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Doncaster RLFC are a British Rugby League club, from Doncaster . They currently play in League One of the Rugby League National Leagues . They have previously been known as Doncaster Dragons and '''Doncaster Lakers'''. They were also previously informally known as ''The Dons'' but it is now their official nickname. HISTORY Professional rugby league first began in Doncaster during the build up to the 1951/52 season. The club originally nicknamed 'The Dons' played at the Doncaster Greyhound Stadium, York Road before moving to the new Bentley Road Stadium in August 1953. This ground became the spiritual home of Doncaster Rugby League and was later renamed Tatters Field or Tattersfield as a mark of respect for the former Chairman Len Tattersfield. The club gained promotion to the Premier Division for the first time in 1993-94, and in 1994-95 Tattersfield was the venue for a game against Widnes, broadcast live on Sky Television, which Doncaster won by 21 points to 6. At that time, "the Dons" were at the top of Division 1. At the end of their one and only season in the top flight the club went into liquidation and the curtain closed on the Tattersfield era when the stadium was sold for housing developments. The Dons played their last game at Tattersfield on 23rd 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. This was unpopular with the fans and was resisted. The following a year, a new club called Doncaster Dragons raised 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 soccer 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 re-named '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 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 Years 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 clubs trademark 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 City Reds agreed to help the club in a short-term coaching role. The sacking of Miller later led to him receiving £8000 when he took the club to court. Australian Kieran Dempsey, formerly of Parramatta Eels, was appointed Head Coach on a two-year contract in August 2006 and Phil Windley was appointed as his assistant. 2007 SEASON The 2007 season kicked off early for the Lakers, when they played host to a pre-season warm up against Sheffield Eagles on December 27th 2006. This was no ordinary game, as it marked the opening of The Keepmoat Stadium. The stadium previously known as The Lakeside Community Stadium which houses both Doncaster Lakers, Rovers and Belles, boasts seats for 16,000 supporters with room for expansion in the future and contains brand new training facilities. Lakers, back in blue and gold, lost 16 – 10 in front of 5,400 spectators, the clubs biggest crowd in a decade. Lakers traveled to The Jungle in their next match, to face Castleford Tigers, in a pre- season testimonial for St John Ellis. 3,000 supporters turned out to pay their respects to Ellis, who had both played for Castleford and Coached Doncaster. All proceeds from the game went to the St John Ellis Memorial Fund, to help support his family. The Lakers came bottom of their Northern Rail Cup group containing Castleford Tigers , Sheffield Eagles and Featherstone Rovers , with 7 points. Only gaining one win over Sheffield away (18-20), a draw against Featherstone at home (18-18), and bonus points in their losses against Featherstone away (24-22) and Sheffield at home (12-20). On 1st 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 (6/4/07) 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 clubs first game on live tv for over 10 years, on Thursday 12th April at the Keepmoat Stadium. The game shown live on Sky Sports saw Doncaster pummeled 66-4 against promotion favourites Castleford Tigers . Three days later The Lakers suffered another defeat at home against Leigh Centurions (52-18). During the two weeks Lakers had to prepare for their next league game away at newly promoted Dewsbury, it was announced by chairman John Wright that the club was having financial difficulties and would have to apply to go into a CVA (Company Voluntary Agreement). The players rallied around and beat Dewsbury Rams 26-33 with an inspirational second half display, which saw Graham Holroyd (returning from injury) lead his team back from trailing 26-10 at halftime. The Lakers then went on to defeat joint top of the table Whitehaven RLFC 26-16. The match, which was promoted as possibly the last ever game of professional rugby league in Doncaster, attracted only 831 supporters, despite pleas from John Wright for the people of Doncaster to help save the club. On Saturday 12th 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 May 20th, after several players including Graham Holroyd and Danny Mills left the club. The team went on to loose 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 (May 22nd) local lad and crowd favourite Peter Green was announced as Temporary Coach. On Sunday 3 June, Lakers lost at home to Batley Bulldogs 48 - 14 and on the following Sunday 10th June at home, they suffered a massive 90 - 4 defeat at the hands of Widnes Vikings . This match appeared to be the last ever match Doncaster Lakers would play, when chairman John Wright decided he would put the club in liquidation come Wednesday 13th June if no buyers came forward. The crowd of over 1200 including a great Widnes following and the Doncaster diehards applauded the loyal Doncaster players upon the final whistle in what was a spectacular rugby league moment. When Wednesday 13th finally came, it was announced 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 One. It was thought the club John Wright still had control over would fold. {Link without Title} On Tuesday 19 June, Doncaster announced former St. Helens and Widnes forward John Stankevitch as new Head Coach, taking over from temporary coach Peter Green. Stankevitch had left his post as the Vikings' Senior Academy Coach to take the position. On the 28th of June it was announced that the new owners had decided to ditch the Lakers moniker and revert back to Doncaster RLFC nicknamed, ‘The Dons.’ Subsequently a new logo designed by a local student was revealed. This logo featured two lions from the Doncaster town crest holding a rugby ball which had mortarboard on top of it to symbolise ‘The Dons.’ {Link without Title} The Dons lost 20 - 32 against Sheffield Eagles on the 1st July, in front of a crowd of 1030. At the Jungle on the 8th July, Doncaster lost 66 - 4 against Castleford. On the 22nd July at the Keepmoat Stadium 'The Dons' lost 30 - 44 at the hands of Halifax . Former player, Graham Holroyd denied Doncaster a bonus point by converting a Halifax try on the final hooter. The following Sunday, 29th July, the travelling Dons put up a gutsy performance loosing 40 - 18 against league leaders Widnes Vikings at The Halton Stadium. The Dons got their first win under the new regime and kept hopes of staying in National League 1 alive on the 5th August beating Rochdale Hornets 34 - 30 at home. These hopes were later shattered though the following Sunday, 12th August when they lost 26 - 12 against Batley Bulldogs at Mount Pleasant, after leading 12 - 6 at half time. This meant that the only likely outcome would be the Dons playing National League 2 rugby next season. The Dons lost 34 - 14 against Leigh Centurions at Hilton Park on the 19th August. In the last home game of the 2007 season, 'The Dons' put on a brilliant performance to beat Dewsbury Rams 51 - 18. 2007 SQUAD EXTERNAL LINKS |
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