DONCASTER ROVERS FOOTBALL MUSEUM

[Silkscarf]

Hi everyone - another long message from us but it’s all good news…

Following successful events in August (Mexborough) and September (Askern), we are holding another ‘Heritage Happening’. This time it’s at the Eco-Power Stadium in South Stand Reception on 28th and 29th November:

https://inroverswetrust.org/events

The exhibition will be open 11am-4pm on Friday November 28 and 11am-1pm on Saturday November 29 prior to our home game against Peterborough United.

This 2-day event will mark the opening of a permanent exhibition in the Reception Area of the Polypipe South Stand. This is the latest development in the IRWT project to build the ‘Doncaster Rovers Football Museum’.

Alongside the museum project, IRWT have been working with Friends of Hyde Park Cemetery to identify the final resting places of many of the club’s earliest players. These include club founder Albert Jenkins and John Mitchell, later of Newton Heath (Manchester United) and Bolton Wanderers (for whom he played on the opening day of the Football League, in which the first ever league goal was scored).

Most of that 1879 ‘first eleven’ have now been located. They lie in Hyde Park Cemetery, a short distance from the Eco-Power Stadium. Unfortunately many of the graves are unmarked and their exact locations are not visible to the public.

We are determined to create a permanent memorial at Hyde Park Cemetery which will honour and remember these key figures in the early years of DRFC. The required costs will be raised through a crowdfunding campaign similar to the one already in process for Len Goodson,  Rovers’ first league goalscorer:

https://www.fohpc.org.uk/goodson/

To have a permanent memorial to all the former Rovers players buried at Hyde Park Cemetery would be a fitting way of recognising the part those individuals played in the formation and history of our club. We have also located and been in touch with some living descendants.

We wanted to build a museum which could display and celebrate 150 years of DRFC history by the time we reach that anniversary in September 2029.

So we had to start the project by finding Albert Jenkins. Then we’ve gradually found almost all his teammates. They’re mostly in Doncaster’s historic cemetery between the stadium and the city centre, among 56,000 other graves.

Those players founded the club. Our task, as a group of volunteer fans, is to found a museum both virtual and physical.

Thanks to the club, we now have the use of a permanent exhibition space at the stadium. This event is only the start of the next stage of the museum project. We think it’ll be a lot of fun and many fans will want to be involved.

Club Historian John Coyle has been part of our team since Day 1 and we’ve been in touch with several other Rovers experts and keen fans seeking input. Many people have done some great work on Rovers history over the years. We aim to bring all that knowledge and expertise to bear on the museum project. The club’s 150th birthday gives us all an obvious target date to deliver it.

On our website we’ve put together a few pages about the museum project:

https://inroverswetrust.org/introduction

See you at the exhibition!

Best wishes,

Rich Stevens & Colin Harker
In Rovers We Trust community interest company

[Balby Rover]

Rich and Colin that is fantastic news no one realises how you much effort you two put in Supporting this initiative and the Rovers in general . Thanks for all your efforts I will be there to support you !!

[graingrover]

Well done you two !

[Silkscarf]

Please note the Friday event will be larger as we will have space to expand out the back door into part of the South Stand concourse. We’ll be open 11am-4pm that day so we’ll have more time as well as space.

The matchday event will be slimmed down because we won’t have access to the concourse, the exhibition will just be in the Reception area for 2 hours. We’ll squeeze in as much stuff as we can though.

We wanted to be open on a matchday too because we want as many fans as possible to have the chance to visit and get a sense of what we’re doing and think about getting involved.

Thanks
Rich & Colin

[idler]

Is there any chance that it could be filmed on a phone and posted? A 5 minute or so walk through just before it opens would probably give a good showing for those that can’t make it. I know it is easy for me to suggest and leave someone else to do it, but it could fire even more interest and more donations of items to show in future.

[Silkscarf]

Yes we’ll definitely be doing that and taking plenty of pics.

[German Rover]

Been looking at the website and you talk about playing on a ground on Park road in Conisbrough. On the OS Map between 1892 and 1914 at this link, there is a football ground laid out where houses are now on Park Road.

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.4&lat=53.47855&lon=-1.23460&layers=168&b=GoogleSatHyb&o=100

I'm sure you've already looked at this but could it be the missing ground in Conisbrough?

[Silkscarf]

Yes it most likely is that field. The history books say it’s houses now. It looks like March Vale Rise runs through the middle of it.

[Silkscarf]

The club are hoping to run stadium tours on the Friday to coincide with this event. So look out for news on that via the club.

[GlennKirkwoodFanClub]

Just a reminder to everyone. We have set the museum up today and will be welcoming visitors between 11am and 4pm tomorrow, and then on Saturday between 11am and 1pm.

We are expecting a visit tomorrow from the legend that is Colin Douglas.

Please come along and support us.

Thanks

[River Don]

A decade ago or more a mate of mine did some research on Albert Jenkins, he found a couple of terraced houses he lived in. He was at Balby in a house near The Plant when he set up the club.

We tried tracking down descendents but the family didn't have children. Albert's legacy then is The Rovers.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Just been for a visit and great to see lots of things I hadn't seen before. A very impressive display of memorabilia and artifacts.

Well done to everyone concerned collating all this history and putting it on display.

It's not going to be an easy task to construct the museum physically and digitally to make it accessible to all but it's a great start.

[Juddy]

Went down this afternoon spent a good hour well done to everyone involved some great history ⚽️⚽️⚽️

[andy didcott]

Is the museum now open on a permanent basis at the eco power.

[GlennKirkwoodFanClub]

We have been given the South Stand reception as a permanent location in which to showcase our museum exhibits. This means that displays will change from time to time. To be open in anything like the form we had on Friday and Saturday would mean having to have it staffed, which either costs money or would be down to volunteers like Rich, Phil and myself. We might start having odd days open, say once a month. Talks need to be held with the club on this. These days could coincide with stadium tours.

We want this project to continue and to improve  both in displays and content, so we hope we get the support of the club and supporters to enable us to do this. Without both, we are nothing.

I'd like to thank everyone that visited us sharing both memorabilia and their memories with us.

[Silkscarf]

If anyone has any information on these exhibits we’d love to hear from you:

- Model of the Stadium and the double-decker bus. Who made them? It’s not that long ago because the stadium has Eco-Power branding. We’d like to credit him (it’s probably a him!) and get more details about how they came to be made and end up at the stadium and ultimately incorporated into the museum.

- The heavyweight black polished stone ‘Doncaster Rovers’ sign/small monument that was brought to the stadium last week. That person said they won it in an auction, it was the last thing left at Belle Vue and they thought the club would like it. So it was passed to us. It’s like something you’d see on a monument or in a cemetery. But we’ve never seen it before or have any other details about it.

I’ll put pics of them on here later. You can reply below, or message us on here, or use the Contact Us on the website:

https://inroverswetrust.org/contact-us

[GlennKirkwoodFanClub]

River Don
A decade ago or more a mate of mine did some research on Albert Jenkins, he found a couple of terraced houses he lived in. He was at Balby in a house near The Plant when he set up the club.

We tried tracking down descendents but the family didn't have children. Albert's legacy then is The Rovers.

River Don, I think many have tried and reached a dead end. Thanks to census and other records, we have found him living in Middlesbrough, then in Doncaster on St Sepulchre Gate, Kings Road, Dockin Hill Road and Denison Road, his last address. We now know the exactly he is in at Hyde Park Cemetery.

We have also established that he married Sarah Salmon, whose brother William Henry Salmon was in the same original team in 1879, and was ten years older than Albert.

I did find Albert on a family tree on Find my past, but having emailed the tree owner didn't have a clue who I was talking about. I have also emailed two separate descendents of William Salmon, but so far I've not had a response.

Fingers crossed, we will get developments to match what we have on John Mitchell and William Bedford where we are now in touch with descendents and they have sent us photographs.

Any help we get is greatly received. We already know plenty of things that weren't known until recently. Any information on any old players interests us.

So all of you, please keep the nuggets coming.
Thanks

[Donnywolf]

Please keep me informed re volunteering

Hours , dates etc. Im sure there would be enough people wanting to do it and that I hope would avoid paying people to do it

Cheers jt

[Bentley Bullet]

Do you think we could get Scawsby Steve to stand still on a plinth wearing an old retro Rovers kit?

[scawsby steve]

Do you think we could get Scawsby Steve to stand still on a plinth wearing an old retro Rovers kit?

I'll gladly do it if Wolfie can lend me the tam o' shanter given to him by one of the Rovers players after a game.