Saturday’s game against Rochdale was a special day at Doncaster Rovers for the second year running as children from all over Doncaster took part in our annual Junior Takeover Day.
Children ran the show at the Keepmoat for the second year running as 30 job roles were created for them including; groundsman, tannoy announcer, media assistant, referee, kit man, first team manager and even a first team player which has never been done before!On the day, children arrived and were provided with the appropriate kit for the day such as club ties, referee kit, playing kit and matchday passes. Whilst accompanied by their mum or dad, they then spent the day shadowing their ‘role model’.
Those involved had the opportunity to announce team lineups, warm up with the first team and even be part of the pre-match team talk, a once in a life time opportunity!
Community Officer Gareth Cook said: “The Junior Takeover Day is an offer to all our partner schools to get involved operationally on a Rovers matchday. By the children applying for a job role it hits a literacy target for both them and the school. It also allows them to work on their creative writing skills when applying for their job role.
“As well as this, the kids get to come and see exactly what happens at a football game behind the scenes, it’s not just about the players on the pitch. It’s a great opportunity for us to promote civic pride.”
The day is hugely beneficial to Club Doncaster Foundation as it encourages schools to sign up to the Foundation school services.
Once the day was over and everyone had done their job, the children were presented with certificates by members of the first team squad, before getting photos and autographs.
Communications and Marketing Manager Ryan Murrant said: "It was a really enjoyable day, thank you to everyone for getting involved, it was great to see so many smiling children at the Keepmoat. Thank you to the Club Doncaster Foundation for their support and thanks to the Football League and their partners for the coverage throughout the day."
Helen Harrison, head teacher at Woodfield Primary School was delighted with how the day went. "All the children (and the staff) had a fabulous day. Thank you to Doncaster Rovers for making it a success. All the children came into school on Monday morning showing off their certificates!"
Check out all the photos from a brilliant day on our Facebook page by clicking HERE.
You can see all the highlights from the day in the video below: