SATURDAY, AUGUST 30, 2008THE DAILY ECHO12

SAINTS’ FIRST TEAM FIXTURES AND RESULTS 2008/09

AUGUST

Sat 9 Cardiff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A

Tue 12 Exeter (CC1) . . . . . . . . .A

Sat 16 Birmingham . . . . . . . . . .H

Sat 23 Derby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A

Tue 26 Birmingham (CC2) . . . .H

Sat 30 Blackpool (12.45pm) . . .H

SEPTEMBER

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

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

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 unlessstated. Weekend games 3pm unless stated.

Key: CC = Carling Cup; FAC = FA Cup

L 1-2

W 3-1

L 1-2

W 1-0

W 2-0

Davis

Bialkowski

Davis

Davis

Bialkowski

James

James

James

James**

James

Svensson

Schneiderlin

Svensson

Svensson

Thomas

Perry

Perry

Perry 1

Perry

Cork

Surman

Surman

Surman

Surman

Surman

Schneiderlin***

Wotton

Schneiderlin

Schneiderlin

Wotton

Gillett

Gillett

Gillett

Gillett

Gillett**

Lallana

Lallana

Lallana

Lallana 1

Schneiderlin*

Thomson*

Thomson

McGoldrick

White*

Lallana 1

Holmes**

Holmes 1

Holmes

Holmes***

Holmes 1

McGoldrick 1

McGoldrick 2

John*

McGoldrick

McGoldrick

Dyer*

John*

Thomson*

Wotton*

John*

W-Phillips**

Cork**

Mills**

Wotton***

John***

22 33 44 55 66 77 88 99 1100 1111 1122 1133 114411

How Donnyjoined SaintsWHILE Saintsfought it out for themost prestigiouscup in world foot-ball in front of over70,000 at theM i l l e n n i u mStadium a revolu-tion was quietlyunderway in SouthYorkshire, writesSimon Peach.

Just seven days beforeSaints faced Arsenal in the2003 FA Cup final perennialstrugglers Doncaster Roverssecured their place in theFootball League after com-ing out victorious in theinaugural Conference play-off final against Dagenhamand Redbridge.

Francis Tierney’s extra-time winner for Roversstarted an incrediblesequence of events, whichnow results in the two sidesplying their trade in thesame division for the firsttime since 1959.

Doncaster’s rise from theConference to theChampionship has beenalmost, if not more, spectac-ular than Southampton fallfrom grace.

In the nineties Doncastersuffered financially and thenchairman, Ken Richardson,even decided burning downtheir Belle Vue home wasthe best way to move theclub forward.

Richardson’s failedattempt didn’t go to plan,landing himself a four yearjail sentence and, instead,pushing Doncaster furthertowards the financialprecipice.

In 1997/98 they were rele-gated from the Football

League having suffered arecord 34 defeats in only 46games.

However, there was a sav-iour at hand in the form oflocal multimillionaire JohnRyan

Local lad Ryan bought thestruggling Conference outfitjust days before almost cer-tain extinction, and hassince propelled them to thehigher echelons of theFootball League pyramid.

The multimillionaire plas-tic surgeon has ploughed hispersonal wealth into Rovers,giving the side, much likehis patients, the lift theyneeded after years of imageproblems.

Remarkably, Ryan has alsocreated a record himself – bybecoming the oldest personever to appear in a profes-sional match in England.

Aged 52, he came on as alate sub in Rovers’ last gameof the 2002/03 Conferenceseason against Hereford!

In just five years,Doncaster, under the watch-ful eye of Ryan, have securedthree promotions, a run tothe Carling Cup quarter-final and a move to the state-of-the-art KeepmoatStadium.

The most pertinentmoment of his reign, Ryanwill tell you, was the League

One play-off final win overarch-rivals Leeds United in-front of over 75,000 atWembley.

Manager Sean O’Driscoll,who oversaw that famouswin, will hope to build on theclubs recent successes intheir first foray into the sec-ond tier of English footballfor half a century.

Not only is the formerBournemouth managerachieving unprecedentedsuccesses with Rovers butwith a style and grace rarelyseen in South Yorkshire.

O’Driscoll has Doncasterplaying an exciting brand ofslick attacking football,

which was nothing short butexquisite in their 5-1 play-offsemi-final victory overSouthend.

The core of the side thatsecured promotion hasremained at the Keepmoat,with the likes of Winchester-born captain Brian Stock,former Bournemouth acesJohn Spicer and JamesHayter set to be key figuresagain this season.

Doncaster’s strong squad,coupled with their leader-ship on and off the field,should make them a toughopponent this season.

WE ARE GOING UP: Doncaster celebrate winning promotion last season.

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LA LG CA CG CSA CSG LA LG CA CG CSA CSG LA LG CA CG CSA CSGKELVIN DAVIS 3 0 0 0 83 0BARTOSZ BIALKOWSKI 0 0 2 0 20 0TOMMY FORECAST 0 0 0 0 0 0CHRIS PERRY 3 1 1 0 10 1WAYNE THOMAS 0 0 1 0 31(1) 0JACK CORK 0(1) 0 1 0 1(1) 0MICHAEL SVENSSON 3 0 0 0 85(1) 6JAMIE HATCH 0 0 0 0 0 0

OLIVER LANCASHIRE 0 0 0 0 0 0

KYLE DAVIES 0 0 0 0 0 0JOSEPH MILLS 0 0 0(1) 0 0(1) 0MICHAEL BYRNE 0 0 0 0 0 0RUDI SKACEL 0 0 0 0 52(6) 5PAUL WOTTON 0(2) 0 2 0 2(2) 0ANDREW SURMAN 3 0 2 0 85(18) 11LEE HOLMES 3 0 2 2 5 2JASON EUELL 0 0 0 0 32(6) 3NATHAN DYER 0(1) 0 0 0 41(22) 3LLOYD JAMES 3 0 2 0 5 0MORGAN SCHNEIDERLIN 3 0 2 0 5 0

SIMON GILLETT 3 0 2 0 5(2) 0JAKE THOMSON 1(1) 0 1 0 2(1) 0BRADLEY WRIGHT-PHILLIPS0(1) 0 0 0 48(35) 18GRZEGORZ RASIAK 0 0 0 0 68(16) 33STERN JOHN 1(1) 0 0(2) 0 35(9) 19DAVID MCGOLDRICK 3 1 2 2 11(17) 4ADAM LALLANA 3 1 2 1 7(5) 3JAMIE WHITE 1 0 0 0 1 0MATTHEW PATERSON 0 0 0 0 0 0