The VSC met with the club recently and the most important point on both our agendas was our fan engagement programme 'In Rovers We Trust'. The upheaval in the summer is now out of the way, the club has a squad that looks pretty much complete, and we have appointed a Chairman to oversee all club issues. It was very encouraging from our newly appointed Chairman, David Blunt, to read that, "I'm also keen to invigorate ‘In Rovers We Trust’, and it is now time to step up our approach.

As most of you are aware IRWT has delivered a range of successful projects since the club and the VSC introduced this programme a couple of seasons ago. IRWT has received international acclaim for its broad reach and a desire to achieve results that reflect what our club values most; that is the supporters are at the heart of all that we do!

It was apparent from our meeting that we both feel the same way, that now is the right time to push forward and we have set ourselves some ambitious targets for the next few weeks. We also have some game changing ideas that will need a lot of thought and consideration and which may take some considerable time to reach fruition. But that’s for another day.

To begin with we’re covering territory that we began with all those months ago. We've agreed another survey to attempt to 'test the water' and see how people feel about their experiences as a Doncaster Rovers supporter; we'd like to emphasise the positives and then try to eliminate the negatives. When we first began we set up a couple of fan panels but they had a short shelf life, so we’d like to try that again. Furthermore we shall be looking at the events that impact on supporters and help to create a satisfactory outcome for those involved.

So, our short term aims will be:

•   New IRWT Survey
o   Where are we?
o   What does it mean to supporters?
o   What should be the priorities?

•   Fan Panels
o   Encourage new participants
o   Match day atmosphere, what can we achieve?
o   Ticket pricing and match day promotion, how can we help?

•   Consultation with supporters
o   Examples would be the new scoreboard
o   Can we learn lessons?
o   How will it benefit DRFC supporters?
o   Are there issues with moving supporters and how can we resolve that?

So, some ambitious targets to get the next phase of IRWT underway. We will need the help of all supporters and all age groups. If you would really like to help then please volunteer for the fan panels. As usual we should have our friend Mark Bradley helping out with those. For supporters who attend the ‘Meet the Owners’ events you’ll recognise him as the Sunderland supporter!

Once again we are pleased that this partnership between DRFC and the VSC delivered so much the last time we set out on this journey - the club achieved promotion and a bagful of positives - let's hope for a similar outcome once again.