What Doncaster Rovers' owners said about funding, ambition and their future

David Blunt, Terry Bramall and Gavin Baldwin spoke to supporters at Doncaster’s annual Meet the Owners event on Monday evening.

The trio have come in for criticism from some quarters about the direction of the club following two torrid years on the pitch which has resulted in relegation to League Two.

Baldwin last month revealed Club Doncaster now operates self-sustainably without owner funding.

In response to one question about what the board is doing to support head coach Danny Schofield and head of football operations James Coppinger, Blunt said: “I don’t think we have ever knocked anything back that’s been proposed.

"We have got a meeting on Wednesday to look at the prospects for increasing the number of permanent players for next year and I’m not envisaging too many problems around that either.”

Coppinger revealed he wanted to tie down as many as 19 players for next season.

Twelve players are currently contracted to Rovers for the 2023/24 campaign, with 11 out of contract this summer.

Blunt and Bramall both stopped short of promising more investment but the latter added: "Regarding funding going in, it’s a misnomer to think football clubs aren’t supported by the owners. The majority are and we are no different.

"It would be fair to say that sometimes the numbers are quite terrifying to look at, but we have always matched them and the funding from the owners has always been positive.”

Bramall said he had pumped £12.6m into Doncaster Rovers since 2006, with the late Dick Watson investing a further £12.4m.

He added: “That adds up to around £25m and we’re in League Two.

"The question we pose from this end is ‘how can we invest the money more wisely?’ What do we do to make the club sustainable?

"What do we do to make the club sustainable because my colleague Dick has gone, he’s died, and it won’t be that long before I do? I am over 80 now.

"I don’t want the club to die. It’s about sustainability. Will the club find other owners who can put in £25m? It’s a tall order. Jim Ratcliffe is not looking at Doncaster Rovers, he’s aiming much higher.”

Asked about the club’s future ambition, Baldwin said: "We have got to do all we can to get into League One then take a measure again because the Championship has changed so much over the last few years.”

Bramall defended the Club Doncaster model, which has been a source of criticism from some supporters.

He said: "Look at the work that Club Doncaster does in the community. We are doing a huge amount of work there and we are not just going to stop that just to increase the playing budget.

"When we’re out in the community we can win every day. In football, on the pitch, we can’t. Not even Manchester City and other top clubs can do that.

"But in the community we can win every day and make a huge difference to Doncaster – and that’s all part of our DNA."

Baldwin last month revealed Blunt and Bramall had tasked him with making Doncaster Rovers sustainable in the short and long term.

That led to the creation of Club Doncaster, a business operation attached to the club with various income streams.

Doncaster RLFC and Doncaster Rovers Belles also operate under the Club Doncaster banner, but both are self-sustaining.

Baldwin said: “Whatever opinions people have got on it, it’s probably funding 75 per cent of the playing budget at the moment.

"Doncaster Rovers and the stadium in League Two will lose millions. But Club Doncaster is making the money to put into the playing budget.”

Baldwin said annual losses were ‘around £1.5-2m per club’ in League Two.

On Blunt and Bramall’s approach to running the club, Baldwin added: “Without their brain power we wouldn’t have a business unit generating millions of pounds to fund the playing budget.

"We talk about legacies, that is a huge legacy and not one that many clubs will benefit from.

"That is something we wouldn’t have with any other owners. That said, when you are in League Two it’s a challenge to be sustainable.

“In League One it’s far, far easier and that’s the immediate priority from a financial perspective.”

Responding to a question about the owners’ plans for the future, Bramall described Club Doncaster as a ‘really viable operation’ and added: “We hope that makes it (the club) attractive.

"I’m not aware of us having lots of people knocking on the door wanting to buy Club Doncaster.

"We just strive to make it viable and while we can we are doing everything to make it an attractive club to belong to.”

Bramall added: "We are not going to give the club away.

"We want to make sure that when we’re ready, when we have to retire, that we get people who can be as generous towards the club and as intelligent towards the club, and as respective to all of you here tonight and the 6,000 that we get.

"We want all that to be respected, and also the city. It’s going to be a tricky one but life moves on and we have to be aware of that.”

Blunt said: “We may not appear in the press like some other owners do but I can assure you our commitment and enthusiasm is no less than anybody else’s.”

Bramall called on fans to ‘bring a friend’ along to matches at the Eco-Power Stadium with them, adding: “If we have got 50 per cent more attendances then we’d be absolutely balancing the books.

"We are actually aiming quite high here. We’ve got professionalism, we are choosing the best people and we are being open about it.

"How many clubs would be having an evening like this? We do listen, and we change."