- by Tony Bluff
The Club was formed in 1879 by a group of young apprentices, mainly from the Plant Works, who got together to play a match against the Yorkshire Institute for the Deaf & Dumb. They were so pleased about the experience that, on the walk back into town, they decided to form a club of their own to play on a regular basis. They even agreed on a name, which still survives to this day, Doncaster Rovers.
For the first six years they played on any pitch they could borrow, usually on the Town Moor / Racecourse and on Belle Vue Playing Fields situated behind the present day Nuttall's Cottages. However, in 1885, they obtained the use of a ground of their own, behind the Deaf & Dumb Institute. Originally referred to as the Deaf & Dumb ground, a year later it took on the soubriquet of the Intake Ground.
In 1888 the club entered the F.A.Cup for the first time and were soundly beaten, 9 - 1, at home by Rotherham Town. With Leagues springing up around the country, the Rovers were founder members of the Midland Alliance in 1890, finishing second. In March of 1891 they won the Sheffield and Hallamshire F.A.Challenge Cup, the pinnacle of achievement in those days, by beating Sheffield United, 2 - 1, at Bramall Lane. Three months later they were elected to the Midland League, winning the Championship in 1896-97 and 1898-99. They followed this in April 1901 by winning the Mexborough Montagu Charity Cup. That summer they were elected to the Football League replacing New Brighton Tower and lasted two seasons before losing out in the re-election vote. A season in the Midland League followed before, once again, being voted back into the Football League. In the meantime the club had been formed into a Limited Liability Company but they still finished bottom of Division 2 with just 8 points, a record that still stands today. So, it was back to the Midland League until the outbreak of World War 1. The only success in this period was winning the S&H Challenge Cup again in 1912, beating Sheffield United Reserves 3 - 0 at Wath.
In August 1914 the Company was voluntarily liquidated. Within a month the club was re-formed and accepted by the F.A. and the Midland League. After one more season, the Midland League was suspended for the duration of the War. The Rovers helped to set up the Midland Combination for 1915-16 but this only ran one season before being suspended because clubs could not raise a team. The Rovers closed down and their ground at the Intake was utilised by the Army as a military depot.
The Club was revived in the summer of 1920 but the Intake ground was still unavailable because the Army were still using it. The Corporation was asked to help with the provision of a site for a football ground. They offered some six acres on the Low Pastures. As this would take some time to prepare, the club were allowed the use of the Educational Department's playing field at Bennetthorpe, the afore-mentioned Belle Vue. The club continued in the Midland League. On August 26th, 1922 their new ground on the Low Pastures, to be called Belle Vue, was opened by Mr Charles Sutcliffe, a representative of the Football League, on the occasion of a Midland League game against Gainsborough Trinity. The crowd of 10,000 was the largest ever to see a football match in Doncaster. This season proved successful by finishing 2nd in the Midland League and winning the Wharncliffe Charity Cup, a Sheffield competition. That summer of 1923 the club were elected to the Football League Division 3 North.
