The Labour Party launched its party manifesto yesterday (Monday 13th April 2015) and promised to "give football fans a voice in club boardrooms":
"Football clubs are an important part of many people's identity and sense of belonging. They are more than just businesses. But despite their importance in the lives of their members and supporters, too often there are no effective means for fans to have a say in how their clubs are run.
"Labour will provide the means for supporters to be a genuine part of their clubs. We will introduce legislation to enable accredited supporters trusts to appoint and remove at least two of the directors of a football club and to purchase shares when the club changes hands.
The Viking Supporters Co-operative welcomes any proposals from political parties that aim to strengthen the voice of football fans.
 The VSC are in support of Supporter Ownership Week, a celebration of clubs who are supporter owned, which begins today (11th April) with a series of matches across football and Rugby League. SD has worked alongside supporters for the last 15 years to make the dream of supporter ownership possible, and the week is about celebrating the people who’ve done it, and the people who have taken or are taking the journey. A crowdfunding campaign is already running alongside the campaign, where you can donate to raise money for SD to provide more support for supporter ownership in the future: http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/supporter-ownership-week There are around 60 matches involving supporter-owned clubs during the week, almost every supporter-owned club being in action. SD has created a special Matchfinder service so that you can watch a match at your local supporter owned club: http://www.supporters-direct.org/supporter-ownership-week/match-finder. For more information visit http://www.supporters-direct.org/press-release/its-ours-supporter-ownership-week-2015-kicks-off-on-the-pitch
The Viking Supporters Co-operative welcomes the statement made yesterday by John Ryan and hopes that this spells an end to the recent takeover activity which has blighted the past two closed-season preparations and affected our team being competitive for a proportion of those respective league campaigns.
John Ryan's successes whilst at the helm of Doncaster Rovers FC stand as testimony to his drive, ambition and support for the club, and the Trust would like to officially thank John for providing stability and a vision at a time where there was none. All supporters will no doubt be eternally grateful to John for stepping into the breach in 1998 and the subsequent period of success he oversaw. Following John's statement, that is now a closed chapter of the club's recent history and the Trust now urges all supporters to unite behind the current board and owners as we move forward, club and supporters together.
We would like to wish John every success with his other business ventures.
The VSC are proud to be supporting Coppingers Testimonial Charity, Bluebell Wood Children's Hospice, and have designed a limited edition "Coppinger #26 Legend" mug, with all profits going to the charity. The mugs are on sale for just £8 in the Belle Vue Bar prior to the Bradford game this Friday. Alternatively you can buy them online for £10 including P&P. Click here for more information.
We have organised a match-day mascot package at the Bradford game for a local youngster to be a mascot, along with 7 friends who will be wearing Firefly t-shirts to help promote the charity. All of the kids have parents/carers who have been diagnosed with cancer and are either having treatment or are in remission.
We have also funded a big-screen advertisement and an article in the match-day programme, which we hope will raise awareness of the vital transport and support they provide for cancer patients around Doncaster.
Please consider making a donation to Firefly below:
Don't forget check out Firefly's facebook page and give it a "like": https://www.facebook.com/FireflyCIC
 DO YOU KNOW ANY YOUNGER FANS WITH A FLAIR FOR ART? IF SO THIS WILL BE OF INTEREST As part of the Testimonial Celebrations for James Coppinger the VSC have teamed up with Copps, the Testimonial Celebrations Team (including Louis Tomlinson and his representatives) and many schools in and around Doncaster to bring a great competition to the younger fans of DRFC for the upcoming LEGENDS GAME. We would also like to extend this out to all the younger DRFC fans on the Viking Chat Forum, facebook and twitter. The competition is an Easter Holiday Art Competition where the idea is to create an original piece of art, in any material on one side of A4 paper of either COPPS #26 or LOUIS #28. There are three age groups: Key Stage 2, Key Stage 3 and Working Towards GCSE/A' Level and two sub-categories per age group: COPPS 26 and LOUIS 28. The winning designs in each age range and category will be reproduced, signed by both Copps and Louis, framed and presented back to the artists on the pitch at some point before/at half time in the Legends game. Winning art and runners-up in either category and all age-ranges will be bound together and presented in a book to Copps and Louis too. The original artwork is to be handed in to Main Reception at the Keepmoat by 5:00pm on Tuesday April 7th. For full rules and regs and all details plus an entrance form click here. GET ARTY, LET'S SEE THOSE 'CLOSET VAN GOGHS' and GOOD LUCK!
24 Mar 2015 - Season Ticket Early Bird Deadline Looms
Season Ticket holders are reminded that they have until Tuesday 31st March to secure their 2015/16 Season Ticket at the "early bird" prices, and at the same time can snap up an additional Season Ticket for the Doncaster Rovers Belles new season for just a fiver! The Keepmoat Stadium Ticket Office will be open until 7 PM every day from Thursday 26th March to allow supporters every opportunity to renew quickly and conveniently. The full Ticket Office opening times are as follows:
Should you wish to have your season ticket renewed in the simplest way, call on 01302 762576 and select option 1. The Ticket Office staff will be delighted to assist with any queries, such as moving seats, checking availability or finding a group of seats together for you and your friends, and will be able to process this over the telephone for you. The early bird pricing offers generous savings over the full price, so grab your new Season Ticket from just £299 for adults and £30 for junior supporters and take advantage of this offer before it runs out.
Any supporter renewing their season ticket during the early bird period can also pick up a Belles Season Ticket for the bargain price of £5. The Belles kicked of their FA Women's Super League 2 season in fine style last week with an excellent 3-0 home victory over Durham, and a £5 Belles Season Ticket will get you a seat at all of the girls' remaining 11 home matches!
Doncaster Rovers has been nominated for the prestigious Johnstone's Paint Community Club of the Year Award as part of the 2015 Football League Awards Shortlist. This award recognises the Football League club community scheme that has best demonstrated success at engaging with their local community over the last year. The shortlist is comprised of five regional winners, which includes Rovers (YORKSHIRE & NORTH EAST), Blackburn Rovers (NORTH WEST), Derby County (MIDLANDS), Norwich City (EAST) and Brighton & Hove Albion (SOUTH). The Club were nominated for the same award last year but were narrowly pipped by Brentford. To be nominated for a successive year demonstrates the off-field strides that the club is making, according to Chief Executive Gavin Baldwin: "This is great news for the Football Club, for the Foundation and for Club Doncaster. The work the Foundation do is outstanding and something we are very proud of. Liam and his team continue to deliver across the board and this nomination proves that they are not only meeting but also exceeding all expectations." Liam Scully, CEO of Club Doncaster Foundation, highlighted: "It's great for Doncaster Rovers/Club Doncaster Foundation to be recognised against our well respected peers within the Football League Trust network who all do great work within their local community" "Over the past 12 months we have delivered a ranges of projects which have gone on to develop stronger communities, promoted civic pride, improved the health and wellbeing of individuals, and the community generally. "We are proud of our achievements which have been delivered in partnership with a range of strategic partners, and for this we must thank them as well as our dedicated team members who year on year deliver outstanding results." The winners will be announced at a gala ceremony at The Brewery, London on Sunday 19th April 2015.
04 Mar 2015 - Help Copps raise £5000 for charity Planned to celebrate Rovers fan's favourite James Coppinger hitting 450 appearances for the club, tickets for the match on Saturday 14th March versus Peterborough United will be available at a very special price.
All fans can come to the game and see the Rovers attempt to strengthen their grip on a play-off place for just £5, and under-11's for just £1. What's more, 50p from every ticket sold will be donated to a charity of Copps' choice. Demand for tickets has already been high so please make sure you get yours as soon as you can, and tell all your friends and family about this brilliant offer from your local club. If YOU can make the difference and bring extra supporters to the game, we could see a very generous donation raised for a deserving charity.
The Football League's national competition, the KINDER SPORT+ KID'S CUP 2015, gets into the Area stage in a few weeks and the Viking Supporters Co-operative are delighted to announce that the Rovers' representatives are Kirk Sandall Juniors. Under the guidance of teacher, coach, former Keepmoat "Matchday Man on the Mic" and VSC Board Member Alan Roberts, the lads will be sporting the VSC-sponsored hoops the club's own Academy sides wear, thanks to the club's generous decision to loan them the kit to ensure they look and feel the part. The Area Finals take place on March 12th at the Development Academy of Crewe Alexandra FC.  Alan and the boys have been working exceptionally hard alongside Ben Mawson (Doncaster Rovers Academy), Tom Chambers (DRFC Academy Coach) and Josh Rowley (Eden Grove FC) in recent weeks to ensure they are ready to represent the club at the 6-a-side tournament next month. In the run up to the tournament, the boys will be playing warm-up competitions with DRFC's U-10s and U-11s development squads, having a couple of DRFC coaches attend their training sessions and will be playing on the Keepmoat pitch at half-time when the Rovers take to field for their rescheduled home fixture against Bristol City next Tuesday. We'd like to wish the boys the very best of luck and will bring you updates of their progress. If they succeed at Crewe they may just get to represent the Club again later in the season at Wembley Stadium prior to the Johnstone's Paint Trophy final. GOOD LUCK LADS.
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