Doncaster Rovers man reflects on club's 'culture change' since his 2022 debut vs Bradford City
James Maxwell is the ideal person to assess just how far Doncaster Rovers have come over the last few years.
Later today Rovers take on Bradford City with both sides riding high in the third tier after their respective promotions out of League Two last term.
For Rovers, they are the envy of many clubs in the EFL right now. A sensible approach on and off the field has paid off handsomely with Grant McCann leading them to the title last year and then carrying that form into this term. New signings have bedded in quickly and star assets have been tied down to long-term deals, whilst off-the-field the club's training ground is currently undergoing expensive upgrade work.
It is a far cry from where Rovers were when Maxwell arrived in the summer of 2022 at a freshly-relegated side that was low on confidence. Ironically, his debut came against today's opponents. The churn since then is wholly apparent when you consider the Scot is the only member of the 18-man squad that drew that goalless season-opener that's still on the scene (Bobby Faulkner and Kyle Hurst are contracted to Rovers but are out on loan currently).
"It was very memorable for a 0-0, obviously there was a few incidents!, Maxwell tells the Free Press, referring indirectly to Lee Tomlin's infamous 17-second red card at Valley Parade.
"But it's good to look back on that and see how much growth there's been since then both for me personally and the club.
"It's night and day really from where we were three years ago though. Obviously that squad had come down from League One and needed it (a change). It was a completely different culture from what we have now and it's not surprising there's been a huge turnover of players."
When quizzed on what the catalyst has been for such a club-wide change in fortunes, Maxwell replied: "It comes from alignment all through the club I think, right from the top from Terry (Bramall) and Gavin (Baldwin).
"That feeds its way down and everyone is really on the same page now and everyone looks to support each other. That, for me, has probably been the biggest culture change in the club compared to back then."