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Doncaster RLFC
Doncaster RLFC
Doncaster are a relatively new rugby league team with interest in the game dating back to the 1951-1952. The team were originally known as "The Dons" and played at the Greyhound Stadium on York Road before they moved to the Bentley Road Stadium in 1953. Eventually this ground was renamed Tatters Field or Tattersfield as a mark of respect for former Doncaster chairman Len Tattersfield. Doncaster played their first game in 1951 and were able to take victory from Wakefield Trinity 10-3 in front of a crowd of over 7,000 people. They finished their first season in 11th position after winning 21, drawing 1 and loosing 14 matches. In 1991 Third Division rugby was introduced to rugby league and Doncaster played Nottingham City on the same day winning 88-6. The team was able to gradually work their way up the league tables until they managed to gain promotion to the Premier Division in 1993-1994, and the next year Tattersfield saw a game broadcast on Sky TV against Widnes which Doncaster won 21-6. This placed them at the top of Division 1. Unfortunately after their only season playing in the top flight the club went into liquidation and the Tattersfield stadium was sold for use as a housing development.
When the Super League was announced many teams were supposed to merge, and Doncaster were supposed to merge with Sheffield to form South Yorkshire RFLC. This concept proved very unpopular with the fans and the move was resisted. The next year the Doncaster Dragons were formed from the remnants of the previous club, but the new side were forced to start their life as a professional rugby team at the bottom division. They temporarily played at the Belle Vue Stadium with their local soccer team (Doncaster Rovers) while the Meadow Court Stadium was being converted for use as a rugby ground. In 1999 St John Ellis became the head coach for Doncaster but he was unable to prevent the team finishing a lowly 18th and last in the Premiership. They were at the time the lowest ranked club in the professional side of rugby league. The next year they managed to fight their way to the top and finished as the third.
After the team finished playing in the 2005 season they changed their name from Doncaster Dragons to Doncaster Lakers as a nod to the new Lakeside Community Stadium. Fans eventually began to resist the change of name and re-branding but the name was kept for the time being. The Lakers started the 2007 season early when they played a large number of pre-season warm up matches. The team went on to defeat the team at the top of the league table, Whitehaven RLFC, 26-16. This match was touted as being the last ever game of professional rugby league in Doncaster and was attended by only 831 fans. On the 3rd of June 2007 the Lakers lost at home to Batley Bulldogs 48-14 and then suffered a huge 90-4 defeat at the hands of Widnes Vikings the following Sunday. The club was saved from liquidation after a deal was struck with the RFL that meant a new club would be formed to take over from the old one in National League One. This is when the Lakers moniker was dropped and the team switched to becoming Doncaster RLFC. The team took their first win as a new re-built team on the 5th of August when they beat Rochdale Hornets 34-30 at home, this allowed the team to continue playing in National League 1. The following Sunday a 26-12 defeat at the hanads of Batley Bulldogs placed Doncaster in National League Two for the next season.
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