Doncaster Lakers
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| Doncaster Lakers | |
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| Full name | Doncaster Lakers Rugby League Club |
| Emblem | 'Lakers' writing |
| Colours | Blue and Gold |
| Founded | 1951 |
| Sport | Rugby league |
| League | National League One |
| Ground | Keepmoat Stadium |
| Official website | www.doncasterlakers.com |
Doncaster Lakers are a British rugby league club, from Doncaster. They currently play in League One of the Rugby League National Leagues.
They have previously been known as Doncaster Dragons. They are informally known as the Dons.
[edit] History
Doncaster RLFC were founded in 1951 and joined the Rugby League in the same year. The club originally played at the Doncaster Greyhound Stadium, before moving to the new Bentley Road Stadium in August 1953. Tattersfield was named after former Chairman Len Tattersfield.
The club gained promotion to Division 1 for the first time in 1993-94, and in 1994-95 Tattersfield was the venue for a game against Widnes, broadcast live on Sky Television, which Doncaster won by 21 points to 6. At that time, "the Dons" were at the top of Division 1.
At the end of the 1994-95 season the club went into liquidation and Tattersfield was sold for housing developments after the end of their one and only season in the game's top division. The Dons played their last game at Tattersfield on 23rd April 1995.
When a Rupert Murdoch funded Super League competition was proposed, part of the deal was that some traditional clubs would merge. Doncaster were to merge with Sheffield to form a South Yorkshire club that would compete in Super League. This was unpopular with the fans and was resisted.
The following a year, a new club called Doncaster Dragons raised from the ashes of the previous club, but it was forced to restart life in the bottom division of the Rugby Football League. They temporarily moved in and the club moved in to share with soccer club Doncaster Rovers at their Belle Vue ground while Meadow Court Stadium (another greyhound stadium in Stainforth, Doncaster) was being prepared for rugby league. The Dragons played at Meadow Court Stadium for a few years before returning to Belle Vue for the beginning of the 1998 season.
In 1999, St Jon Ellis was appointed head coach of Doncaster, he was too late to prevent them finishing 18th and last in the Premiership, making them the lowest-ranked club in the professional game. The following year, helped by some ambitious recruitment, they were third.
One of Doncaster's achievements under Ellis was to become notoriously difficult to beat at home, with the Belle Vue ground unofficially re-named 'The House of Pain'.
Tony Miller was appointed head coach following the sudden death of St John Ellis on New Year's Eve in 2005.
They adopted the name Lakers at the end of 2005 to reflect the new Lakeside Community Stadium' (now The Keepmoat Stadium)', a purpose built facility for both soccer and rugby league clubs [1].
This change in name was not greeted by many loyal Doncaster RLFC fans, who felt the club had gone too far with the Americanised 'Laker' tag. The change in colours from the clubs trademark blue and gold to red and white for home games and green and gold for away games was also met harshly. Since the new season has begun, the colours have being reversed back to blue and gold, although the name has stayed the same.
The new name comes with the brand new training facilities and stadium based at the Lakeside complex. The Keepmoat Stadium as it is now known seats 16,000 supporters with room for expansion in the future.
Tony Miller was sacked in July 2006 and replaced by full-time head coach Kieran Dempsey on a two-year contract in August 2006.
The Lakers played in the local derby against Sheffield Eagles on December 27 2006, which was the opening game in The Keepmoat Stadium (formerly Lakeside Community Stadium). They lost this match.
[edit] External links
| Rugby League National Leagues - National League One |
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| Rugby league in Britain and Ireland | |
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