Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club play their home games at the Club Doncaster Sports Village, having moved from Belle Vue in 2007. Their home strip consists of red and white hoops, which has been the main design of the club's home shirt since 2001 through different variations.

The club was founded in 1879 and turned professional six years later, moving to the Intake Ground. They entered the Midland League in 1891 and were elected into the Football League in 1901. The club lost re-election votes in 1903 and 1905 and so returned to the Midland League. They were admitted into the Football League for a third and final time in 1923 and went on to win the Third Division North in 1934–35. The club won two further Third Division North titles in 1946–47 and 1949–50, having been relegated from the Second Division in 1937 and 1948. Doncaster found themselves in the Fourth Division after suffering consecutive relegations in 1958 and 1959, though would go on to win the Fourth Division title in 1965–66 and 1968–69. The club continued to move between the third and fourth tiers, winning promotions in 1980–81 and 1983–84 and relegations in 1983 and 1988, before suffering relegation into non-League football in 1998.

Doncaster regained their Football League status after winning the 2003 Conference play-offs and then went on to win the Third Division title in 2003–04. They won the Football League Trophy in 2007 and the next year won the League One play-offs to secure a place in the second tier for the first time since 1958. They spent four of the next five seasons in the Championship, winning the League One title in 2012–13, though were relegated out of the Championship in 2012 and 2014. Relegated into League Two in 2016, they won an immediate promotion in 2016–17 and remained in League One until relegation in 2022, before returning to League One in 2025 after clinching the title.

History

Early years The club was formed in 1879 by Albert Jenkins, a fitter at Doncaster's Great Northern Railway works. He gathered together some friends to play a match against the Yorkshire Institute for the Deaf in September 1879. The institute side took a 4–0 lead but the game ended as a 4–4 draw. On walking back from the game, the team took a rest at the Hall Cross, and had a discussion in which they decided to play more and called themselves Doncaster Rovers.

The first match under the name was on 3 October 1879, a draw away against Rawmarsh. The club turned professional in 1885. Gradually, they became the main team in the town, and appear to have had their first professional players in 1887–88.

Rovers first entered the FA Cup in 1888–89, losing 9–1 to Rotherham Town at home. Season 1890–91 was to be a significant move forward. The club were a founder member of the Midland Alliance League and came second. The following season, saw them enter the Sheffield and Hallamshire FA Challenge Cup, beating Sheffield United 2–1 at Bramall Lane to win the final. That same season, they also moved up to the Midland League, becoming Champions in 1896–97 and 1898–99.

They were first elected to the Football League in 1901, as a replacement for New Brighton Tower. Their first season in the League was in fact the one when Doncaster achieved their highest position ever (7th in the Football League Second Division). They only lasted two seasons in the league before being voted out in favour of local rivals Bradford City, having finished the 1902 season in the bottom three.

They spent the following season in the Midland League, only managing 11th place out of 18 but were elected back to Division 2. This time, in 1904–05, Doncaster finished bottom with W3 D2 L29, adrift by 12 points, gaining only 8 points – an unfortunate still standing record. They were voted out once again. The following several seasons saw them finish lower midtable of the Midland League, till between 1910 and 1913 they had greater success. The last few years before the war mediocrity returned, and in August 1914 debts run up over the years led to voluntary liquidation. However, a new club was formed in time for the 1914–15 season and was accepted into the Midland League to continue where the old club had left off. The outbreak of the First World War meant the club closed down, and the army took over its ground using it as a depot.

Inter war period The club re-formed as a limited company after the war in 1919, rejoining the Midland League a year later playing at their new temporary Bennetthorpe Ground. The first two seasons Rovers finished lower-mid table. The third season they moved to Belle Vue, finished runners up and were accepted into the Football League Division 3 North for 1923–24 to replace Stalybridge Celtic.

The first match back in the Football League was a 0–0 draw against Wigan Borough at Belle Vue on 25 August 1923, with Rovers playing in red tops with white shorts. One of the players in that first match was Rovers legend Tom Keetley who went on to become the club's highest scorer with 186 goals in 241 appearances. Doncaster ended the season in 9th place. The next few seasons saw them rise towards the top of the table, then decline towards the bottom, before in the early 1930s finishing consistently near the top and finally becoming Champions in 1934–35.

Rovers spent two seasons in Division 2, relegated in 1936–37. However, they did well in the following two seasons before the outbreak of war, being runners up in Division 3 North, with only the champions being promoted at that time.

Second World War – late 1990s Doncaster Rovers were involved in the longest ever competitive football match, against Stockport County at Edgeley Park on 30 March 1946, in a Division Three North cup tie. The match was deadlocked at 2–2 at 90 minutes, and after two 10-minute periods of extra time there was no further score. The rule at that time was that the game would carry on until one team scored. However, after 203 minutes, and with darkness closing in, the game was finally stopped. Fans were said to have left the game, gone home for their tea, and come back to watch the end of the game.BBC, The League Doesn't Lie: The 606 Book of Football Lists, p. 171Alan Edwards, County History – The Longest Game , Vitalfootball.co.uk The replay, at Doncaster, was won by Rovers 4–0.

In 1946–47 Doncaster set a record for the most games won in a league season (33), when they won the Third Division North title. The following season saw them relegated from the Second Division, but two years later with Peter Doherty as player-manager, they won the Third Division North again. This time they stayed in the Second Division for eight seasons, their most successful period to date.

During this time, several high class players were with Doncaster including Harry Gregg who kept goal, and was sold to Manchester United in December 1957 for £23,500. At the time, he was the most expensive goalkeeper in the world. He went on to help save lives in the Munich air disaster and was a regular goalkeeper for Northern Ireland. Another player, lesser known outside Doncaster, was Alick Jeffrey. Matt Busby, manager of Manchester United, had lined him up to be bought, however in October 1956 Jeffrey badly broke his leg playing for England under-23s. This ended his move and any chance of what was seen to be an almost certain glittering international career to come. Doncaster suffered two consecutive relegations in 1958 and 1959 to drop to the Fourth Division.

Billy Bremner, who achieved fame for his playing career with Leeds United and Scotland, managed Doncaster twice, his final spell ending in November 1991 – six years before his death.

Richardson era During the early 1990s, Ken Richardson took over as the majority shareholder of the club. He invested a significant amount of money into Doncaster Rovers with the aim of obtaining a new stadium. When he was refused a new stadium by the council he soon lost interest. Richardson hired three men to set a fire at Belle Vue and planned to sell the ground to developers. The attempt put Richardson in jail for four years, ruined Belle Vue and Rovers were edging closer to relegation. In 1998 Rovers dropped out of the league with a −83 goal difference. He withdrew his financial backing and as a result the club was subject to an administration order. The better players were sold to ease some of the financial burden. The fans blamed Richardson for effectively destroying Rovers and even a funeral was held at Belle Vue on the last game of the 1997–98 season complete with coffin along Carr House Road.

The rise The Westferry Consortium took over the club just before the beginning of the 1998–99 season with a commitment to invest heavily in the club. The new ownership stated aspirations of returning it to the second tier and building a new stadium within ten years, both of which they went on to achieve within the ten years. Doncaster found their best form in 50 years in the 2000s.

After five seasons in the Conference, under the helm of manager Dave Penney the club returned to the fourth tier (known at the time as Division Three) after winning the 2003 Conference play-off final, in the only sudden death goal in the history of English football promotion play-offs. In 2003–04, the first season they were back in the Football League, Rovers achieved promotion to the third tier as champions. Doncaster were the first team to win the fourth level Championship three times, 1966, 1969, and 2004.

In 2005–06, Doncaster defeated two Premier League teams in the League Cup – Manchester CityDoncaster 1–1 Man City (aet) . BBC News (21 September 2005). Retrieved on 24 September 2012. and Aston Villa.Doncaster 3–0 Aston Villa . BBC News (29 November 2005). Retrieved on 24 September 2012. They reached the quarter-finals of the competition where they met Arsenal. They went ahead in normal time and Arsenal equalised, and in extra time Rovers went up for a second time but Gilberto Silva equalised in injury time and the North London side went on to win on penalties.Doncaster 2–2 Arsenal (aet) . BBC News (21 December 2005). Retrieved on 24 September 2012. Penney left in August 2006 feeling he had taken the club as far as he could and was swiftly replaced with former AFC Bournemouth manager Sean O'Driscoll.

A new stadium was completed in December 2006. Doncaster's first game at the new Keepmoat Stadium was against Huddersfield Town on New Year's Day, 2007Doncaster 3–0 Huddersfield . BBC News (1 January 2007). Retrieved on 24 September 2012. and the first goal scored at the Stadium was by Mark McCammon.

2007–2023 In the 2006–07 season, Doncaster reached the final of the Football League Trophy at the Millennium Stadium. After a 2–2 draw with Bristol Rovers in normal time, a header from captain Graeme Lee in extra time saw Doncaster claim their first major trophy.Hughes, Ian. (1 April 2007) Bristol Rovers 2–3 Doncaster (aet) . BBC News. Retrieved on 24 September 2012.