CEO talks financial challenges for Doncaster Rovers during coronavirus shutdown

There has been deep concern over the stability of clubs in the EFL as they face weeks without the major income stream of matchdays.

All matches in the EFL have been suspended until the weekend of April 4 at the earliest.

There is justifiable concern that the shutdown will continue for much longer, with the spread of the virus not expected to peak until May.

With the situation surrounding the pandemic changing rapidly, the EFL, along with the Premier League, Football Association, and other governing bodies across European football are yet to decide on whether or not the season will be completed, or how competitions will be resolved.

Senior figures at some clubs have expressed that cancelling the season outright would be catastrophic for many in the lower reaches of the EFL.

Rovers CEO Baldwin is confident the club is on solid ground to meet the financial challenges it is about to face.

“Obviously, it’s not ideal,” Baldwin said.

“But we’re fortunate because in March we only had one home game. We’ve missed out on Wimbledon which was our biggest chance of revenue for the month.

“We’ve got three home games left but there are clubs out there that have got five or six. It’s going to hurt them far more.

“We’ve also got the wider Club Doncaster which means we’ve got revenues coming in that other clubs might not have got. We’ve got the opportunity for revenue from the Purple Vouchers, the DNA Card, the Soccer Centre.

“We’ve got the enterprise zone with tenants in. We’ve got revenues coming in that other clubs perhaps have not got the benefits of, which makes us more resilient.

“Obviously we’d love to be playing football again on April 4.

“We’re crunching the numbers at the moment but we’re in the best possible position we can be to still be acting positively through this time period and not just drawing up the hatches.”