Vikings ready for Toon pillage on Saturday?
October 23rd, 2009 | 11 Comments |
Newcastle United’s opponents the ‘morra, the ‘Vikings’, or ‘Rovers’ as Doncaster are better known, have had a fairly similar history to Scunthorpe, their closest neighbour. They have yo-yoed through the lower divisions before dropping out of the football league altogether for a time about 10 years ago.
Fair play to them, they bounced back to such a degree, that they just missed out on automatic promotion to the Champonship in the 2007-8 season. Progress in the playoffs the same year saw them reach the final at the new Wembley stadium where they beat off Leeds United, taking Rovers to the second tier of English football for the first time in 50 years.
Rovers play at the Keepmoat stadium which with it’s 15,000 capacity is also home to the Dons Rugby League side, the athletic club and the Belles Football Club. They will have one fifth of their stadium capacity travelling with them having sold out their entire 3,000 ticket allocation. They will be loudly supported by their own official ‘Donny Drummer,’ a 17 year old who bashes a tune on a huge drum to get the fans going both home and away (if our stewards let him in with it, that is!). (more…)