12
THE DAILY ECHO
SATURDAY, AUGUST 30, 2008
SAINTS’ FIRST TEAM FIXTURES AND RESULTS 2008/09 2
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AUGUST Sat 9 Cardiff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A
L 1-2
James
Svensson
Perry
Surman
Schneiderlin*** Gillett
Lallana
Thomson*
Holmes**
McGoldrick 1 Dyer*
Tue 12 Exeter (CC1) . . . . . . . . .A
W 3-1 Bialkowski
James
Schneiderlin
Perry
Surman
Wotton
Gillett
Lallana
Thomson
Holmes 1
McGoldrick 2 John*
Sat 16 Birmingham . . . . . . . . . .H
L 1-2
James
Svensson
Perry 1
Surman
Schneiderlin
Gillett
Lallana
McGoldrick
Holmes
John*
Thomson*
Sat 23 Derby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A
W 1-0 Davis
James**
Svensson
Perry
Surman
Schneiderlin
Gillett
Lallana 1
White*
Holmes***
McGoldrick
Tue 26 Birmingham (CC2) . . . .H
W 2-0 Bialkowski
James
Thomas
Cork
Surman
Wotton
Gillett**
Schneiderlin*
Lallana 1
Holmes 1
McGoldrick
Davis Davis
W-Phillips**
Wotton***
Wotton*
Cork**
John***
John*
Mills**
Sat 30 Blackpool (12.45pm) . . .H SEPTEMBER
How Donny joined Saints
Sun 14 QPR (4pm) . . . . . . . . . . .A Wed 17 Ipswich . . . . . . . . . . . . H Sat 20 Barnsley . . . . . . . . . . . . H Sat 27 Doncaster . . . . . . . . . . . .A Tue 30 Norwich . . . . . . . . . . . .H OCTOBER Sat 4 Coventry (5.20pm) . . . . . .A Sat 18 Watford . . . . . . . . . . . . .H Tue 21 Sheffield Utd . . . . . . . . .A Sat 25 Swansea . . . . . . . . . . . .A Tue 28 Coventry
. . . . . . . . . . .H
NOVEMBER Sat 1 Preston
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .A
Sat 8 Bristol City (5.20pm) . . . .H Sat 15 Wolves . . . . . . . . . . . . .H Sat 22 Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . .A Tue 25 Plymouth . . . . . . . . . . .H Sat 29 Charlton . . . . . . . . . . . . . A
WHILE Saints fought it out for the most prestigious cup in world football in front of over 70,000 at the M i l l e n n i u m Stadium a revolution was quietly underway in South Yorkshire, writes Simon Peach.
DECEMBER Sat 6 Sheffield Wednesday . . .H Tue 9 Crystal Palace . . . . . . . . A Sat 13 Burnley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A Sat 20 Nottingham Forest . . . .H Fri 26 Plymouth (3pm) . . . . . . . .A Sun 28 Reading . . . . . . . . . . . .H JANUARY Sat 3 TBA (FAC3) . . . . . . . . . . . . Sat 10 Barnsley . . . . . . . . . . . . .A
Just seven days before Saints faced Arsenal in the 2003 FA Cup final perennial strugglers Doncaster Rovers secured their place in the Football League after coming out victorious in the inaugural Conference playoff final against Dagenham and Redbridge. Francis Tierney’s extratime winner for Rovers started an incredible sequence of events, which now results in the two sides plying their trade in the same division for the first time since 1959. Doncaster’s rise from the Conference to the Championship has been almost, if not more, spectacular than Southampton fall from grace. In the nineties Doncaster suffered financially and then chairman, Ken Richardson, even decided burning down their Belle Vue home was the best way to move the club forward. Richardson’s failed attempt didn’t go to plan, landing himself a four year jail sentence and, instead, pushing Doncaster further towards the financial precipice. In 1997/98 they were relegated from the Football
Sat 17 Doncaster . . . . . . . . . . .H Tue 27 Norwich . . . . . . . . . . . . .A Sat 31 Swansea . . . . . . . . . . . .H FEBRUARY Tue 3 Sheffield Utd . . . . . . . . . .H Sat 7 Watford . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A Sat 14 Bristol City . . . . . . . . . . . A Sat 21 Preston . . . . . . . . . . . . .H Sat 28 Cardiff . . . . . . . . . . . . . .H MARCH Tue 3 Ipswich . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A Sat 7 Birmingham . . . . . . . . . . .A Tue 10 Derby . . . . . . . . . . . . . .H Sat 14 QPR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H Sat 21 Blackpool . . . . . . . . . . .A APRIL Sat 4 Charlton . . . . . . . . . . . . .H Sat 11 Wolves . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A Mon 13 Crystal Palace (3pm) . .H Sat 18 Sheffield Wednesday . . .A Sat 25 Burnley . . . . . . . . . . . . .H MAY Sun 3 Nottingham Forest . . . . . .A Midweek games 7.45pm kick-off unless stated. Weekend games 3pm unless stated.
WE ARE GOING UP: Doncaster celebrate winning promotion last season. League having suffered a record 34 defeats in only 46 games. However, there was a saviour at hand in the form of local multimillionaire John Ryan Local lad Ryan bought the struggling Conference outfit just days before almost certain extinction, and has since propelled them to the higher echelons of the Football League pyramid. The multimillionaire plastic surgeon has ploughed his personal wealth into Rovers, giving the side, much like his patients, the lift they needed after years of image problems.
Remarkably, Ryan has also created a record himself – by becoming the oldest person ever to appear in a professional match in England. Aged 52, he came on as a late sub in Rovers’ last game of the 2002/03 Conference season against Hereford! In just five years, Doncaster, under the watchful eye of Ryan, have secured three promotions, a run to the Carling Cup quarterfinal and a move to the stateof-the-art Keepmoat Stadium. The most pertinent moment of his reign, Ryan will tell you, was the League
One play-off final win over arch-rivals Leeds United infront of over 75,000 at Wembley. Manager Sean O’Driscoll, who oversaw that famous win, will hope to build on the clubs recent successes in their first foray into the second tier of English football for half a century. Not only is the former Bournemouth manager achieving unprecedented successes with Rovers but with a style and grace rarely seen in South Yorkshire. O’Driscoll has Doncaster playing an exciting brand of slick attacking football,
which was nothing short but exquisite in their 5-1 play-off semi-final victory over Southend. The core of the side that secured promotion has remained at the Keepmoat, with the likes of Winchesterborn captain Brian Stock, former Bournemouth aces John Spicer and James Hayter set to be key figures again this season. Doncaster’s strong squad, coupled with their leadership on and off the field, should make them a tough opponent this season.
Key: CC = Carling Cup; FAC = FA Cup
KELVIN DAVIS BARTOSZ BIALKOWSKI TOMMY FORECAST CHRIS PERRY WAYNE THOMAS JACK CORK MICHAEL SVENSSON JAMIE HATCH LLOYD JAMES OLIVER LANCASHIRE
LA 3 0 0 3 0 0(1) 3 0 3 0
LG 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
CA 0 2 0 1 1 1 0 0 2 0
CG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
CSA 83 20 0 10 31(1) 1(1) 85(1) 0 5 0
CSG 0 0 0 1 0 0 6 0 0 0
KYLE DAVIES JOSEPH MILLS MICHAEL BYRNE RUDI SKACEL PAUL WOTTON ANDREW SURMAN LEE HOLMES JASON EUELL NATHAN DYER MORGAN SCHNEIDERLIN
LA 0 0 0 0 0(2) 3 3 0 0(1) 3
LG CA 0 0 0 0(1) 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2
CG CSA 0 0 0 0(1) 0 0 0 52(6) 0 2(2) 0 85(18) 2 5 0 32(6) 0 41(22) 0 5
CSG 0 0 0 5 0 11 2 3 3 0
LA LG CA SIMON GILLETT 3 0 2 JAKE THOMSON 1(1) 0 1 BRADLEY WRIGHT-PHILLIPS0(1) 0 0 GRZEGORZ RASIAK 0 0 0 STERN JOHN 1(1) 0 0(2) DAVID MCGOLDRICK 3 1 2 ADAM LALLANA 3 1 2 JAMIE WHITE 1 0 0 MATTHEW PATERSON 0 0 0
KEY: LA: league appearances. LG: league goals. CA: cup appearances. CG: cup goals. CSA: career Saints appearances. CSG: career Saints goals.
CG CSA 0 5(2) 0 2(1) 0 48(35) 0 68(16) 0 35(9) 2 11(17) 1 7(5) 0 1 0 0
CSG 0 0 18 33 19 4 3 0 0