In Rovers We Trust - fan engagement

[silent majority]

There's an excellent article on the main Rovers website which attempts to convey the message about how the club is refocusing on the 'In Rovers We Trust' strategy that we employed to such great effect when first launched. You can read Shaun's article here;

https://www.doncasterroversfc.co.uk/news/2024/september/28/in-rovers-we-trust/

Although the club has been very active in recent years the message sometimes gets lost when you consider the various strands and areas that fan engagement is meant to cover. A lot of the ideas we developed originally bore fruit and propelled the club to the top of the table when it came to setting the standards for others to follow. I've lost count of the amount of clubs who copied what we did originally and described it as 'doing a donny' when talking about their approach to fan engagement. It was no surprise that awards began to follow for us and subsequently for those who copied what we did.

Therefore to stay ahead of the pack, we felt we needed a refresh and a new impetus that delivers the results that we as fans and supporters would like to see. Some of these activities have become engrained in the philosophy of the club, and are part of our DNA, but we need that discussion back again so that we can step up and find new opportunities to be the best we can be, both on and off the pitch. That delivers for us, but it also means we can attract new supporters who enjoy that the club cares about them as well, these are our future!

In conclusion, for the best part of 12 months we've been talking about new ideas and how we can deliver bigger and better projects in addition to the day to day focus that the club uses to deliver fan expectations. Along with a group of DRFC supporters we've taken on the task of delivering what we hope will be something that all fans can be proud of. But today would be too early to talk about that in any detail, however in the next few weeks we hope to share this with you. I'm excited by some of the ideas we have, and I'm extremely grateful to those supporters who've made the effort to contribute.

[Pancho Regan]

Excellent stuff Martin, thanks for the update.

[silent majority]

Excellent stuff Martin, thanks for the update.

Thanks Pancho! Some of what we are doing is really valuable for all DRFC supporters, and hope to share much more of that in the next few weeks. We have one project that has attracted some great DRFC supporters with incredible knowledge and experience which we need to share!

[silent majority]

By the way, if anybody has any ideas of what we, or the club, could do to enhance being a DRFC supporter in general or improving the match day experience (yes the tannoy system!) then lets have them!! Either here, or email or pm. Thanks!

Had one idea emailed to me yesterday which I thought was pretty good. Details to follow!

[McCammon egg n chips]

Our half time 'entertainment' is an area we can improve. It usually consists of an ex-player getting their heritage number and an interview conducted that you can't hear via the poor sound system.

Some other ideas to freshen half time up:

Cross bar challenge
Two fans selected in advance or grabbed from the crowd pitted against each other in a best out of three cross bar challenge to win some merch or free match tickets etc. Simple, visual and low cost.

Fan skill challenge
Similar to above but to mix it up create a mini obstacle course on the pitch with cones or small hurdles, where fans race to dribble a ball through in the fastest time. Winner gets free merch

'Guess the goal' quiz
Replay classic Rovers goals on the big screen and have fans guess which player scored, opponents, year and overall final score of the match. Fans can send in answers via social media, with a winner announced after the final whistle. Again, winner gets some merch or free tickets.

[BobG]

Bring back those dancing girls!

BobG

[colfromdonny]

Bring back those dancing girls!

BobG

And the wrestlers

[ravenrover]

How about the frog who ate the coach?

[scawsby steve]

A nude mud wrestling match between BB and Wolfie.

Then again, no. I don't have enough Diazepam and smelling salts to be able to endure the sight of that.