 |
 |
 |
|
| February 15, 2006 |
Rovers sign Armstrong |
 |
Doncaster Rovers moved
to strengthen their injury-ravaged squad by signing Rushden & Diamonds
(and ex-Middlesbrough) striker Alun Armstrong on loan until the end of the
season. He is set to be included in the Rovers squad for tonight's match
at Chesterfield, which is likely to comprise four on-loan players (Armstrong,
Wheater, Horlock and McCormack). |
| February 15, 2006 |
Rovers team news |
 |
Rovers will be boosted
by the return of Graeme Lee and James Coppinger for this evening's away match
at Chesterfield. Both players have completed suspensions which kept them
out of Saturday's win over Barnsley. Rovers are also expected to include
new loan signing Alun Armstrong in the squad for the game, although we don't
expect him to start the match. Lewis Guy and Paul Heffernan will both be
missing tonight due to injury, but Neil Roberts may well be included on the
bench again following his return to full training on Monday. |
| February 15, 2006 |
Chesterfield team news |
 |
Chesterfield may be without Reuben Hazell for this evening's game at Saltergate. The player is a doubt and will face a fitness test later today after picking up a foot injury at the weekend. The Spireites will certainly be without Steve Blatherwick and Alex Bailey, who have only just returned to training after recovering from injuries, but Gareth Davies and Jamie O'Hara are expected to be in the side despite picking up knocks in Chesterfield's game on Saturday. |
| February 15, 2006 |
Retford Branch Karaoke Night |
.jpg){kind=small} |
The Retford Branch are holding a Karaoke night at the Rovers Return on Saturday evening (18th February) - the event is scheduled to start at 6.30pm, and goes on "til late". |
| February 14, 2006 |
Debutants dominate vote! |
 |
The latest "Man
of the match" voting was dominated by players making home debuts on
Saturday, with three players taking over three-quarters of the votes cast.
With a win again coinciding with a large increase in the number of votes
cast, in the end the top two was a keen contest between Jason Price and Kevin
Horlock. A total of eleven Rovers players receiving nominations, the leading
votes were cast as follows: |
| February 14, 2006 |
Actions speak louder than words |
 |
The Doncaster Rovers squad decided to snub media interviews following Saturday's win over Barnsley, with only captain Michael McIndoe and club captain Neil Roberts facing the press. The players decided that the results before Saturday had been poor of late, and they felt that they had let the Rovers supporters down. Roberts said: "This is something that we, as a team, can only put right together. We feel now that actions have to speak louder than words." |
| February 14, 2006 |
Hartlepool tickets now on sale |
| |
Tickets for the forthcoming
away game at Hartlepool United on Saturday, 25th February, went on sale yesterday
to season ticket holders,. With limited availability, only one ticket per
season ticket book can be bought. |
| February 14, 2006 |
Sponsored bike ride - can you help? |
 |
Doncaster Rovers fan
Gary Liney, son of Andy, is doing a sponsored bike ride in aid of Yorkshire
Cancer Research in May, and will be cycling from Lands End to John O'Groats. |
| February 13, 2006 |
Penney wants Barnsley win to be catalyst |
 |
Rovers manager Dave
Penney is hoping that Saturday's victory over Barnsley will kick-start their
season after a couple of bad away results recently. |
| February 13, 2006 |
Coin Trail |
 |
The Viking Supporters' Co-operative have reported that the first home game for almost a month has coincided with an improvement to the amount collected for the "Coin Trail", which is raising money for the Rovers youth team. A total of £518.79 was raised on Saturday, comprising £303.44 in the Viking Bar and £215.35 in the ground. That means the total now stands at £44,445.15. |
| February 13, 2006 |
Chesterfield tickets |
| |
Tickets for Wednesday's
away game at Chesterfield are now on sale at the Rovers ticket office. |
| February 11, 2006 |
Rovers 2 Barnsley 0 |
 |
The "Indian sign"
that Rovers hold over Barnsley continued to hold this afternoon as the comfortably
defeated their South Yorkshire rivals, who arrived at Belle Vue after a good
run of form that had lifted them up into fourth position. The Tykes put in
a very lacklustre performance this afternoon, failing to force Alan Blayney
into a single save - a remarkabel feat in itself, bearing in mind that two
players (David Wheater and Kevin Horlock) in the Rovers side only signed
on loan for the club yesterday afternoon, and a further two (Jason Price
and Ross McCormack) were making their home debuts. |
| February 12, 2006 |
Goals check |
 |
We begin this week's
review of former Rovers players scoring goals in League Two, where JJ Melligan
scored for Cheltenham from the penalty spot as they won at home to Northampton
to lift his side into eighth place in the table. Also in League Two, Richie
Barker scored for Mansfield as they drew 2-2 at Wycombe. |
| February 12, 2006 |
Coaches to Chesterfield |
| |
The Supporters Club
are running coaches to Wednesday's away game at Chesterfield. They will leave
Retford at 5.00pm, Bawtry 5.15pm, |
| February 12, 2006 |
Retford Branch Karaoke Night |
 |
Former Rovers players Martin Foster and Tyrone Thompson have agreed new deals with Halifax Town, and are now contracted to the club until the end of next season. Foster has recently been appointed as team captain. |
| February 11, 2006 |
Horlock joins |
 |
Doncaster Rovers signed
a second player on a month's loan yesterday, with the news that Ipswich Town
midfielder Kevin Horlock has joined the club. He has played 14 times for
Ipswich so far this season, but has been told by mnager Joe Royle that his
contract will not be renewed when it runs out in the summer. He arrives at
Belle Vue to help out of an injury crisis which has seen nine players missing
for today's game, and will be included in the Rovers squad for this afternoon's
game against Barnsley, along with defender David Wheater, who also joined
the club on loan yesterday. |
| February 11, 2006 |
Redfearn considers return |
 |
Former Rovers midfielder Neil Redfearn, now manager at Scarborough, is considering a first team return for this afternoon's Nationwide Conference game. Redfearn has not picked himself since beign appointed last month, but feels that his experience may be useful go guide the side away from the threat of relegation. He said: "I might have to think about coming back. I scored 14 goals last season and maybe I've neglected that fact. At 40 I'm not going to get about as much as before but I'm still a threat. "If any ball drops in and around the box then I will cause sides a few problems." |
| February 11, 2006 |
Retford Branch Karaoke Night |
 |
Former Rovers defender
Steve Richards, now manager at Northern Counties East League Division One
club Hall Road Rangers, has signed another former Rover, striker Jamie Barnwell,
from Winterton Rangers. |
| February 10, 2006 |
Wheater signs on |
 |
Doncaster Rovers have
signed Middlesbrough central defender David Wheater on a one-month loan,
and with the Rovers squad being short of bodies, he is likely to be included
in the squad for tomorrow afternoon's match. |
| February 10, 2006 |
Rovers nine down |
| |
Dave Penney is hoping
to bring in at least two loan signings for tomorrow's home game against Barnsley
after strikers Paul Heffernan and Lewis Guy were ruled out of the game due
to injury. Rovers will also be without Graeme Lee, James Coppinger and Richard
Offiong due to suspensions, and Steve Roberts, Simon Marples, Jermaine McSporran,
Phil McGuire, and Andy Warrington continue to be absent with injuries. |
| February 10, 2006 |
Rufus set for Rovers return? |
 |
It has been widely reported
that Rufus Brevett may be set for a return to Belle Vue after new Plymouth
Argyle boss Tony Pulis does not seem to have given him a regular first team
place. Brevett is thought to have been the subject of an approach from Doncaster
Rovers, with some parties suggesting the two clubs have agreed the move,
with the final decision being down to the player. |
| February 10, 2006 |
Mulligan rejects international call-up |
 |
Rovers defender has decided to turn downt he chance to play for New Zealand next week, following the continuing injury crisis at Rovers. He commented: "With my contract up in the summer, I need to get games for the club and the gaffer needs my help. I've spoken to the New Zealand boss and although he is not happy, he understands the situation." |
| February 10, 2006 |
Duane to Nuneaton |
 |
Former Doncaster Rovers
striker Duane Darby has signed for Nuneaton Borough after rejecting offers
from Cambridge United and Stevenage Borough. Darby's contract at Shrewsbury
was cancelled by mutual agreement last week, and Nuneaton's boss, Roger Ashby,
describing his capture as a major signing. |
| February 9, 2006 |
Injury update |
| |
After enduring a long
injury list for most of the season, at last Rovers look as though their fortunes
may be about to change, with news that a number of players may be about to
return to action in the next few weeks. |
| February 9, 2006 |
Stuart Mason |
 |
We have heard that former Doncaster Rovers full back Stuart Mason has died over the last weekend at the age of just 57. Mason joined Rovers on loan from Liverpool between November 1967 and February 1968, during which time he made one League appearance - a 2-0 defeat at Rochdale on 3rd February 1968. Born in Whitchurch in 1948, he signed for Wrexham in 1964, becoming a first team regular before moving to Liverpool in October 1966. The latter part of his playing career saw him play for Chester, Rochdale, Crewe, Bangor and Oswestry. He was also a cricketer, winning many honours for local teams, but more recently has run a sports shop in Wrexham. |
| February 9, 2006 |
Mulligan gets NZ call-up |
| |
After being selected
for the initial 38-man New Zealand squad for the 2010 World Cup, Rovers defender
Dave Mulligan has been named in the New Zealand squad for two games which
the All-Whites will play against Malaysia later this month. The matches are
due to take place on 19th and 23rd February, so we expect that Mulligan will
miss the games against Gillingham and Hartlepool. |
| February 9, 2006 |
Forte extends Millmoor stay |
 |
Jonathan Forte, who spent three months on loan at Rovers from Sheffield United earlier in the season, has had his loan at Rotherham United extended for a second month. He will stay at the struggling League One club until 11th March. |
| February 8, 2006 |
Rovers release Rigoglioso |
 |
Doncaster Rovers have
confirmed that Adriano Rigoglioso has been released by the club. He has only
made seven league starts since arriving at the club in 2003, and has been
out of action for much of this season due to injury. A loan period at Southport
was cut short due to injury, although he did make a reserve team appearance
last week against Scunthorpe United. |
| February 8, 2006 |
Reserves 1 Grimsby Town 0 |
 |
Rovers fielded a largely
youth team for yesterday's reserve team fixture at Belle Vue, with the wind
proving to disrupt play on a number of occasions. They also had the misfortune
to finish the game with ten players, as an injury to Craig Nelthorpe forced
his withdrawal after 70 minutes after Rovers had used all three of their
substitutes. |
| February 8, 2006 |
Coin Trail Update |
| |
The Viking Supporters' Co-operative have reported that they collected £54.20 at Saturday's away game at Swindon Town, which takes their runnign total to £43,926.35. |
| February 8, 2006 |
Ticket office open early on Friday |
| |
Rovers have announced that, as an experiment, they will be opening their ticket office at Belle Vue at 8.00am so that fans can buy tickets for the Barnsley match. This will allow anyone that wishes to do so to buy their tickets on the way to work. |
| February 7, 2006 |
Penney to bring in loan players |
| |
Rovers manager, Dave Penney, has confirmed that he is likely to go into the loan market in order to boost his injury-hit squad. Rovers' recent poor run of form has coincided with the worst of the injury crisis, and Penney commented: "We brought in four players during the window and my next step will be to decide whether more are needed. If I decide that's the case then the option of bringing players in on loan is there." |
| February 7, 2006 |
Swindon voting results |
| |
Votes were spread remarkably
evenly in the voting for your "Man of the Match" from Saturday's
away match at Swindon Town. A total of ten players received nominations,
with the leading votes being cast as follows: |
| February 7, 2006 |
Rovers pass on McParland |
 |
Doncaster Rovers are
reported to have had Celtic's Anthony McParland on a trial, according to
Barnsley's official web site. They sugest that Rovers were keen to sign him
after a trial, but "there were some complications", so he did not
sign. |
| February 7, 2006 |
Newell talks to Leicester |
 |
Former Doncaster Rovers
striker Mike Newell, currently manager at Luton Town, and embroiled in the
debate of financial irregularities surrounding transfers, has confirmed that
he has talked to Leicester City about the available manager's job at the
club. |
| February 6, 2006 |
I believe... |
| |
Dave Penney has said
in the press over the weekend that he still believes that Rovers could reach
the play-off places in League One, despite Saturday's result leaving them
13 points adrift of sixth place with 17 games to play. Rovers have two games
in hand on most clubs above them, and wins in both of those "in hand"
games could see them in 8th place. |
| February 6, 2006 |
Darby released |
| |
Only three weeks after being told that his contract would not be renewed at the end of the season, former Rovers striker Duane Darby has had his contract at Shrewsbury Town cancelled by mutual consent. Darby has been in talks with a number of clubs since mid-January, and as his contract has been cancelled, he is a free agent and so will be able to sign for another club, even though the transfer window has now closed. |
| February 6, 2006 |
Half term courses |
| |
Rovers in the Community
are holding their usual school holiday courses at Hall Cross Lower School,
St Michael's Road, Bessacarr during the forthcoming half term school holiday. |
| February 4, 2006 |
Swindon 2 Rovers 1 |
| |
Another disappointing
display by Rovers saw them slip to their ninth away defeat of the season,
and more worryingly, they are now only three points above clubs in the relegation
places in League One. Rovers gave two players their debuts today - Jason
Price played his first game since being transferred from Hull City ten days
ago, and youth team midfielder Anthony Griffith was surprisingly given a
starting place ahead of Sean Thornton and Paul Green. Rovers went behind
in the 29th minute, and it took the second goal to be conceded in the 57th
minute before their performance started to significantly improve. The introduction
of Dave Mulligan in the 63rd minute injected a bit more urgency into the
Rovers performance., and Paul Heffernan pulled a goal back for Rovers in
the 64th minute when he headed home a Jason Price cross. Rovers could have
equalised when Heffernan had the ball in the net from a quickly taken free
kick, but the referee rightly disallowed it as another player was in an offside
position when the free kick was taken. |
| February 5, 2006 |
Around the goals |
 |
There were no former
Doncaster Rovers players scoring goals in the Football League yesterday,
so we begin our review in the Conference National, where Dino Maamria scored
Stevenage Borough's winning goal as they won 2-1 at home against Aldershot. |
| February 5, 2006 |
Hartlepool United 2 Rovers Youth 2 |
 |
The Rovers' youth team drew 2-2 at Hartlepool United yesterday lunchtime - no further details are currently available on either clubs' web site. |
| February 5, 2006 |
Chesterfield ticket news |
| |
Tickets for the Rovers'
away game at Chesterfield on Wednesday, 15th February, are now on general
sale. |
| February 4, 2006 |
Rovers team news |
| |
Rovers will be without
James Coppinger and Richard Offiong due to suspensions for this afternoon
for the trip to Swindon Town - adding to an already lengthy injury list.
This means that Rovers are down to the bare bones again, with Dave Penney
only having 17 players to select his squad from. |
| February 4, 2006 |
Swindon team news |
| |
Swindon Town have two
players who will require late checks before manager Iffy Onuora names his
side for this afternoon's game against Rovers. Sean O'Hanlon (hamstring)
and Stefani Miglioranzi (calf) are expected to recover from minor knocks
picked up in Tuesday's 1-0 win over Walsall. |
| February 4, 2006 |
Cornforth confirmed as boss |
 |
Torquay United have
confirmed that ex-Rover John Cornforth has been appointed as their team manager
until the end of the season. Cornforth has been holding the fort as caretaker
manager for the last couple of matches, and has been given the task of keeping
Torquay in the Football League after succeeding from Leroy Rosenior recently. |
| February 4, 2006 |
Barnsley ticket news |
| |
Next Saturday's home
game against Barnsley is all-ticket. Tickets are now on sale from the Rovers
ticket office at the usual Category A prices: |
| February 3, 2006 |
Injury update |
 |
Striker Paul Heffernan
has been having treatment on a groin strain for the last few days, but resumed
training with the first team squad yesterday, and is described as 80/20 to
be fit to play in tomorrow's away game at Swindon Town. Skipper Michael McIndoe
has also missed a number of training sessions with a slight hamstring strain,
but has trained and is definitely fit to play tomorrow. |
| February 3, 2006 |
Jackson set for move to Scotland |
 |
Former Doncaster Rovers striker Ben Jackson is having trials with Scottish Premier League side Inverness Caledonian Thistle, and is set to make an apperance for the club in next week's reserve team game. Inverness Director of Football, George Adams, said "We hoped to have a full-scale practice match on Tuesday, but that was cancelled because of the weather, so I will play Ben in the reserve match next week. The plus point with him is that he lives locally and is a free agent so can sign for us at any time if we offer him a deal." |
| February 3, 2006 |
Doolan signs for Rochdale |
 |
Rochdale have signed former Rovers midfielder John Doolan on a free transfer from Blackpool after a successful initial loan spell at Spotland. He joined Rovers from Barnet in the latter stages of the 2002/03 season and enjoyed a couple of successful seasons at Belle Vue before moving on to Blackpool, which was closer to his home in Merseyside. |
| February 3, 2006 |
Swindon ticket information |
| |
Tomorrow's away game
at Swindon is not all-ticket, but tickets are available in advance, which
are cheaper than if you buy them on the day. |
| February 2, 2006 |
Rovers check out Pulis |
 |
The ClubCall web site has reported that Rovers have got Stoke City midfielder Anthony Pulis on trial from Stoke City. Apparently the deal permit Rovers to field him in a couple of reserve team games before they have to decide whether to take him on loan. The midfielder is the sone of former Stoke boss Tony Pulis, but has fallen out of favour with current manager Johan Boskamp, and he has not featured for their first team so far this season. |
| February 2, 2006 |
Win a player for the Rovers |
 |
Coca Cola are running
the "Win a player" competition again following its success last
season. They invite fans to enter either via their web site or by texts from
your mobile phone. Supporters can enter once a day, and the winning club
will be seleted at random from all of the entries. Obviously the more entries
each club receive, the bigger the chance of "winning a player".
However, last season, Brighton won the draw, even though they didn't get
the most entries. |
| February 2, 2006 |
Coaches to Swindon |
| |
Doncaster Rovers return
to action on Saturday following being without a fixture last weekend, and
they travel to strugglers Swindon Town, who are currently in the relegation
spots in the League One table. The Rovers' Supporters Club are running coaches
to the game, with details being as follows: |
| February 2, 2006 |
Cornforth after Gulls job |
| |
Former Rover John Cornforth, who has been made Torquay United's caretaker manager, has confirmed that he wants the job on a permanent basis. Cornforth has been in the job for around a fortnight after the departure of Leroy Rosenior "by mutual consent", and he has been quoted as saying: "A club with Torquay's history has got to have league status and I believe I can do the job. I want a hard-working team that reflects my own character. I want the job and I reckon I'm big enough and ugly enough to do it." |
| February 1, 2006 |
Reserves 4 Scarborough 2 |
| |
Scarborough paid for
some poor finishing in yesterday afternoon's Pontins Holidays League match
at Belle Vue, and forced several corners early on in the mtach. Rovers took
the lead in the 22nd minute when Thornton opened the scoring from the penalty
spot after Offiong was brought down by Jarvis. Quayle equalised for Boro
14 minutes later, but Thornton gave Rovers the lead in added time before
the break as his lofted shot looped over the Scarborough goalkeeper into
the net. Scarborough had opportunities to equalise in the period after half
time, and Coulson eventually got their equaliser in the 58th minute. |
| February 1, 2006 |
Dempsey goes back |
 |
Aberdeen midfielder
Gary Dempsey has returned to Aberdeen after a trial period at Doncaster Rovers.
The BBC report that the transfer did not go ahead as Rovers were not able
to offload players to free sufficient funds from their wage bill. |
| February 1, 2006 |
Hughes gets new club |
 |
Adam Hughes, who left
Rovers recently at the end of his short term contract with the club, has
signed for Irish Eircom Premier League club Sligo Rovers, who were promoted
as champions of Division One last season. The Irish clubs have just started
their pre-season matches, with the season due to begin in March. |
| February 1, 2006 |
Hume sees red |
 |
Former Rovers striker/defender Mark Hume, who only returned to playing in January after a year out because of a broken leg, will miss a few more matches for his current side Alfreton Town, who are currently rock bottom of the Conference North. In the closing moments of last night's match against Nuneaton Borough, a melee in the Alfreton penalty area ended with Hume receiving a red card, and Nuneaton being awarded a penalty which was converted by Gez Murphy to give them victory - leaving Boro just three points behind leaders Stafford Rangers. |