Doncaster Rovers FC - History
2006-07 Season
11th in League One
League Cup: 3rd round; Wycombe Wanderers a. lost 2-3 on penalties.
FA Cup: 3rd round; Bolton Wanderers h. 0-4
JP Trophy: Winners; beat Bristol Rovers 3-2 aet. in the final
Highlight:
1-0 win at Nottingham Forest, 6/3/07
Low Spot:
4-0 defeat at Oldham Athletic, 11/3/07
Good:
Brian Stock
Impressed on loan from Preston North End and continued to impress after signing permanently. Creative midfielder with more than a touch of class if he toughens up a bit he could become a major talent.
Scored some cracking goals but it was the chances he made for others that really impressed.
Graeme Lee
Solid defender whose influence was vital during a slightly turbulent season.
In Brief:
Hopes were high going into this season but a slow start to the campaign meant any promotion hopes were but over by the start of October when the club languished in 20th position.
23 points from the next 10 games raised confidence and when the local derby at Rotherham was won 3-2 at the end of January the club had climbed to 8th.
A disappointing March left Rovers with too much to do in the run in, however, which meant the highlight of the season was success in the Johnstone Paints Trophy.
With a move to an impressive new stadium completed and the club looking to move forwards optimism remains unusually high around the town, however.
Doncaster Rovers Football Club was formed in 1879, the result of a one off game against the Yorkshire Institute for the Deaf. The players brought together for this match decided to continue playing together and called themselves Doncaster Rovers.
In 1901 the club was elected to the second division of the football league but suffered an uncertain beginning as a league club.
In both 1903 and 1905 the club failed to be re-elected into the league and did not return on the second occassion until 1923 when they gained entry into division three north.
Since then the only relative success the club has achieved is in managing to maintain its' league status until 1998 when the club suffered relegation to the Vauxhall Conference.
Thankfully, when the club was able to regain league status in 2003 they followed this up immediately with the Division Three championship the following year.
The club is now trying to establish itself as a League One side, not an easy task if history is any guide.
The most famous name associated with the club is Peter Doherty and his arrival in 1949 as player manager prompted the brightest spell in Doncaster's history.
The club were immediately promoted to the second division as division three north champions and retained this status until 1958 when the club went back down to the third division and also parted company with Doherty.
They have never been back to the second tier of English football since.
Although life in the second division was a continual struggle they continually threatened to make an impression in the FA Cup without ever quite managing to really do so.
In 1952, 54, 55 and 56 Doncaster made it through to the fifth round of the competition but never beyond.
In 1955 Rovers put Aston Villa FCout of the competition after four replays before losing narrowly to Birmingham City and in 1956 they thrashed Notts Forest 3-0 before losing at home to Tottenham Hotspur.
The clubs' best effort in the League Cup came in 1976 when they made it through to the quarter finals before suffering a 7-2 pasting at White Hart Lane.
Down the years Rovers are probably more noted for the men who have managed them rather than played. As well as Doherty, Lawrie McMenemy, Maurice Setters, Stan Anderson, Billy Bremner, Dave Mackay and Kerry Dixon have all had spells in the Belle Vue hot seat.
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