Doncaster R.L.F.C.

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Doncaster RLFC

Club information
Full name	Doncaster Rugby League Football Club
Nickname(s)	Dons
Colours
Founded	1951; 73 years ago (1951)
Exited	1995; 29 years ago (1995)
Readmitted	1995; 29 years ago (1995) (as Doncaster Dragons)
Website	doncasterrugbyleague.co.uk
details
Ground(s)	Keepmoat Stadium (15,231)
Chairman	Gavin Baldwin
Coach	Richard Horne
Competition	Championship
2023 season	3rd (promoted via playoffs)
Current season
Uniforms
Home colours

Doncaster Rugby League Football Club is a professional rugby league football club, based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. They play home games at the Keepmoat Stadium and currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league.

Doncaster have never won any major honours. Their traditional home colours are blue and amber after Leeds Rhinos donated their home shirts to them when they were founded. They have a rivalry with Sheffield Eagles.

From 1956–1961, Doncaster finished every season as the bottom side in the Rugby Football League, and remained consistently in the bottom three between 1963 and 1968. The 1970s, and early 1980s proved to be no easier, with Doncaster only avoiding a bottom three finish on two occasions between 1970 and 1985.

In 1980, Yorkshire Television made a one-off documentary Another Bloody Sunday, the TV crew followed the Dons as they tried to avoid finishing the season without winning a single game.

John Sheridan became head coach of the Dons in 1984. The club had no money but Sheridan still managed to put together one of the Dons' best squads and went on to win 30 of the 44 games they played under him. He was replaced by his number-two Graham Hepptinstall after a few years but a players' revolt saw him come back for a second spell. He was voted the most influential person in the club's history by the Dons fans.

On Sunday 1 September 1991, Third Division rugby was introduced into British rugby league. Doncaster entertained Nottingham City that day with the home side winning by a club record 88–6.

Doncaster won eight consecutive games under Tony Fisher, but in the penultimate game of the 1994 season they fell to a surprise 20–2 away defeat to mid-table Rochdale Hornets as Workington Town beat Keighley to take top spot. Doncaster won 10–5 in their final game away at Batley's Mount Pleasant and the club won promotion to the Premier Division for the first time in 1993–94.

In 1994–95 Tattersfield was the venue for a game against Widnes, broadcast live on Sky Television, which Doncaster won by 21–6. At that time, "The Dons" were at the top of Division 1. On 15 December 1994, Doncaster were already in trouble with debts of £1.4 million and were put into administration. The RFL took over the costs of running the club after an aborted attempt to merge the club with Sheffield Eagles.^[1] Doncaster were bought from administration by owners of Tattersfield ground in March 1995 but at the end of their one and only season in the top flight the club went into liquidation with debts of £1.4 million and the curtain closed on the Tattersfield era when the stadium was sold for housing development. The Dons played their last game at Tattersfield on 23 April 1995.

When a Rupert Murdoch funded Super League competition was proposed, part of the deal was that some traditional clubs would merge. Doncaster was to merge with Sheffield to form a South Yorkshire club that would compete in Super League. A meeting in Doncaster with Gary Hetherington from Sheffield Eagles was attended by 400 supporters and only 16 voted in favour; 3,000 people signed a petition against the merger ^[2] and Doncaster survived as an unmerged club.

The following a year, a new club called Doncaster Dragons rose from the ashes of the previous club, but was forced to restart life in the bottom division of the Rugby Football League. With Tattersfield gone they temporarily shared Belle Vue Stadium with association football club Doncaster Rovers while Meadow Court Stadium (another greyhound stadium in Stainforth, Doncaster) was being prepared for rugby league. The Dragons played at Meadow Court Stadium for a few years before returning to Belle Vue permanently for the beginning of the 1998 season.

In 1999, St. John Ellis was appointed head coach of Doncaster, he was too late to prevent them finishing 18th and last in the Premiership, making them the lowest-ranked club in the professional game. The following year, helped by some ambitious recruitment, they were third. One of Doncaster's achievements under Ellis was to become notoriously difficult to beat at home, with the Belle Vue ground unofficially renamed 'The House of Pain'. John Wright rescued Doncaster from liquidation in 2001 and oversaw the steady growth of the club, while St John remained coach.

At the end of the 2005 season Dragons was dropped and Doncaster Rugby League Club adopted the name Lakers to reflect the new Lakeside Community Stadium (now the Keepmoat Stadium), which would soon be their new home. The stadium, a purpose built community facility, would house both Lakers and Doncaster Rovers Football Club as well as women's football team Doncaster Belles. Tony Miller was appointed head coach for the 2006 season following the untimely death on New Year's Eve 2005, of St John Ellis. Singe, as he was known familiarly by fans, was rugby league's longest serving coach at the time.

Loyal Doncaster fans began to oppose the re-branding to Lakers, especially when the club's historic colours, blue and gold, were replaced with red, white and black.

The club parted company with Tony Miller in July 2006 and former Great Britain International Alan Hunte of Salford agreed to help the club in a short-term coaching role. The sacking of Tony Miller later led to him receiving £8,000 when he took the club to court. Australian Kieran Dempsey, formerly of Parramatta, was appointed head coach on a two-year contract in August 2006 and Phil Windley was appointed as his assistant.

Ellery Hanley was appointed head coach in December 2007.^[3] The 2007 season kicked off early for the Lakers, when they played host to a pre-season warm up against Sheffield Eagles on 27 December 2006. This was no ordinary game, as it marked the opening of the Keepmoat Stadium. Lakers, back in blue and gold, lost 16–10 in front of 5,400 spectators, the club's biggest crowd in a decade. The Lakers came bottom of their Northern Rail Cup group.

On 1 April 2007, Head Coach Keiran Dempsey and Assistant Coach Phil Windley were suspended pending an internal investigation and Gary Wilkinson was temporary placed in charge of the team. The following Friday (6 April 2007) saw the Lakers kick start the 2007 league campaign beating Sheffield Eagles 24–20 away from home.

Six and a half thousand people attended the club's first game on live TV for over 10 years, on Thursday 12 April at the Keepmoat Stadium. The game shown live on Sky Sports saw Doncaster pummelled 66–4 against promotion favourites Castleford. It was announced by chairman John Wright that the club was having financial difficulties and would have to go into a CVA (Company Voluntary Agreement). The Lakers then went on to defeat joint top of the table Whitehaven 26–16. The match, which was promoted as possibly the last game of professional rugby league in Doncaster, attracted only 831 supporters. On Saturday 12 May chairman John Wright announced he was to resign from the club.

Lakers only just managed to put together a team against Rochdale Hornets away at Spotland on 20 May, after several players including Graham Holroyd and Danny Mills left the club. The team went on to lose 58–12 to the sound of the chant, 'We're proud of you' from the travelling fans. A few hours after the match, Coach Gary Wilkinson resigned. The following Tuesday (22 May), local lad and crowd favourite Peter Green was announced as Caretaker Coach. On Sunday 3 June, Lakers lost at home to Batley 48–14 and on the following Sunday 10 June at home, they suffered a massive 90–4 defeat at the hands of Widnes.Chairman John Wright announced that he would put the club in liquidation on 13 June if no buyers came forward. The crowd of over 1,200 applauded the loyal Doncaster players upon the final whistle. When Wednesday 13th came, it was announced that Doncaster-born businessmen Shane Miller and Craig Harrison had struck a deal with the RFL to set up a new club which would take over from the old one within National League 1.^[4]

On Tuesday 19 June 2007, Doncaster announced former St Helens and Widnes forward John Stankevitch as new head coach, taking over from Peter Green. On 28 June it was announced that the new owners had decided to ditch the Lakers moniker and revert to Doncaster RLFC. In the last home game of the 2007 season, 'the Dons' put on a brilliant performance to beat Dewsbury 51–18. For the final game of the season 'the Dons' travelled to the Shay to face Halifax. Former 'Don' Graham Holroyd ran the game for Halifax, leading them to a 52–24 victory, this result meant that Doncaster had finished bottom of the 2007 League table.

On 29 November 2007 it was announced on the official Doncaster website that head coach John Stankevitch had resigned, due to "personal reasons". On 14 December 2007, Ellery Hanley was unveiled as Stankevitch's replacement. The Dons were drawn into Northern Rail Cup Group 3 alongside London Skolars, Crusaders and South Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Eagles. The Dons qualified for the knock-out phase still with a game in hand by beating London at home and away as well as taking bonus points off Sheffield and Crusaders, who both play in a higher division. The Dons started the 2008 league campaign with a bang, winning three from three with 56–0, 54–12 and 36–18 wins. This saw them go top of the league at the end of March. Doncaster beat Oldham 18–10 in the National League Two Grand Final at Warrington to seal promotion alongside Gateshead and Barrow. Ellery Hanley resigned as coach, citing financial restraints.

2009 saw former player Carl Hall take over the club as part of a venture to secure the long term future of the club, and they were relegated from the Championship at the end of that season. The appointment of Tony Miller, Hanleys assistant, and former Dons player, as head coach, saw a new team built, and the side finished in mid-table of Championship One. Small improvements were seen in 2010 and 2011, as Miller rebuilt the playing side, with an improvement to the finishing position seen each year.

2012 saw Doncaster make their biggest statement in several years, as former Hull Kingston Rovers, Hull F.C. and Wakefield Trinity stand-off, Paul Cooke was convinced to come out of retirement, and ply his trade in Championship One. Behind Cooke, who secured the Championship One Player Of The Year, Doncaster won the League Leaders Shield as Barrow and Workington faltered with two games left, with a defeat of London Skolars. The game also saw Lee Waterman break the clubs tryscoring record. Having already secured promotion, Doncaster attempted to secure their second silverware of the season, by winning the Playoffs. This took a blow almost immediately, as straight from kickoff in the first match vs Barrow, the mercurial Cooke suffered a broken kneecap, ruling him out for the remainder of the season, and saw the side slump to a defeat in his absence. With a makeshift halfback partnership, Doncaster defeated Workington Town in the Semi Final to set up a rematch against Barrow at Warrington in the Play-off final. A close affair saw Barrow lead at half time, before Lee Waterman and Craig Fawcett scored tries, and a defensive effort in the last 10 minutes saw the Dons home to victory.

Association football side, Doncaster Rovers took over the club in 2013,^[5] and saw the club begin to operate under the auspices of 'Club Doncaster', a concept which sees the Football Club and Rugby Club share Commercial, Marketing and Media infrastructure, and saving on overheads. The 2013 season saw Doncaster consolidate their position in the Championship post promotion, with a Paul Cooke inspired side finishing in 4th position. In the 2021 League 1 season, Doncaster reached the playoff final against Workington Town but were defeated 36-12.^[6] In the 2022 League 1 season, Doncaster once again reached the playoff final with the opponents being Swinton. Doncaster lead in the final for most of the game until a late Swinton try saw Doncaster lose 16-10. Doncaster finished the 2023 season in third place and qualified for the playoffs. They would eventually reach the final against North Wales Crusaders where they won 18-6 to secure promotion back to the championship.^[7][8]

Years	Kit Manufacturer	Main Shirt Sponsor
1990–1995	Ellgren	none
1996–1997	Puma	Taylor Anderson
1998–2002	Bulldog	Resdev
2003	Kukri	Earth Mortgages
2004		Furniture Factors
2005–2006	Impact	Doncaster College
2007	ISC	Lakeside Village
2008–2009		Centurion
2010–2012	K4
2013–2016	Fi-ta
2017–	FBT

Doncaster RLFC 2021 Squad

First team squad								Coaching staff
1 Ben Johnston – FB 2 Josh Rickett – WG 3 Sam Smeaton – CE 4 Jason Tali – CE 5 Sam Doherty – WG 6 7 Matty Beharell – SH 8 Russ Spiers – PR, LF 9 Kieran Cross – HK 10 Brandon Douglas – PR 11 Danny Bravo – SR 12 Brad Foster – SR 13 Jordie Hedges – LF, HB		14 Harry Carter – HK 15 Ryan Boyle – PR 16 Brandan Wilkinson – LF, SR 17 Ross Peltier – PR 18 Tom Halliday – WG 19 Aaron Ollett – SR, CE 20 Ben Howe – SO 21 Ryan Dixon – SR 22 Alex Holdstock – SR 23 Liam Johnson – SR, CE 24 Watson Boas – SO 25 Josef Fella – PR 26 Ross Whitmore – LF		27 Aaron York – LF 28 Misi Taulapapa – WG, CE, FB 29 Anesu Mudoti – PR				Head coach Richard Horne Assistant coach Peter Green Legend: (c) Captain(s) (vc) Vice-captain(s) Updated: 31 March 2021 Source(s): 2021 Squad Numbers

Gains

Player	Club	Contract	Date
Craig Hall	Featherstone Rovers	2 Years	October 2023[9]
Alex Sutcliffe	Castleford Tigers	1 Year	October 2023[10]
Reece Lyne	Wakefield Trinity	3 Years	October 2023[11]
Suaia Matagi	Castleford Tigers	1 Year	November 2023[12]
Pauli Pauli	York Knights	2 Years	November 2023[13]
Luke Briscoe	Featherstone Rovers	2 Years	November 2023[14]
Josh Guzdek	Sheffield Eagles		November 2023[15]

Losses

Player	Club	Contract	Date

These players have either; received a Testimonial match, were international representatives before, or after, their time at Doncaster, or are notable outside of rugby league.

Also see Category:Doncaster R.L.F.C. coaches.

Season	League									Play-offs	Challenge Cup	Other competitions		Name	Tries	Name	Points
	Division	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Pos					Top try scorer		Top point scorer
1996	Division Two	22	13	0	9	500	540	26	5th		R3
1997	Division Two	20	3	1	16	247	668	7	10th		R4
1998	Division Two	20	2	2	16	289	619	46	8th		R3
1999	Northern Ford Premiership	28	4	1	23	473	911	9	18th		R4
2000	Northern Ford Premiership	28	21	0	7	880	397	42	3rd		R5
2001	Northern Ford Premiership	28	14	0	14	622	532	28	12th		R5
2002	Northern Ford Premiership	27	16	1	10	741	603	33	6th		QF
2003	National League One	18	6	1	11	429	632	13	8th		R5
2004	National League One	18	9	1	8	468	502	19	6th	Lost in Elimination Playoffs	R5
2005	National League One	18	10	0	8	485	470	20	5th	Lost in Elimination Playoffs	R5
2006	National League One	18	6	1	11	458	533	13	8th		R4
2007	National League One	18	5	0	13	348	778	10	10th		R3
2008	National League Two	22	15	0	7	672	426	48	4th		R4	Championship Cup	RU
2009	Championship	20	1	0	19	257	955	-1	11th		R4
2010	Championship 1	20	8	0	12	518	588	28	9th		R3
2011	Championship 1	20	12	0	8	531	433	40	5th	?	R4
2012	Championship 1	18	15	0	3	717	347	46	1st	Won in Final	R4
2013	Championship	26	12	1	13	593	594	43	6th	Lost in Elimination Playoffs	R4
2014	Championship	26	17	1	8	643	599	57	4th	?	R5
2015	Championship	23	1	0	22	282	851	2	12th		R4
	Championship Shield	30	2	0	28	401	1128	4	8th
2016	League 1	21	14	0	7	683	526	28	4th	Lost in Semi Final	R4
2017	League 1	22	10	3	9	593	492	23	6th		R5
2018	League 1	26	19	0	7	956	495	38	3rd	Lost in Semi Final	R5
2019	League 1	20	12	0	8	564	309	24	4th	Lost in Preliminary Final	R6	1895 Cup	QF
2020	League 1	League abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic									R4
2021	League 1	17	9	3	5	472	392	21	5th	Lost in Promotion Final	Did not participate
2022	League 1	20	15	0	5	720	434	30	4th	Lost in Promotion Final	R4
2023	League 1	18	14	0	4	602	352	28	3rd	Won in Promotion Final	R4
2024	Championship	26	12	1	13	498	619	25	8th		R4	1895 Cup	GS

Goals: 15, Liam Harris at Post Office Road v West Wales Raiders, 15 July 2018

Tries: 6, Kane Epati v Oldham, 30 July 2006 , Lee Waterman v Sharlston Rovers, 24 March 2012

Points: 38, Liam Harris at Post Office Road v West Wales Raiders, 15 July 2018

Goals: 129 Johnny Woodcock 2002

Tries: 35, Lee Waterman 2012

Points: 306, Johnny Woodcock 2002

Goals: 773, David Noble 1974-91

Tries: 112, Mark Roache 1984-1997

Points: 1751, David Noble 1974-91

Career: Audley Pennant 327 (1980–97)

Season: Arthur Street 40 (1951-52)

102 v 6 West Wales Raiders - 15/7/2018

4-90 v Widnes - 2007

10000 v Bradford Northern - 16/2/1952

All club statistics are courtesy of Ray Green/Rob Terrace (amendments required)

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