How a doomed Kia Sedona inspired Doncaster Rovers to their most famous promotion

The former Doncaster Rovers teammates, who were part of side that famously won promotion from League One in 2012/13, will take part in a charity match at the Eco-Power Stadium on Sunday.

The event is in aid of Rio Spurr, the son of ex-Doncaster defender Tommy who is battling kidney cancer that has spread to his lungs.

Tommy and his wife Chloe are trying to raise £200,000 to pay for potential further treatment for their three-year-old son.

Rio, the eldest of the couple's two boys, is currently undergoing the strongest-possible chemotherapy the NHS can give him.

Back in the day Paynter was part of a car-school commuting from the North West to Cantley Park along with his roommate Spurr and Chris Brown.

"I was travelling from Warrington and took the seats out of the back,” he recalls.

“To get past the traffic I used to set off early and get my head down at the A1 services."

When Paynter upgraded his seven-seat Kia Sedona, Jones offered to buy it from him for his car-school involving the likes of James Husband, Jamie McCombe and Iain Hume.

"They were after a big car," says Paynter, who now coaches Northern Premier League outfit Runcorn Linnets.

"He said 'is it full MOT'd?', I said 'yeah'. I sold it to him and he realised there was one day left on the MOT!

"About six months later it sadly broke down.”

Thankfully, Jones is now able to see the funny side.

"It was typical Billy,” he says.

"He told me it had 12 months on it. I found out some time later I had no MOT and there was a big scramble to go and get one.

“I think he blamed it on his wife. We laugh about it now but I could have got into a lot of trouble.”

Fans fondly remember the class of 2012/13 for those epic scenes on the final day when they won promotion in injury time after Brentford missed a penalty seconds earlier, spurning their chance to go up automatically.

But the Kia Sedona also holds a unique place in Doncaster’s history.

"I believe that car was one of the biggest reasons we got promoted that year,” says Jones, now a youth coach at Middlesbrough.

"The Kia was an integral part of the atmosphere that was created.”

Jones forgave Paynter enough to take him to China as one of his coaches for a university football tournament during his spell overseeing the Richmond International Academic and Soccer Academy at Leeds Beckett University.

He remains in touch with several of his teammates from that side, including Spurr.

Jones says: “Sunday will be a lovely way for us ex-teammates of Tommy’s to support him in a way we all know best.

"I don’t think anybody has got a bad word to say about Tommy. He’s such a lovely character, a lovely guy. Hopefully we can play our part and do our bit to help him and his family.”

Paynter adds: “We were roommates together. We always had a laugh the night before games.

"It’s emotional and heart-breaking. To see Tommy’s family going through this, my heart goes out to them.”

The Sellebrity Soccer match will feature the likes of Chris Brown, James Coppinger, Jones, Paynter and David Cotterill along with the club’s current academy coaches Frank Sinclair and Martin Woods, plus former manager Dean Saunders.

Celebrities set to feature in the game include: Lewis Reeves (Unforgotten), Tom Zanetti (DJ), Sharkey (YouTube), Dan Osborne (The Only Way is Essex), Jake Cornish (Love Island), Man Like Haks (comedian), Ashley Taylor Dawson (Hollyoaks), Dean Gaffney (Eastenders), Flintz (Britain’s Got Talent), Dean Edwards (TV chef), Matt Lapinskas (Eastenders), Warren Phiilips (Survival of the Fittest) and Chet Sket (Ex on the Beach).

The match starts at 2pm and tickets are priced at £10 for adults and £7 concessions. You can buy them HERE.

You can donate to Rio’s fundraiser HERE.