Doncaster Rovers appoint Gary McSheffrey as new permanent manager

The 39-year-old has signed a one-year rolling contract, as has become custom at Rovers.

And he will be joined in the near future by a mentor who will help guide him through his initial steps into senior management as well as assisting in recruitment. A highly-respected individual has been identified and sounded out for the role, with talks on-going.

McSheffrey took charge of Rovers on a caretaker basis following the sacking of Richie Wellens earlier this month, stepping up from his role as U18s boss.

During his interim spell as manager, Rovers won one of their four matches, beating Shrewsbury Town while suffering defeats to Oxford United and Sunderland as well as Mansfield Town in the FA Cup.

It is expected that he will be joined by Frank Sinclair - who acted as McSheffrey’s assistant during his time as caretaker - though formal conversations have yet to open.

Rovers are also looking to quickly bolster McSheffrey’s playing staff with the appointment of new goalkeeping and set piece coaches.

McSheffrey joined Rovers as a player on loan from Scunthorpe United in March 2016 before signing permanently that summer following relegation to League Two.

Injuries hampered his campaign and restricted him to only a handful of appearances as Rovers won promotion.

McSheffrey returned to Rovers in 2018 as a professional development phase coach, working with both the U18s and the U23s. He stepped up to lead the expanded U23s programme before the project was abandoned during the Covid-19 pandemic.

He then returned to work with the U18s and officially took charge of the group in the summer.

At one time McSheffrey was the youngest player to play in the Premier League when he appeared for Coventry City in 1999 at 16 years and 198 days old. He now stands as the sixth youngest player in the Premier League era.

He featured in the top flight for Birmingham City between two spells with hometown club Coventry, for whom he made more than 270 appearances.

He also counts Luton Town, Leeds United, Nottingham Forest, Chesterfield and Grimsby Town among his former clubs as a player.

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