“I am seriously worried about relegation now. We’ve got two days left in the January transfer window and it doesn’t seem like there’s signs of anyone incoming. I just hope we can limp through until the end of the season.”
That was me on the podcast I co-host – The Big Fixture – at the end of January. At the time, we had just come off the back of a 5-1 battering at home to eventual league champions Stockport County. We were 22nd in the table, with 28 points from 28 games. Although we were seven points clear of Sutton United in 23rd, a relegation battle was looming. Our next match against Sutton was the first of what the fans thought was going to feel like 18 cup finals.
Thanks to a 96th-minute penalty from Joe Ironside, we somehow managed to rescue a point from what transpired to be our first cup final, but not for the reasons we’d expect it to be.
Fast forward to today – 28 April 2024. I write this (much to my utter disbelief), we have just confirmed our spot in the 2024 League Two play-offs. Since the Sutton match, we’ve taken a mind-boggling 13 wins from our remaining 17 games. This included a 5-1 battering away at Grimsby Town, 21 goals scored in April alone and – the cherry on the cake – a winning streak of 10 games, dating back to 9 March. It’s a run that’s equalled the largest win streak in the club’s 145-year history.
It’s mind-boggling. All of it. And the maddest part is that it was just over a year ago today I published a piece talking about how the Rovers fanbase were completely fed up with three years of rot. We may have just about taken it to four years, but it’s safe to say that rot has stopped now.
So what’s changed? We haven’t sacked Grant McCann (thank the heavens), the squad is largely the same as what we started the season with and the only major change at the top is that co-owner Terry Bramall replaced David Blunt as club chair. But that was back in December.
Well, let’s just say I was completely wrong about our recruitment in January. The loan signings made in January have really turned our fortunes around. Matthew Craig from Spurs has been solid in midfield and Timothée Lo-Tutala from Hull is a brick wall in goal (besides his stupid red card against Gillingham yesterday). But Hakeeb Adelakun – a winger brought in from Lincoln City – has been different gravy.
Nine goals, seven assists and a League Two Player of the Month award for February. Remember the love potion from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince? Well, I think someone must’ve put some in the water supply at the Eco-Power because there’s thousands of us across the city falling at his feet.
But they aren’t solely to credit. We had rotten injury luck throughout the winter months. I can’t remember the exact number, but injured players totalled well into the teens. The Doncaster Free Press reported recently only five players have started 25 games or more this season, which is crazy considering Rovers’ squad depth.
Thankfully, the arrival of David Rennie as the club’s medical chief has allowed the crisis to slowly subside. Club captain Richard Wood especially has looked like a different player since his recovery and I’m buzzing the 38-year-old will continue next season. Even sweeter knowing he joined us from Rotherham, who got comfortably relegated from the Championship this season…
Lots of fans are putting the change in fortunes down to the 4-2-3-1 tactic we’ve adopted. I’d definitely agree; having Luke Molyneux, Harrison Biggins and Adelakun sitting just behind 20-league-goals Joe Ironside has allowed us to attack with pace, skill and firepower. Biggins especially was instrumental in our recent 4-2 win against Barrow, where we were 2-0 down at half-time.
The two defensive midfielders have also proved vital in covering our less-than-pacey centre-backs. As previously mentioned, Craig has been a quality signing. But Owen Bailey, who we signed from Gateshead last summer, has was a diamond of a find. I can see him as a future club captain – it’s between him and Ironside for signing of the season.
For me, however, the main person to credit for the Miracle on Alick Jeffrey Way is, without a doubt, Paul. If you don’t know about Paul, he’s a Rovers fan who called Football Heaven – the fan phone-in on BBC Radio Sheffield – after the Sutton game. After a nonsensical chat with host Rob Staton, he ended his call with the now-immortal words:
“Anyway, I’m off to t’Sal for a pint. See ya later, mate.”
‘The Sal’ is short for the Salutation, a pub in Doncaster historically popular with Rovers fans. Our remarkable turnaround since the Sutton game (and the call) means Paul is now revered as a cult hero among Rovers fans. The call going viral meant I even got to cover it for the Sheffield Wire – the news website we run at uni. Mental.
Looking to the play-offs, do I think we’ll win them? I would argue – with the form we’re in and the momentum we have – we have a genuine sniff. Lo-Tutala is going to be a big miss in the first leg against Crewe next Monday, but we have the home advantage second. That’s going to be vital with a packed-out Eco-Power (a rare sight nowadays) a week on Friday.
To be honest, though, I don’t mind if we don’t. League One is looking massively competitive next season and if we failed to recruit well on the back of a promotion, I’d be worried about next season. Whereas if we stayed in League Two, we have a springboard to push for automatic promotion next year. Plus, I had them at 28/1 to make the play-offs, not win it, so I’m laughing all the way to the bank either way.
That’s said, I’d love it if we could, and I don’t think anyone in the play-offs will want to play us. I couldn’t go to Wembley in 2008 so I sure as hell won’t be missing it this time. I don’t care if I have a uni exam the day after. Worst case scenario: I resit.
Whatever happens over the next few weeks, I’m just so happy to have re-found my love for football in the last few months. They don’t call it The Beautiful Game for no reason, and I can’t wait to go through the emotions a few more times this season.
Plus, Doncaster Rovers in the play-offs with a home second leg? Run. It. Back.
The Life of Roberts 