During the 2007–08 English football season, Doncaster Rovers F.C. competed in League One.

Season summary

This was Doncaster's fourth consecutive season in League One. With Adam Brown,

Jan Budtz Jan Helstrup Budtz (born 20 April 1979) is a Danish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. He works as the head of operations for League One side Doncaster Rovers, as well as playing semi-professionally for Rossington Main. He has previously pla ...

, Liam Green, Rob Pacey,

Jon-Paul Pittman Jon-Paul Pittman (born 24 October 1986) is a football coach and former professional player, currently Assistant Under 18 Coach at Brentford. Pittman began his career in Aston Villa's academy before moving to Nottingham Forest where he spent ei ...

, and

Sean Thornton Sean Thornton (born 18 May 1983) is a former professional footballer. He made 11 appearances in the Premier League for Sunderland in the 2002–03 season and has made over 200 appearances in the Football League, mostly for Sunderland, Doncast ...

released, several new players were brought in for the beginning of the season. James Hayter was bought from

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

Gordon Greer Gordon Greer (born 14 December 1980) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a defender. Greer played for Clyde, Blackburn Rovers (two spells), Stockport County, Kilmarnock (two spells), Doncaster Rovers, Swindon Town and Br ...

came from

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

, free agents

Sam Hird Adrian Samuel Hird (born 7 September 1987) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who is first team coach at EFL League One side Bolton Wanderers. As a player he was central defender or defensive midfielder and notabl ...

and

Neil Sullivan Neil Sullivan (born 24 February 1970) is a professional football player and coach. He played as a goalkeeper from 1988 until 2013, playing in the Premier League for Wimbledon, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, and represented Scotland internationa ...

came from

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

Richie Wellens Richard Paul Wellens (born 26 March 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently head coach of EFL League Two club Leyton Orient. Wellens began his career at Manchester United ...

from

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

, Martin Woods from

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

, and

Matt Mills Matthew Claude Mills (born 14 July 1986) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a defender. He spent most of his career in the English EFL Championship, in which he played for Leicester City, Reading, Bolton, Nottingham ...

was loaned from

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

. Rovers were in 4th place by the New Year, and by the last game of the season they were in 2nd place but needed a win at

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

to guarantee promotion to the Championship. Cheltenham won, as did 3rd placed

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, so Doncaster had to compete in the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. First, they drew away at Southend where Paul Heffernan was sent off for a " head butt", but in the home leg they won 5–1, with James Coppinger getting a hattrick. The play-off final was at the new

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

against a Leeds side that had failed to get an automatic place partly following a pre-season 15 point deduction for exiting administration without a CVA. The contest attracted an attendance of 75,132, the biggest crowd Doncaster had ever played in front of. From a Brian Stock corner, James Hayter headed in the only goal of the match in the 47th minute and Doncaster were promoted to the second tier after an absence of 50 years when they had been relegated at the end of the 1957–58 season. Progress in the three cup tournaments was limited. The average league attendance figure of 7,978 was marginally up on the previous season and the highest since the 1969-70 season. During the season it was announced that

Terry Bramall Terence George Bramall (born November 1942) is a British businessman and philanthropist, he is also one of four Directors of Doncaster Rovers. Early life Terry Bramall graduated from Birmingham University with a BSc degree in Civil Engineering ...

and Dick Watson had become equal controlling shareholders alongside John Ryan.

Squad

Statistics

Players with a zero in every column only appeared as unused substitutes. , - , colspan="16", ''Players who left the club during the season:''

Goals record

Disciplinary record

References

External links

Doncaster FC Player Appearances , Past & Present , Soccer Base
{{DEFAULTSORT:2007-08 Doncaster Rovers F.C. season Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers F.C. seasons