 |
 |
 |
|
| January
15, 2007 |
(Bristol)
Rovers check out Streete |
 |
Defender
Theo Streete linked up with Bristol Rovers on Friday, as manager Paul
Trollope takes a look at him in training. Bristol Rovers are short of
cover in central defence, with Byron Anthony being out for two months,
so Trollope is keen to strengthen his defence during the January transfer
window. Theo spent three months on loan at Doncaster Rovers before returning to Derby County just before Christmas, but has refused the offer of a new contract. |
| January
15, 2007 |
Rovers
may wait for Sullivan |
 |
Doncaster
Rovers boss Sean O'Driscoll may wait until the summer to sign goalkeeper
Neil Sullivan after he impressed in his loan at Rovers in December. Sullivan
was recalled when Leeds were short of goalkeeping cover, but O'Sullivan
was looking at the possibilities of the experienced keeper moving to Rovers
on a full transfer. "He's playing in the Leeds first team so the chances of him being available now are very slim," said O'Driscoll. "He's out of contract at the end of the season, his people will be talking to Leeds to see where his future lies. He knows we are interested." |
| January
15, 2007 |
Di
Piedi leaves |
 |
Michele
Di Piede has left Doncaster Rovers at the end of his short term contract.
The first hint of this came last Tuesday, when defender Peter Gilbert
was given Di Piedi's number 21 shirt. Di Piedi has not featured in any
Rovers squad since Sean O'Driscoll has arrived at the club, so the news
of his departure is no surprise. |
| January
15, 2007 |
Jamie
praised for "five star" performance |
 |
Former
Doncaster Rovers winger Jamie Lawrence has been praised for his "man
of the match" performance for Ryman Premier League strugglers Worthing
in their recent fixture against Tonbridge Angels. Worthing won the match
1-0, a great reversal of fortune from the 6-0 defeat suffered in the reverse
fixture earlier in the season. Lawrence's performance inspired several
players to produce great performances, with the side now having picked
up seven out of the last nine points. Manager Danny Bloor said: "Jamie has really taken the youngsters under his wing. He was everywhere on the pitch helping them against Tonbridge. He was magnificent and they responded to him. Even after the game he was talking to them. The young boys look up to him. He has been very instrumental in what we've achieved over the last three games. Jamie is playing his best football since he came to Worthing last year and was deservedly our man-of-the-match against Tonbridge. He is the ideal player to have around with so many youngsters because of his Premiership experience. He is proving age is a state of mind. With former England semi-pro Paul Rogers, who has played at Wembley, also there as a coach, these youngsters can learn a hell of a lot." |
| January
13, 2007 |
Gillingham
0 Rovers 2 |
 |
Another
couple of late goals grabbed the points for Doncaster Rovers as their
progress up the table continues - with yet another clean sheet achieved.
Rovers should have been well in front by half time, with Heffernan in
particular having opportunities, but a header from Jason Price and a superb
strike from Brian Stock meant that Rovers came away from the Priestfield
Stadium with three points. The result takes Rovers up another place to
eighth, only two points behind sixth place, and only nine points away
from leaders Nottingham Forest. The "Man of the match" voting has now closed. Thank you to everyone who has taken the trouble to vote. We will let you know the result on Tuesday morning. |
| January
14, 2007 |
Goals
review |
 |
We
have just two former Rovers players scoring goals yesterday to report.
Firstly, in League One, Adebayo Akinfenewa scored Swansea's second goal
in their 2-2 draw at Bradford City, and David Wheater scored his first
goal for Darlington as they finally ended their long losing run with a
3-1 win over Peterborough United in League Two. |
| January
14, 2007 |
Sarge
to Rushden |
 |
Former
Doncaster Rovers central defender Mark Albrighton has moved to Conference
strugglers Rushden & Diamonds on a month's loan from Boston United.
Albrighton only recently returned to Boston after a month on loan at Darlington,
but is reported to be down the pecking order at Boston. An outstanding
performance in Boston's reserves match against Rushden last week led to
the enquiry - Rushden are keen to bring in several new players following
a change of management, which has seen seven players put on the transfer
list. |
| January
14, 2007 |
Dene
on the move |
 |
Former
Rovers striker Dene Shields has moved from Scottish First Division club
Gretna to Ross County on a free transfer. Shields has just returned to
the club after spending the first half of the season on a successful loan
at Second Division title challengers Stirling Albion, where he scored
9 goals in 20 games. |
| January
14, 2007 |
Carden
does U-turn to stay with Brewers |
 |
Former
Rovers midfielder Paul Carden will be staying with Conference club Burton
Albion after a surprise U-turn this week. The player had been training
with Bury this week, but turned his back on a proposed transfer to Gigg
Lane on Thursday evening. Burton boss Nigel Clough said: "We're absolutely delighted, whatever the reason, to have Paul on board for the rest of the season. We wanted him to stay all along, but we couldn't match what Bury had to offer. He's been training with them, but I think he's become frustrated that nothing has been finalised. Their loss is our gain. It's absolutely brilliant from our point of view that he has decided to stay, because he has proved in the last couple of months that he is exactly the good, steady midfield player we need." Carden joined Burton in October after the club found a loophole in the "transfer window" regulations - he had his contract with Peterborough cancelled, and signed for Burscough before joining Burton on a "loan arrangement", before signing non-contract forms on January 2nd. |
| January
13, 2007 |
Gillingham
v Rovers team news |
 |
Gillingham
will be hoping to avoid a third successive defeat this afternoon when
in-form Doncaster Rovers visit the Priestfield. Gillinghan will be missing goalkeeper Kelvin Jack, and will be replaced by Dean Brill, on loan from Luton Town, who has conceded 15 goals in his six games for the Gills so far. Also missing will be midfielder Alan Pouton (back), with Dean McDonald also doubtful. Ian Cox returns to the squad after completing a one match ban. Rovers will be missing Gareth Roberts, who serves the last match in his three match suspsension, but they welcome back Graeme Lee, who missed Tuesday's win over Darlington due to suspension. Roberts' absence should mean that Peter Gilbert will make his League debut for the Rovers this afternooon. Mark McCammon and James O'Connor are rated as doubtful, but we expect both to play. Steve Roberts should be included in the squad again after making a successful return to action on Tuesday night as a replacement for Lee. |
| January
13, 2007 |
Warrington
to leave |
 |
In
an interview on Radio Sheffield, Sean O'Driscoll confirmed that Andy Warrington
has been told that he is being made available for transfer as he is not
part of the new management team's plans. Warrington has been on a short
loan at Bury this season and there were reports some months ago that Chester
were interested in signing him. We would like to wish Andy all the best for the future - he is one of the longest serving players at the club, and has been with Rovers during their rise from the Conference up to League One, but has missed virtually the whole of the last 15 months due to injury. |
| January
13, 2007 |
Rovers
v Crewe on TV |
 |
It
has been announced that the second leg of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy
Northern Final will be televised 'live' from the Keepmoat Stadium by Sky
Sports. Their decision means that the date of the home match has been
confirmed for Monday, 12th February, with a 7.45pm kick-off. No announcement
has yet been made by Rovers about ticket prices, but Crewe have confirmed
that the first leg will be played at Gresty Road on Tuesday, 30th January,
with a 7.45pm kick-off, and admission prices being as follows: Adults £10.00, Concessions £5.00, Under-11's £3.00. Similar to the Rovers' match against Darlington, Crewe will give a free under-16's ticket with each adult ticket bought from the Crewe ticket office before 4.30pm on Monday, 29th January. |
| January
13, 2007 |
Rovers
deny Gowling interest |
.jpg){kind=small} |
Bournemouth's
local press has reported that Rovers boss Sean O'Driscoll has denied any
interest in Bournemouth defender Josh Gowling, who he tried to bring in
on loan before the loan transfer window closed in November. Rovers were
expected to make a bid for the 23-year old, but Kevin Bond, the Bournemouth
boss said: "I've not had a phone call of any description with regards
to any of our players. I was led to believe that Doncaster were interested
in taking Josh Gowling on a month's loan but, when I phoned Sean O'Driscoll,
he told me that wasn't the case. I wasn't ringing Sean to tell him that
he could have Josh. I was only trying to find out whether he actually
wanted him as I'd only heard from a third party. Sean said he wasn't interested." Gowling's agent said he would be "seeking urgent clarification from Doncaster". |
| January
12, 2007 |
Brown
to Canaries |
 |
Former Rovers striker
Chris Brown has signed for Norwich City in a £325,000 transfer
from Sunderland. Chris has signed a two and a half year contract, and
becomes the second player to leave Sunderland during the transfer window,
with Jon Stead having also moved to Sheffield United. |
| January
12, 2007 |
Voting
results |
 |
Paul
Heffernan won his second "Man of the Match" vote of the week
for his performance against Darlington, although this time it was a very
close contest. With eight Rovers players receiving nominations, the players
receiving most votes were: 1 Paul Heffernan (30.34%) 2 Jason Price (29.21%) 3 Sean Thornton (22.47%) Thank you to everyone who took part - the next vote will open following Saturday's away game at Gillingham. |
| January
12, 2007 |
Ticket
update |
| |
Tickets
for the away match at Gillingham tomorrow are on sale from the stadium
ticket office - however they are likely to only be on sale until 2pm,
when they will be returned to Gillingham. The match is not all-ticket,
but tickets bought in advance are cheaper than the match day prices. Advance prices: Adults £15.00, Over 65's £12.00, 16 to 21 years £9.00, 7 to 15 years £7, under 7's £5.00 Those prices rise on match day to: Adults £19.00, Over 65's £14.00, 16 to 21 years £13.00, 7 to 15 years £11.00 and under 7's £7.00 Tickets for the home game against Scunthope United are now on sale, and tickets for the Rotherham and Carlisle home matches will be on sale from Monday. Prices for the home matches are: Category A: Adults £21, Concessions £15, U11's £15 Category B: Adults £18, Concessions £12, U11's £5 Category C: Adults £15, Concessions £8, U11's £5 |
| January
11, 2007 |
Rovers
to face Crewe |
 |
Doncaster
Rovers will be playing Crewe Alexandra in the Northern Area final of the
Johnstone's Paint Trophy, following yesterday's victory by Crewe over
Chesterfield. Rovers have been drawn away in the first leg, which will
be played in the week commencing 29th January, with the second leg being
in the week commencing Monday, 12th February. The Football League have today announced that, as there is not sufficient a guarantee that Wembley will be ready for the final of the competion on April 1st, the Trophy final will again be played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. |
| January
11, 2007 |
Yeovil
tickets |
| |
Due
to the postponement of the home game against Yeovil Town on 16th December,
it has been announced that all ticket holders for that original fixture
- both season ticket holders and match ticket holders - should visit the
Keepmoat Stadium ticket office from Monday, 5th February to exchange their
original ticket for the new date of 27th February. |
| January
10, 2007 |
Gilbert
signs for a month |
 |
Doncaster
Rovers have signed Peter Gilbert, a left back, from Sheffield Wednesday
on a month's loan. He went straight into the Rovers squad for last night's
home game against Darlington, and settled in well. The former Welsh under-21
international has been out of League football for ten months after suffering
a cruciate ligament injury, but has fully recovered and has come to Rovers
in order to get some first team matches under his belt. Regular left back Gareth Roberts served the second of a three match suspsension after being sent off in the Huddersfield Town game, and the other contender for the position, Sean McDaid, is currently recovering from an injury sustained against Accrington Stanley, and is around a month from a playing return. |
| January
10, 2007 |
Wembley
in doubt |
| |
A
report in the Guardian puts in doubt the chances that the final of the
Johnstone's Paint Trophy being the first match at the new Wembley Stadium.
With some uncertainty surrounding the opening date of the stadium, the
Football League are expected to announce that the final of the Trophy
will be played at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, on Sunday April 1st. The other match in the Northern Area semi-finals, between Chesterfield and Crewe Alexandra, will be played at Saltergate this evening. The two ties in the southern area were postponed due to waterlogged pitches. The area finals of the competition are scheduled to be played in the weeks commencing Monday, 29th January and Monday, 12th February, with the draw to determine the order of venues due to be made by Thursday of this week. |
| January
10, 2007 |
Rotherham
game moved |
| |
The
home game against Rotherham has been rearranged and will now be played
on Saturday, 27th January, with a 3pm kick-off. The change has been made
as both clubs are without a game on the Saturday owing to it being the
weekend for the fourth round of the FA Cup. The away game at Nottingham
Forest has been postponed, but a date has not yet been confirmed. |
| January
10, 2007 |
Blundell
on the mark |
 |
Former
Rovers striker Gregg Blundell scored Chester City's second goal as they
picked up a 2-0 victory from Blundell Park in last night's League Two
match, with the goal being a header coming from a cross by (ex-Rovers)
right back Simon Marples. The victory put Chester into the top half of
the league table, and was Grimsby's fourth defeat in a row. |
| January
10, 2007 |
Voting
result v Bolton |
| |
Paul
Heffernan was the clear winner of the "Man of the Match" voting
for the game against Bolton Wanderers on Saturday. Heffernan picked up
over 80% of all votes cast - one of the highest victory margins ever seen
in our polls. With only a little over 18% of the votes going to the remaining
six nominations, the players receiving most votes were: 1 Paul Heffernan (81.18%) 2 Mark McCammon (8.24%) 3 Paul Green (3.53%) Thank you to the large number of people who took the time to vote - the voting for the Darlington game will remain open until 5pm on Thursday. |
| January
9, 2007 |
Rovers
2 Darlington 0 |
| |
Doncaster
Rovers progressed through to the Northern Area final of the Johnstone's
Paint Trophy by defeating Dave Penney's Darlington side with two second
half goals. The first half had virtually no clear-cut chances, with both
sides tending to cancel each other out, but the second half was more entertaining,
with both sides having chances to score before an accurate cross in from
the right by Jason Price was volleyed home from four yards out by Paul
Heffernan. The second goal came virtually at the end of the game, when
Jason Price rifled home a superb left-footed shot from the edge of the
penalty area to put the result beyond doubt. Rovers will now face the
winners of tomorrow's other area semi-final, which sees Crewe Alexandra
travel to Chesterfield. The "Man of the Match" voting is now closed. Thank you to everyone who has taken part in the voting. The result will be announced on Friday morning. |
| January
9, 2007 |
Rovers
v Darlington |
| |
Rovers
may make at least three changes for this evening's home game against Darlington.
Skipper Graeme Lee is suspended after picking up his fifth booking of
the season against Hudderfield, James O'Connor is very likely to miss
the game due to an ongoing heel injury, and Mark McCammon looks as though
he will miss the game after going off on Saturday with a neck injury.
However, O'Driscoll expects McCammon to be fit, insisting that McCammon's
substitution on Saturday was only precautionary. With Gareth Roberts serving
the second of a three match ban, Sean O'Driscoll may well use the match
to bring back Steve Roberts in defence after a lengthy injury lay-off. Darlington are approaching a full strength squad after injuries and a flu outbreak decimated the squad over Christmas. They are likely to include new signings Kevin Burgess, Lee Jones, David Wheater and Evan Horwood, but Tim Ryan will miss the game as he played for Boston in a previous round. |
| January
9, 2007 |
Heffernan
- the best |
| |
Rovers striker Paul
Heffernan haswon the December "Powerade Player of the Month"
for League One, thanks to his scoring sequence of four goals in five
games in December. He came ahead of contenders Keigan Parker of Blackpool,
Chris Porter of Oldham Athletic, Bristol City's Scott Murray and Leon
Constantine of Port Vale. |
| January
9, 2007 |
Tickets
v Darlington |
| |
Tickets
for this evening's game against Darlington will be on sale from the stadium
ticket office until kick-off this evening. Admission prices have been
reduced to £10 for adults and £5 for concessions. The match
kicks off at 7.45pm, and victory would put Rovers into the Northern Area
final, where they will face the winners of tomorrow evening's game between
Chesterfield and Crewe Alexandra. |
| January
8, 2007 |
Forte
for international football? |
 |
The
Barbados press have reported that Rovers winger Jonathan Forte may become
the latest international player at the club. With a successful Digicel
campaign at the end of 2006, Barbados are making good progress on the
international stage, and are targeting a number of England-based players
to improve further. Rovers striker Mark McCammon has made an impression
in recent matches, but the improvement of training facitilites could tempt
more players who play in England to play for the national side. As well
as Jonathan Forte, players eligible to play for Barbados are Emmerson
Boyce, Fitz Hall and Marlon Harewood (all of West Ham United). The finals of the Digicel Caribbean Cup will be played in Port of Spain, Trinidad from 12th to 23rd January. |
| January
8, 2007 |
Gowling
set to leave Cherries |
| |
Reports from the Bournemouth area suggest that defender Josh Gowling may be set to leave AFC Bournemouth during the January transfer window. Rovers boss Sean O'Driscoll tried to sign the player on loan on "loan transfer deadline day" recently, but Cherries boss Kevin Bond refused to let the player leave. Bond has now conceded that he may be ready to listen to offers for Gowling after the player's agent has been in touch to ask about a move away from Dean Court. Any move may be dependent on signing a suitable replacement. Gowling missed much of the 2005/06 seasonwith a cruciate ligament injury, and has seen his first team opportunities limited this season. The Bournemouth press suspect that O'Driscoll is set to either take Gowling on loan, or is perparing a bid for a full transfer. Ironically, the biggest stumbling block is the length of Gowling's contract, extended by O'Driscoll during his time there, which ties him to Bournemouth until the summer of 2008. |
| January
8, 2007 |
Goals
review |
| |
Only
a few former Rovers players have scored goals in recent days, which seem
to be due to a number of matches being postponed due to the latest round
of various cups, or waterlogged pitches. Ex-Rover Dene Shields celebrated his return to Gretna after being on loan at Stirling Albion early in the New Year by scoring one of Gretna's four goals in their away win at Queen of the South. In a match which was a little more high profile - again north of the border - ex-Rovers defender Phil McGruire scored Dunfermline's second goal in their 3-0 win at Ibrox, with managerless Glasgow Rangers facing somewhat of a crisis, being 17 points behind Celtic in the title race. The goal was McGuire's first for the club since joining them in the summer following his release by Rovers. Finally, in the UniBond First Division, Neil Redfearn scored one of Bradford Park Avenue's three goals as they won 3-1 at struggling Clitheroe. |
| January
8, 2007 |
Darlington
tickets |
| |
Tickets
for tomorrow's Darlington game are on sale from the Keepmoat Stadium ticket
office. A special promotion is being run for this match, which sees ticket
prices cut in all areas of the ground - prices for the game are £10
for adults and £5 for all concessions. As another special offer,
a free under-16's ticket can be obtained with every ticket bought before
4.30pm this afternoon. Tickets for the away game at Gillingham, and the home game against Scunthorpe United, go on sale from this morning. |
| January
6, 2007 |
Rovers
0 Bolton 4 |
| |
Premiership
club Bolton Wanderers strolled through to the fourth round of the FA Cup
at Belle Vue this afternoon, with the result not being in doubt after
Wanderers took the lead on just eight minutes as Kevin Davies volleyed
home. Rovers went close to an equaliser a few minutes later as Ian Walker
denied McCammon, but the visitors went two goals up with a good shot into
the top corner of Ben Smith's net. A third just before half time, and
a fourth early in the second half sealed Rovers fate, with the difference
in class between the two sides all to easy to see. It does make you wonder
if the outcome would have been different if the intimidating atmosphere
of Belle Vue had been the venue instead of the Keepmoat Stadium. The "Man of the match" voting is now closed. Thank you to everyone who has taken part. The result will be confirmed on Tuesday. |
| January
8, 2007 |
Meeting
with the SMC |
| |
A meeting was
held between Andy Liney and Andrew Nicholl, recently appointed SMC Chief
Executive, who was later joined by Ian Spowart, Chairman of the SMC. Among matters discussed were issues raise by fans, particularly in relation to Monday’s opening game, and the following agreements were reached. 1 Website The website will have a special Ticketing page, with up to date ticket office opening hours, regular updates on tickets which are currently on sale, and the status of currently selling tickets (how many left, when sold out). This last one will mean that we can rely on tickets remaining available until they are notified as “sold out”. The ticketing page will be directly linked from Rovers’ official website (to be agreed with Rovers). The site map on the directions page (which is out of date in terms of the Lakeside/Stadium Way area) will be supplemented with a map of the locality I have suggested to them. The site will be made accessible for the blind, by liaison with Rob Arrowsmith (who has the necessary technical information). 2 Ticket Office The ticket office will be open after matches and on evenings as required as soon as staff can be arranged. It was accepted that several seats were double-sold on Monday, including season ticket holders’ seats. It is believed that this problem has now been rectified. It was agreed that more information on ticket status (what tickets are on sale, how many left, when sold out) will be publicised using all available local media as well as the websites. Information on up-coming fixtures etc. will be displayed on hoardings at site entrances, but this will require planning permission, so will not happen immediately. On-line ticketing will be introduced as soon as the problems with the SMC’s bankers have been resolved. There are no technical problems with this, it is an issue of indemnity, and it is hoped that this will be resolved within days now. The suggestion that the South concourse be opened to allow fans to queue for the ticket office in periods of high demand and bad weather, and also use the facilities, was well received. However, the concourse is not currently capable of being isolated from the rest of the building, posing security issues, and the stadium contracted caterers (EMC) are contracted to specific days and areas and ad hoc operation of the kiosks would be difficult, so this will require further consideration .3 Access issues 3.1 Pedestrians The footpath from Sandy Lane is not in SMC control, but the issue will be looked at with the Council. The security fence problem is recognised, but this is the contractor’s responsibility to remove, and it will be removed now they are back from Christmas break. Issues of some lights not working (mainly at the north end of the stadium as reported by the police) will be looked into. 3.2 Buses The delays of shuttle buses in other vehicle traffic will be looked at in conjunction with an re-examination of all the traffic management issues. The control of traffic on Stadium Way is outside SMC’s hands as their stewards are not allowed to control traffic outside the car park perimeter. Suggestions put forward for alternative ways of managing traffic on Stadium Way were well received (splitting all traffic north from Number 1 car park and south from Number 2, with twin-lane one-way in those directions, and with the road in between acting as a balance road as required, and the shedding of traffic down Carriage Drive as required, was the main element of the proposal). 3.3 Cars It was accepted that problems occurred with disabled fans on Monday due to communications issues. The policy was agreed that all disabled fans registered with the Rovers and holding disabled season tickets will be allowed free use of the 63 disabled car parking spaces on a first-come first-served basis. The failure to issue tickets for the £5 payments taken from some fans (including several disabled fans) is to be investigated and steps taken to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. (All paying fans should ensure they receive a proper ticket). It was accepted that refunds of the £5 incorrectly paid by disabled fans should ideally be made, but would now be administratively difficult especially given that many fans didn’t receive tickets to use as evidence of payment, and the SMC apologise for this. Disabled fans should have their season tickets and blue badges available as evidence of entitlement to show car park attendants. They should access the disabled area via the barrier at the top end of Car Park 2. The short-term grid-lock on exiting the car park should be alleviated by traffic management measures as discussed above in due course. It was noted that these were issues for the police and local authority, but would be pursued by the SMC through those channels. 4 Concourses 4.1 Toilets Complaints had been received about hand dryers not working in toilets. We examined and tested all these and could find none out of order. There are no hand dryers in the main concourses (these were not originally specified) but these will be installed. As a short term measure, all concourse toilets will be provided with paper towels and bins. The lack of toilet rolls was attributed to uses as towels, as 380 toilet rolls were used on the day. This should be alleviated by the availability of paper towels. 4.2 Kiosk It is recognised that there are training issues with kiosk staff, which will be pursued with the catering contractor, EMC. This relates to language difficulties, lack of understanding of product availability, systems, and till operation, in turn leading to slow service. A shortage of milk and sugar was reported, but our inspection proved that these were available on the side counters in small baskets of long-life cartons. Despite agreement being reached with a major national bookmaker, they pulled out of the deal to operate in the concourses due to commercial reasons. A reputable local chain is now to be approached to operate this franchise. Stanchions causing a safety issue for kiosk staff were identified in two kiosks, and the safety issue has been reported to the catering contractor, EMC .4.3 Egress The lift in the West concourse was tested and found in order. All fire exits are now unlocked and operable. 5 Tannoy The problems with the tannoy were caused by attempting to link the PA system with Rovers’ own sound system, and other unauthorised operations. These issues will be resolved, and the systems were being tested while I was present in the building. 6 Flags Flag mounting arrangements will be installed in the South Stand on the wall behind the seats. The actual design is at the discretion of the SMC, but possible suggestions include multiple “pegs” at various heights and spacing or weldmesh strips for universal string tying. One issue which needs to be resolved is the actual mounting, as it is mostly an outside wall with only occasional structural components. More importantly, several customers have been identified for advertising hoardings (like the current John Smiths ones). These will need to be installed first to ensure flag mountings do not interfere with them and so that flags can fit under or between them. Fans should not ideally purchase specially made flags in the meantime. A suggestion was made that fans might like to rent a hoarding themselves to display something like “The Home of Doncaster Rovers”. This would require a fund-raising exercise. External flags or other match-day “identification” will be considered to indicate Rovers’ match-day “ownership”. A “Home of Doncaster Rovers” (as well as of the other users) type sign will be installed at the entrances but again will require planning permission. 7 Supporters’ Bar The bar becoming more of a sports bar on match days, its very name, the décor, and Rovers (and other tenant) theming and memorabilia were discussed, as was the drink prices. Proposals were tabled and will be put to the SMC board today (Friday), and I will report back on this. 8 Customer involvement A tenants’/users’ group will be formed and regular meetings held to ensure future good communication, information exchange, and feedback, and resolution of any problems. 9 Summary Andrew and Ian stressed that they recognised many of the early difficulties that fans had had, and every effort would be made to sort teething problems out. The time available to take over the stadium and the very busy period when this occurred have not been ideal. Some patience on our (fans’) part is clearly required, and I am personally sure that rapid progress is being made already. What is more important is that there is a clear willingness on their part to listen and adapt, and both Ian (who I have known for some time) and Andrew (who is new to the area) are very obviously people who I feel personally I can do business with (and they are both smashing blokes as well!), which suggests that we will be able to maintain the necessary lines of communication in the future. |
| January
7, 2007 |
Belle
Vue auction today |
| |
As
part of the "End of an Era" events planned to mark the departure
of Doncaster Rovers from Belle Vue, this afternoon sees the auction of
several items from Belle Vue, including turnstiles, door signs, pictures
and much more. The auctions starts at midday, and is being held in the
Rovers Return at Belle Vue. |
| January
7, 2007 |
Dino
in charge |
 |
Following
the departure of manager Paul Cook at Conference side Southport, the club
have announced that former Doncaster Rovers striker Dino Maamria has been
placed in temporary charge of team affairs, along with physio Steve Whitehall.
Southport won their match yesterday, registering a key 3-1 victory over
Grays Athletic, with the three points taking them off the bottom of the
Conference table. |
| January
7, 2007 |
Hawkins
bound for Dunfermline? |
 |
Speculation
is rife in Ireland that former Rovers defender Colin Hawkins is set for
a move from Shelbourne to Scottish Premier League club Dunfermline Athletic.
The Irish league is currently in its close season, and Shelbourne appear
to be losing a great number of their out of contract players, with any
remaining under contract also being deemed to be free agents after failing
to receive two consecutive weeks' wages from the club. Hawkins has impressed
several scouts in Ireland and Scotland with his performances last season
seeing him described as a "tough tackling centre back". |
| January
6, 2007 |
Rovers
v Bolton |
 |
A
capacity crowd is expected for this afternoon's FA Cup tie at the Keepmoat
Stadium, when Premiership side Bolton Wanderers are the visitors. Rovers will be without the suspended Gareth Roberts after receiving a red card in Monday's game against Huddersfield, but skipper Graeme Lee will play - he will be suspended for Tuesday's game against Darlington after picking up a fifth yellow card of the campaign. James O'Connor is likely to need an injection in an ongoing heel injury before the match, but is expected to play, and Mark McCammon has been receiving treatment for a knock on the ankle, but is expected to be fit to start the game. Bolton have promised to field the strongest team available, although they made several changes to their side at the comparable stage of the competition last season. They will definitely be without the suspended Ivan Campo, the injured Henrik Pedersen and Joey O'Brien, and will give a fitness test to skipper Kevin Nolan and El-Hadji Diouf. Also doubtful are Stelios Giannakopoulos (groin) and Quinton Fortune (Achilles). |
| January
6, 2007 |
Ticket
update |
 |
There
were around 500 tickets remaining for Rovers fans when the ticket office
at the Keepmoat Stadium closed yesterday afternoon - Bolton have around
750 tickets remaining for sale today. Fans wanting to make sure they get
a ticket are urged to visit the ticket office as early as they can this
morning - or ring the ticket office on 01302 762576. Please note that
the ticket office will only be open for the sale and collection of Bolton
tickets today. |
| January
6, 2007 |
Pittman
signs for Rovers |
 |
Doncaster
Rovers have signed striker Jon Paul Pittman until the end of the season.
The 20 year-old striker has been signed from League Two club Bury, where
he has made five starts and four substitute appearances, scoring one goal.
He began his career at Nottingham Forest, but didn't make an appearance
- his only other first team action was when he went on loan to Hartlepool
for the second half of last season. He is American born, with Senegalese nationality. Whilst highly unlikely to feature in any way in this afternoon's match, he may feature in Tuesday's Johnstone's Paint Trophy game against Darlington, as he did not appear in previous rounds whilst with Bury. |
| January
6, 2007 |
Lee
looking for cup shock |
 |
Doncaster
Rovers captain Graeme Lee is hoping that his Rovers side will be grabbing
the headlines this evening after their game in the FA Cup against Bolton.
The experience of last season's Carling Cup run is expected to benefit
Rovers, with Lee saying: "The players who played in those big Carling
Cup games know from experience that if they go out and play as well as
they can, and do their job right, they know that we aren't going to get
rolled over and that we could win the game." "It is obviously disappointing to have to make changes to the back-four in view of the fact that we have kept clean sheets in six of our last seven games. But having said that whenever we have asked someone to come into the team and fill in, they have all known what is expected of them." "We'll still be confident going into the game no matter what formation we have and ready for anything that they might throw at us. They are regarded as being a physical side but League One is probably more physical than the Premiership so I don't think that will be a factor. "If we can get an early goal like we did against Huddersfield on New Year's Day it would be great. It would give them a shock and give us a lift." |
| January
6, 2007 |
Streete
turns down Rovers |
| |
Young
Derby County defender Theo Streete, who returned to Pride Park just before
Christmas after finishing his loan at Rovers, has rejected a full transfer
to Rovers. He was offered a contract until the end of the season, but
Streete has turned down the offer. Manager Sean O'Driscoll has now reportedly
ruled out the prospect of Streete returning to Rovers, and will turn his
attention elsewhere to strengthen the Rovers defence. |
| January
6, 2007 |
Pre-match
entertainment |
| |
As
with the Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield Town games, Rovers are putting
on some entertainment before this afternoon's game against Bolton. The announced schedule is: 2.00pm: The Vikettes 2.10pm: The best stadium pre-match band around the British Isles, Psycho Slinkies 2.40pm: The News of the World Score Angels, 22 dancers sponsored by the News of the World who usually appear in the Premiership. (They will arrive around lunchtime in their special coach and will walk round the concourses handing out leaflets and generally promoting the club before they then prepare for their spot). 2.55pm: The players will walk on to the pitch to the Rovers anthem by John Parr, “Out of the darkness”. Half-time: Appearing on the pitch at half time will be boxer Junior Witter, who will be parading his WBC Superlightweight belt. and Amir Khan, who won the IBF Intercontinental light-welterweight title at ExCeL in December. The "Free Kick Challenge", postponed from the Nottingham Forest game, will also take place at half time of this afternoon's match. |
| January
6, 2007 |
Programmes
and DVDs for collection |
| |
Pre-ordered copies of the "First match" and "Last match" programmes, along with ordered copies of the "End of an Era" DVD, will be available from South Stand Reception between noon and 2.50pm this afternoon. |
| January
5, 2007 |
Urgent
information for disabled Rovers' fans |
| |
There
were some misunderstandings about who was entitled to disabled parking
at Monday's game. Please note that only those disabled fans who are registered
with Doncaster Rovers and are disabled season ticket holders are entitled
to use the disabled parking bays, accessible via the barrier in the No.2
Car Park. They should show the car park attendant both their disabled
season ticket and their blue badge (for identification), and parking in
the 63 available bays is then free on a first come first served basis.
Holders of blue badges who are not registered with the club's scheme will
not be entitled to use these bays. |
| January
5, 2007 |
Voting
results |
 |
In
one of the largest votes of the season, Mark MaCammon, scorer of the first
goal at the Keepmoat Stadium in the match against Huddersfield, won the
vote by a clear margin, receiving more than one in every three votes cast.
With eleven players receiving nominations, the leading players in the
poll were as follows: 1 Mark McCammon (38.93%) 2 James Copppinger (15.04%) 3 Paul Green, Graeme Lee (10.62%) 5 Jonathan Forte (9.73%) Thank you to everyone who took part. The next vote will open following Saturday's FA Cup match against Bolton Wanderers. |
| January
5, 2007 |
Ticket
office update |
||||||||||||||||
| |
The
Keepmoat Stadium report that there are less than 1,500 tickets remaining
for Saturday's FA Cup Third Round match against Premiershi giants Bolton
Wanderers. With a second virtual sell-out now more less guaranteed, anyone
wanting to watch the game needs to buy a ticket today, as it is unlikely
there will be any left on Saturday. Extra staff have been taken on to take telephone orders - tickets can be ordered on the ticket office number of 01302 762576. The ticket office is open from 9am to 5pm today, and 9am to 3pm on Saturday. Ticket prices:
|
| January
5, 2007 |
Tim
rejoins Penney |
 |
Former
Doncaster Rovers left back Tim Ryan has rejoined former Rovers manager
Dave Penney at Darlington after completing a transfer yesterday. Boston
have reported that they have received a five-figure fee for the player
- their second such sum received this week, with striker Anthony Elding
also moving out of the club. It does mean that the cash-strapped club
can now afford to pay the players and staff their wages for December. Tim Ryan joined Boston on a free transfer after a short stay at Peterborough United towards the end fo last season. |
| January
5, 2007 |
Blundell
deal may still be on |
| |
There
was confusion last night over whether Darlington's bid for former Doncaster
Rovers striker Gregg Blundell has been rejected or not. Chester have issued
a statement indicating they have turned down the approach for the striker,
with chairman Stephen Vaughan saying "There will be player movements
over the next week or so, but Gregg won't be one of them. We want him
to stay and be an integral part of our promotion push and as such we will
thank Darlington for their interest but reject their offer." Clear-cut enough a statement, but Darlington insist that the approach is not yet dead, with assistant manager Martin Gray saying: "I don't how true that is because we have spoken to Chester this afternoon and we don't know who has released that information. We still have not got to the bottom of it. I would not say that it had definitely been turned down. We are more than hopeful, the door is not shut on that one. Hopefully the deal is not dead and buried." Blundell has scored 14 goals since signing for Chester 18 months ago, and his contract expires in the summer. |
| January
5, 2007 |
Turf
sale |
| |
Anyone
who has bought turf, either under the "End of an Era" promotion
or in the original sale in 1992, is advised that the turf is now ready
for collection. Rovers ask you to collect your turf from Belle Vue between
9.30am and 3.30pm from today until Friday, 12th January. It will help
if those who bought their turf in the 90's can bring their certificate
of purchase with them, although Rovers have assured fans that they have
a reference list if you have lost the certificate. |
| January
5, 2007 |
Barker
moves to Hartlepool |
 |
Despite
a concerted publicity campaign by Mansfield Town in recent weeks, the
inevitable happened yesterday when former Doncaster Rovers striker Richie
Barker was transferred from Mansfield Town to Hartlepool United. The transfer
fee for the 31-year old is reported to be in the region of £80,000,
which wil make it a record transfer fee paid by Hartlepool. Coincidentally, Barker's last match for Mansfield was on Saturday, when Hartlepool provided the opposition, and speculation surrounding the move increased after Barker appeared to applaud the crowd as a farewell gesture. The Stags' skipper has signed a two and a half year contract at Victoria Park. "I am delighted to have a player of his experience and calibre," said Pools boss Danny Wilson. |
| January
3, 2007 |
Stock
signs on |
 |
Preston
North End have reported that Doncaster Rovers have completed the transfer
of midfielder Brian Stock, who has been at Rovers for the last three months,
but had to return to Preston after the expiry of his loan on 23rd December.
Stock has played 21 times since his move to Rovers, scoring two goals. Preston have indicated that they have recovered the transfer fee thay paid to Bournemouth for the player last January, which was £125,000. No confirmation has yet been made by Rovers, but in a radio interview on Monday, John Ryan indicated that Rovers were paying in the region of £150,000. |
| January
3, 2007 |
The
Sarge returns |
 |
Former
Doncaster Rovers centre back Mark Albrighton has returned to Boston United
following his month on loan at Darlington. Whilst he played well during
the early part of his loan, he picked up a hamstring injury that limited
him to just three appearances for Dave Penney's side. |
| January
3, 2007 |
Griffith
is back |
 |
Darlington's official website has reported that Rovers midfielder Antony Griffith has returned to Doncaster following the expiry of his loan period with the Quakers. |
| January
3, 2007 |
Penney
signs Wheater on loan |
 |
In a third piece of news involving Doncaster Rovers and Darlington, David Wheater has signed for Darlington on a month's loan from Middlesbrough. Wheater previously played for Dave Penney at Doncaster Rovers last season, and has also spent time on loan this season at Wolverhampton Wanderers, but cut his loan short after making only one appearance for the club. |
| January
1, 2007 |
Rovers
3 Huddersfield Town 0 |
| |
Rovers
got their tenure of the Keepmoat Stadium off to a flying start with a
convincing 3-0 win over Huddersfield Town. A great volley by Mark McCammon
in the first half put Rovers ahead, but it was a two goal burst early
in the second half that finished off Huddersfield, who rarely threatened
Smith's goal, although some awful finishing by the front two did help
the cause. A flare-up in the second half saw two Huddersfield players
shown straight red cards - the incident arising from a shocking tackle
by Ahmed on Mark McCammon. Rovers' Gareth Roberts was also shown a red
card later in the second half for a poor two-footed challenge. The Rovers
goals were scored by Mark McCammon, Paul Heffernan and Jonathan Forte.
The crowd was 14,470 - only about 500 short of the capacity imposed for
the afternoon, although that will rise a little further in the coming
weeks. The "Man of the match" voting is now closed. Thanks to everyone who has taken part - the result will be announced on Thursday morning. |
| January
2, 2007 |
Goals
review |
| |
Our
reveiw of former Rovers players scoring goals yesterday starts in League
One, where Adebayo Akinfenwa scored Swansea's first goal in their 2-0
home win over Brentford, which maintains their fifth position in the table. In League Two, Macclesfield, who are rapidly becoming the "form team", won again, with a 2-1 win over promotion contenders Lincoln City, with two Kevin McIntyre penalties giving them the victory. In the Conference, Dino Maamria scored for Southport in their match at Northwich Victoria - but the bottom club still went down to a 3-1 defeat. Ex-Rover Rufus Brevett, now playing for Oxford United, also appeared on the scoresheet - his own goal put Exeter into the lead, with Oxford going down to a 2-1 defeat. Finally, in the Conference North, Ben Saunders scored for Worksop in their 2-1 home defeat against Gainsborough Trinity. |
| January
2, 2007 |
McIndoe
completes transfer |
 |
Former
Doncaster Rovers winger Michael McIndoe completed his transfer from Barnsley
to Wolverhampton Wanderers yesterday after moving to Molineux on loan
in November. The tranfer fee involved is reported to be £250,000
- and his first match for Wolves after completing the move was against
- Barnsley! Wolves won the match 2-0 to leave Barnsley deep in relegation
trouble. |
| January
1, 2007 |
Rovers
v Huddersfield team news |
| |
Sean
O'Driscoll has reported no new injury concerns following Saturday's game
at Blackpool, with any changes likely to be from within the same squad. Huddersfield have a doubt over defender Andy Holdsworth, who was substituted on Saturday after suffering an ankle injury. They will also make a late decision over whether to include midfielder Danny Schofield, who missed Saturday's game against Swansea due to illness. |
| January
1, 2007 |
Traffic
and travel information |
| |
With
a capacity crowd certain for this afternoon's opening fixture at the Keepmoat
Stadium, we urge all supporters to allow a lot of extra time to travel
to the ground. With the Lakeside Village shopping outlet expected to be
busy with shoppers for the New Year sales, the police have warned that
they will enforce parking regulations, and have asked that fans show consideration
to local residents when parking their vehicles. Signs to the Keepmoat Stadium are in place - there are 1,000 parking spaces available at the stadium iteself, and a further 2,000 in the car parks by the Vue cinema complex. There will also be a "park and walk" operating from Belle Vue, and a "park and ride" from Town Moor Avenue. The park and ride will cost £1 and will operate from 1pm to 3pm, and 4.30pm to 6.30pm. A bus service will also operate from the Transport Interchange in the town centre - you will need to catch services 72 and 75, which will operate every 15 minutes. A new traffic system in the vicinity of the ground will mean that entry to stadium car parks will be via Middle Bank Road (by the Sorting Office) - please do not try to enter the car parks from other directions. Parking in the stadium car parks will cost £5 per car, and will be on a "first come, first served" basis. |
| January
1, 2007 |
Happy
New Year |
| |
We
would like to wish all Rovers fans a very Happy New Year - and may it
be a very successful one as well! |