There has been some debate recently about why we should join the VSC, the Viking Supporters Cooperative. A lot of supporters who now come to see the mighty Rovers don’t know of its existence, and don’t know why it exists. Maybe we ought to revisit the dark days of Richardson and explain….. At the time a lot of things were going wrong in the boardroom of Doncaster Rovers. We had a chairman who wanted to do nothing but asset strip the club for his own benefit, and that included the money to be gained from an “accidental” fire at the Old Belle Vue ground, which he arranged. He was consequently arrested and convicted for arson and was replaced by the current Chairman John Ryan. JR wanted to ensure that there was never another opportunity for the club’s fans to be so poorly treated again without them knowing what was going on. With Andy Liney, the VSC was formed, it enabled fans to purchase shares in the club and be represented on the board of Doncaster Rovers so they would always have a spokesman to represent their views to the board, and the board would have an outlet for information to the fans.

Why is this so important now? Well look at the clubs below, two of them have had to use their equivalent of the VSC to manage the club otherwise they would not exist! Chesterfield having gone through many traumas, have relinquished their ownership to increase investment in the club, but without them they would not exist. York City are slowly pulling their club around, and doing the same as Rovers and developing a new ground. Currently we have a board to be proud of, investing in the club and managing the finances to bring about sustained growth of the club. But there is always that worry that it may not exist in the future, or things may not work as we want. That is when the VSC can help us as fans. In the case of Derby it brought about the conviction of people who were defrauding the club. Without their position on the board they would not have had the information to stop wrong doing.

The VSC is YOUR organisation, it is a vital part of Doncaster Rovers and it is something that you should join as a responsible fan. Just read the following reports of the mess that can occur in clubs big and small.

Remember just how important it is that the fans have representation in these circumstances:

WREXHAM
At the start of the 21st century the club was dogged with many problems off the pitch, including the chairman, Alex Hamilton, attempting to get the club evicted from the stadium so that he could use and sell it for his own development purposes, the saga involved the sale of the Racecourse Ground to a separate company owned by Hamilton immediately after he became the club's chairman. In the summer of 2004 Hamilton gave the club a year's notice to quit the ground.

DERBY COUNTY
The Crown Court case against three former Derby County Directors and their associates started today, Friday 27th February 2009. The cases were heard at the Crown Court of Northampton on Lady's Lane and commenced at 10.00am.

Those standing accused of various fraud and other charges include Jeremy P Keith, Murdo Mackay and Andrew T Mackenzie, all former directors of Derby County Football Club. They stand accused with David B Lowe and Mark M Waters.

BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION
JULY 7, 1995. It is a date still indelibly printed on our minds, the day Sussex woke up to the news that the county's only football team, Brighton and Hove Albion, had sold its ground, supposedly to pay off mounting debts.

From the beginning of the 1996/97 season, the club would be playing its home games 40 miles along the South Coast at Fratton Park, Portsmouth.

In time, a 30,000 all-seater stadium would be built to the north of Brighton in an area called Waterhall, financed by profits from a new leisure development at nearby Patcham Court Farm. Bolt out of the blue? You had better believe it

CHESTER CITY FC
Chester City FC have this afternoon entered administration.

Following their relegation out of the Football League, the Blues are set to start next season in the Blue Square Premier with at least a 10-point deduction.

Martin Andrew Shaw, of Refresh Business Group, has been appointed as Chester’s administrator.

ROTHERHAM UNITED
Early in 2006 it was announced that the club faced an uncertain future unless a funding gap in the region of £140,000 per month could be plugged. The problem was compounded as Rotherham had already sold their ground to Ken Booth in return for clearing £3m of debt and had no tangible assets, so administration was not a viable option. This led to the launch of a "Save Our Millers" campaign, aiming to raise the £1m needed to complete the season. It was also estimated that another £1m was required to complete work on the new stand. South Yorkshire neighbours Sheffield United offered their support by paying the wages of Stephen Quinn and Jonathan Forte during their loan spells at Millmoor, and also donated profits from the beam-back of the Sheffield derby. Many local clubs also held collections.

LIVINGSTONE FC
(13th August)Angelo Massone is taking drastic measures to reassure fans that Scottish Livingston FC is not on the verge of financial disaster. The club chairman has volunteered to grant access to Livingston’s accounts, to allow supporters to review the numbers and draw their own conclusions.

The decision comes as the result of speculation that the Scottish First Division club is struggling, following several delayed payments to players and staff members. Despite the fact, Massone has continued to dismiss rumours that Livingstone is in a poor financial state, sparking him to provide proof to fans.

SOUTHAMPTON
By the end of May 2009, the club was unable to meet its staff wages commitments, and asked employees to work unpaid as a gesture of goodwill. Despite his statement opposing the sanctions a month earlier, administrator Mark Fry warned that the club now faced imminent bankruptcy unless a buyer was found. The following day, the Matt Le Tissier backed Pinnacle consortium paid a non-refundable fee of £500,000 to gain "exclusivity" for 21 days, which meant that the employees at the club could be paid. That period of exclusivity lapsed on 19 June without a deal being completed as the Football League refused to give the necessary approval of the proposed take-over unless Pinnacle waived any right to appeal against the ten-point deduction. The decision was confirmed by a meeting of the Football League Board on 21 June.

YORK CITY FC
In December 2001, long-serving chairman Douglas Craig put the club and its ground up for sale for £4.5 million, announcing that unless a new owner was found before 1 April 2002, York City would be withdrawn from the Football League. Team B&Q racing driver and team owner John Batchelor took over as chairman in March 2002. Batchelor promised the club he would purchase the ground, give the York City Supporters' Trust 24% of the shares and would invite two supporters onto the board, but after these promises all went undelivered, the Supporters’ Trust took control of the club in 2003.

CHESTERFIELD
Chesterfield FC go before the courts today as administrators prepare to move into the club.
But supporters were told not to fear that the application for an administration order - to be heard by Leeds Crown Court - would spell the end for Spireites.

The club’s fan-based owners say it would allow the club to move forward.
“Many people will misunderstand the administration term and think it spells the end for Chesterfield FC - winding up or liquidation are the terms all fans should fear - whereas it actually provides the club’s best chance of carving out a new beginning,” said Howard Borrell, of Chesterfield Football Supporters Society.

LEEDS UNITED
Gerald Krasner, an insolvency specialist, led a consortium of local businessmen which took over Leeds and under his chairmanship oversaw the sale of the clubs' assets, including senior and emerging youth players of any value. Caretaker manager Gray was largely blameless for the performance of the team during the 2003–04 season as the majority of the squad was sold out from underneath him and despite his best efforts, Leeds were relegated after 14 years in the top flight. Following relegation, Gray's reign as caretaker manager was terminated, and Kevin Blackwell was appointed manager. Most of the remaining players were sold or released on free transfers to further reduce the wage bill. Leeds were eventually forced to sell both their training ground, for £4.2 million, and their Elland Road stadium in the autumn of 2004.

There are more examples just like these 10, and there will be far more to come in the future. Football financing is now being investigated for examples of money laundering, amongst other things, big money attracts big sharks, the game will have to stay clean to survive. Doncaster Rovers is an example for the whole of the football league, it has committed and honest board members, it runs on a strict budget and is in safe hands. Having a board member for the fans seems like a luxury we do not need, but that cloud is always on the horizon, and the fan’s director can be the lifesaver for so many clubs, be grateful we have one, and be grateful in a practical way, get your own share in Doncaster Rovers, £15, and keep up your membership of the VSC, £12 per year.