, coming just one point (in almost 1,800) behind Hull City. The League One programme of the year was won by Luton Town, who paid tribute to the entire commercial team, who are responsible for the production of the programme. The Rovers programme is produced for Doncaster Rovers by members of the Viking Supporters' Co-operative, who have performed the task since January 2002.

Doncaster Rovers will be holding a presentation evening at the Viking Supporters' Bar on Thursday, 19th May, when chairman John Ryan will present certificates to those supporters who have enrolled as members of the 125 Club.
Rovers have also announced that Dinah Rodd, who performed a very successful concert to a packed house earlier in the season, will be making an appearance at the event. Everyone is welcome to the evening - admission is by ticket only, which can be purchased from club reception until midday on Wednesday. Tickets cost £5, and include pie and peas.

Reflecting on a good season for Doncaster Rovers, which saw the club finish in 10th place, to set a best final place in the league since 1958, Dave Penney believes that a third successive promotion would have come too soon for his side.
He said:"I've been very pleased with the way it has gone this year. So many teams come up from the Conference and then go on to do well in League Two, get promoted and struggle in the league above. I think it's important that we've stayed in this league, and anyway if we had gone up again I feel it would have been too soon and we would have gone straight back down again."

Former Doncaster Rovers striker Rod Thornley scored Altrincham's first goal in the 48th minutes on the way to a 2-1 victory over Eastbourne Borough in the Nationwide Conference North play-off final at the Britannia Stadium yesterday afternoon. The victory means that Altrincham return to non-league's top flight after a five year absence.
Thornley was one of a large number of players to feature for Rovers during the 1997/98 season, making just the one appearance for the club in the home game against Brighton & Hove Albion, in which Rovers were infamously reported for fielding a weakened team.

Despite former Rovers striker Chris Beardsley being one of the few players to be offered a new contract by relegated Kidderminster Harriers, it seems that he may be on his way back to Mansfield Town. It has been reported that Stags' boss Carlton Palmer has been in discussions with Beardsley's agent about a possible return to Field Mill.