Relegation not just bad for the club..

Doncaster Rovers remain determined to take control of the Keepmoat Stadium - despite being relegated from the Championship.


Attendances at the community stadium at Lakeside will almost certainly be lower next season - but the club still wants to take over the lease from the failing Stadium Management Company.

Business bosses also fear relegation will hit trade in the town on match days.

Dan Fell, spokesman for Doncaster Chamber of Commerce, said less will be spent in bars, cafes and hotels around the town.

He said: “It’s obviously disappointing for the town from a sporting perspective but you have to think about the further consequences.

“Football is a vehicle for bringing in thousands of visitors every couple of weeks and the loss of that is bound to have an impact on the economy.

“Football is also an important contributor to civic pride in the town.

“What we have to do is give the club great support and hope that they will rally next season and they can make it back into the Championship.

“I guess it will be the bars, restaurants and hotels that will suffer, so it is much broader business than the Rovers that will be affected.”

Rovers interim chief executive Gavin Baldwin said the club was ‘looking to the future’ despite relegation to League One after the 4-3 home defeat to Portsmouth on Saturday and still wanted to take over the Keepmoat.

He said: “While we are all extremely disappointed to have been relegated, we are looking to the future and will use the coming weeks to review our strategies in order to ensure that Doncaster Rovers is a club that both the fans and local community can engage with and feel part of.

“Our ambitions to take over the running of the Keepmoat Stadium, if a suitable deal can be done, remain resolute.

“We strongly believe the best future for the stadium and the people of Doncaster is one which sees the Rovers managing the community stadium.

“I am passionate about returning the stadium to the people of Doncaster.”

Mayor of Doncaster Peter Davies said negotiations between the council and club were ongoing and ‘nothing has changed’ despite Rovers’ relegation.

He added: “We are still talking to the Rovers because the SMC is getting no more money from us and this needs to be resolved sooner rather than later.

“We are disappointed that Rovers have been relegated. It’s not very good for the town and it’s sad for the club.”

Rovers will lose at least £500,000 in TV income and without the likes of former Premiership clubs West Ham United, Birmingham City, and Middlesbrough no longer bringing big followings, there will be fewer fans in the away end at the Keepmoat, meaning a loss in ticket revenue.

Richard McAvoy, proprietor of the Mount Pleasant Hotel on Great North Road, said they would suffer because they played host to Championship teams staying overnight before matches at the Keepmoat.

“It is regrettable because when you count up that revenue it’s quite a lot.

“We had started getting a lot of away teams staying here and as many of the lower teams don’t stay overnight we are expecting less business next season.”

But Craig Dowie, who runs the Crown Hotel in Bawtry, said he hoped Rovers would bounce back in the same way that Sheffield United have this season.

“United and Sheffield Wednesday are pacemakers in League One and that’s been good for the city so let’s hope Doncaster will be up there at the end of next season.”

from Sheffield Star..

yorkie64red wrote:Doncaster Rovers remain determined to take control of the Keepmoat Stadium - despite being relegated from the Championship.


Attendances at the community stadium at Lakeside will almost certainly be lower next season - but the club still wants to take over the lease from the failing Stadium Management Company.

Business bosses also fear relegation will hit trade in the town on match days.

Dan Fell, spokesman for Doncaster Chamber of Commerce, said less will be spent in bars, cafes and hotels around the town.

He said: “It’s obviously disappointing for the town from a sporting perspective but you have to think about the further consequences.

“Football is a vehicle for bringing in thousands of visitors every couple of weeks and the loss of that is bound to have an impact on the economy.

“Football is also an important contributor to civic pride in the town.

“What we have to do is give the club great support and hope that they will rally next season and they can make it back into the Championship.

“I guess it will be the bars, restaurants and hotels that will suffer, so it is much broader business than the Rovers that will be affected.”

Rovers interim chief executive Gavin Baldwin said the club was ‘looking to the future’ despite relegation to League One after the 4-3 home defeat to Portsmouth on Saturday and still wanted to take over the Keepmoat.

He said: “While we are all extremely disappointed to have been relegated, we are looking to the future and will use the coming weeks to review our strategies in order to ensure that Doncaster Rovers is a club that both the fans and local community can engage with and feel part of.

“Our ambitions to take over the running of the Keepmoat Stadium, if a suitable deal can be done, remain resolute.

“We strongly believe the best future for the stadium and the people of Doncaster is one which sees the Rovers managing the community stadium.

“I am passionate about returning the stadium to the people of Doncaster.”

Mayor of Doncaster Peter Davies said negotiations between the council and club were ongoing and ‘nothing has changed’ despite Rovers’ relegation.

He added: “We are still talking to the Rovers because the SMC is getting no more money from us and this needs to be resolved sooner rather than later.

“We are disappointed that Rovers have been relegated. It’s not very good for the town and it’s sad for the club.”

Rovers will lose at least £500,000 in TV income and without the likes of former Premiership clubs West Ham United, Birmingham City, and Middlesbrough no longer bringing big followings, there will be fewer fans in the away end at the Keepmoat, meaning a loss in ticket revenue.

Richard McAvoy, proprietor of the Mount Pleasant Hotel on Great North Road, said they would suffer because they played host to Championship teams staying overnight before matches at the Keepmoat.

“It is regrettable because when you count up that revenue it’s quite a lot.

“We had started getting a lot of away teams staying here and as many of the lower teams don’t stay overnight we are expecting less business next season.”

But Craig Dowie, who runs the Crown Hotel in Bawtry, said he hoped Rovers would bounce back in the same way that Sheffield United have this season.

“United and Sheffield Wednesday are pacemakers in League One and that’s been good for the city so let’s hope Doncaster will be up there at the end of next season.”

from Sheffield Star..

I bet the Crown Hotel are gutted... That is the hotel where Diouf was staying right?

I read facebook last night & someone said rumour away stand will be closed next season to cut stadium running cost and away fans will be allocated in the east stand so I dont know it true or not.

Would closing the stand really cut down the costs that much? Extra staff would be needed in the east stand if the north was to be closed.

Next season many small clubs will bring small fans to Keepmoat Stadium & ticket revenue will be lost.

Askern Rovers wrote:Next season many small clubs will bring small fans to Keepmoat Stadium & ticket revenue will be lost.

Does that mean teams like Yeovil and Stevenage will bring all their midgets and dwarves to the KM?


i did n`t realise there were discounts for being vertically challenged!

Lets hope all opposition supporting dwarves leave the KM as grumpy and not happy!

Yes I hope so!

At the end of the day the ground was built when we were in league one..we managed then ok..

yorkie64red wrote:At the end of the day the ground was built when we were in league one..we managed then ok..

Were there many small people from small clubs attending the KM the last time we were in league 1? Have to say I can`t remember there being a disproportionate number of small people

Portsmouth have a dwarf fan... hope he's visiting the KM next season

donnyroversfc wrote:

I bet the Crown Hotel are gutted... That is the hotel where Diouf was staying right?

I don't know about Diouf but I was there for a night for my birthday in February and morning of the Leeds away game Button, Robert, Bagayoko, Plessis and I think Bamogo were all having breakfast.

The Crown gets a lot of racegoers and recently started to attract stars playing at Sheffield Arena (probably due to fact Sheffield hotels aren't great ) so I doubt they'll miss them that much

The Crown were probably paying these 'stars' for staying in their hotel anyway.
They are probably pleased to see the back of them like us.

To be fair the ones I saw seemed very nice and very well mannered. Its probably ideal because you don't have to go through reception and public areas to get to rooms - parking's a nightmare though

Would the crown hotel be up to the standards of somebody as great as me? I wouldn't know cos i've never been

donnyroversfc wrote:Lets hope all opposition supporting dwarves leave the KM as grumpy and not happy!

Lets just hope and pray we never see this lot at the Keepmoat again!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AAAnZ0JKGo

SPROTYROVER wrote:

Lets just hope and pray we never see this lot at the Keepmoat again!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AAAnZ0JKGo

"How far away are they"

i love phoenix nights!!

Love that clip, we're Bolton , we're barmy etc.......

Just a wild thought that has entered my brain after a long long wekend in Amsterdam, errrrm.....................Oh yes has anyone thought that if we actually start to win a few home games then the floating voters might just invest a few pounds to watch a match or two at the Keepmoat which might offset the loss of revenue from the alleged smaller number of away fans?Out of interest what was the average attendance when we were last in Division 3?

ravenrover wrote:Just a wild thought that has entered my brain after a long long wekend in Amsterdam, errrrm.....................Oh yes has anyone thought that if we actually start to win a few home games then the floating voters might just invest a few pounds to watch a match or two at the Keepmoat which might offset the loss of revenue from the alleged smaller number of away fans?Out of interest what was the average attendance when we were last in Division 3?

Yep...start winning games week after week and if we seriously look like making a promotion push that should get a few back...we could get higher attendances then we did in the championship...its winning that people want to see..

Askern Rovers wrote:Next season many small clubs will bring small fans to Keepmoat Stadium & ticket revenue will be lost.

That's not strictly true , there will be many fans wanting to 'tick' the KM off their to visit list and away support in Div.1 isn't significantly less. Our main problem may be the loss of local derbies but that remains to be seen.
Away support generally this season has been lower than previous seasons as many couldn't be bothered/afford to come due to their perception of the match against us............we'll see eh if we're riding high, both home and away attendances shouldn't be that disappointing in comparison imo.
There's far too much doom and gloom surrounding the club and I can't for the life of me see why when there is so much pro-activity /activity behind the scenes with the stadium (experience). My only worry and I grant you it's a big one is ..........the manager. I hope I'm very wrong about his competence to lead our club forward once again.

Our biggest gate yet at the Keepmoat was in L1, we also have the luxury of a massive home derby against a Sheffield club or Huddersfield to look forward too along with a renewed derby against the bastards in claret and blue.
I'm also looking forward to seeing DiCanio when we batter Swindon lol

And as Hoola said people will want to tick the keepmoat off as a ground visited but also i feel people will be attracted to going to a clubs ground that were in the Championship as we will be classed as 1 of the big guns in theis division now i feel, especially after this seasons "experiment".

SkellowRover wrote:Our biggest gate yet at the Keepmoat was in L1, we also have the luxury of a massive home derby against a Sheffield club or Huddersfield to look forward too along with a renewed derby against the bastards in claret and blue.
I'm also looking forward to seeing DiCanio when we batter Swindon lol

And as Hoola said people will want to tick the keepmoat off as a ground visited but also i feel people will be attracted to going to a clubs ground that were in the Championship as we will be classed as 1 of the big guns in theis division now i feel, especially after this seasons "experiment".

My point exactly, we will be one of the bigger fish and away supporters would love to put one over the ex-Championship club.