Get ready for the busiest season in living memory for Doncaster Rovers

And with that comes confirmation of what will be the most intensive season in living memory.

The final weekend of the campaign will fall on May 8, meaning there will be no extension beyond the usual end point despite the delayed start.

Clubs will therefore endure many more midweek rounds of fixtures in the coming months than they are typically accustomed.

That is without taking into account postponements for inclement weather, international call-ups, cup competitions or if the opposition don’t fancy turning up.

Prior to September 12 in the 2019/20 season, there were seven rounds of league fixtures in League One.

There were also two rounds of the Carabao Cup played and at least one group fixture in the Leasing.com Trophy.

So ten midweek fixtures will need to be sandwiched in between mid-September and May, alongside all the ones typically planned.

In that period last season, Rovers played 12 midweek matches and had three more to play before the Covid-19 pandemic put paid to the remainder of the campaign.

The 2020/21 season will be 34 weeks long. At least 25 of those weeks could have more than one game within them.

Based on last season - had the season played out as planned, without the demise of Bury and having three matches in the FA Cup, one in the Carabao Cup and four in the Leasing.com Trophy - Rovers would have played 54 matches in 274 days - one game every 5.1 days.

This coming season, with the same fixture list, would see them play 54 matches in 238 days - one every 4.4 days.

All this will come on limited preparation time, given the length of the lay-off.

Rovers will return for pre-season on August 3, having not trained collectively since mid-March.

Though pre-season will be three days longer than last year, it comes after a break of 140 days, compared to just 41 days in 2019.

The 20/21 season will be a festival of football for supporters but will present severe challenges for clubs at a time when finances have arguably never been under more strain.

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