They hold the record for the most wins in a league season (42 in 1946-47). In 1997-98, Doncaster also set the record for losses in a season, suffering the humiliation of enduring a record 34 league defeats as they finished bottom of Division Three and went into the Football Conference. Just after this relegation, chairman Ken Richardson was sent to prison after he tried to set fire to the Belle Vue ground in hope of being able to pay off the club's debts with the insurance money. They returned to the league five years later as Conference playoff winners, and were Division Three champions the following season. The 2006-07 season is the club's third successive season in League One.
Doncaster Rovers:
The club was formed in September 1879 by Albert Jenkins, a
fitter at Doncaster's LNER railway works in response to the
emerging popularity of the game in the nearby city of Sheffield.
In 1938 the capacity of Belle Vue was increased to 40,000 and it
was in 1948 that the stadium recorded its highest attendance of
37,099 against Hull City, although apocryphal accounts refute
this and claim that many more gained entry to the ground by
climbing over walls and thus avoided having to pay.
Doncaster Rovers were involved in the longest ever football match, against Stockport County at Edgeley Park on March 30th 1946. The match was the second in a Division Three (North) two-legged cup tie and, after 30 minutes of extra time, was deadlocked at 2-2 (also the score in the first leg). After the referee had sought advice from the authorities, it was decided that the game would carry on until one team scored. However, after 203 minutes, and with darkness closing in, the game was finally stopped. The replay, at Doncaster, was won by rovers 4 - 0. Stories abound of fans leaving the game, going home for their tea, and coming back to watch the end of the game.
