Keeping Doncaster Rovers' best players 'easy' with club investing wisely, says Gavin Baldwin
When Doncaster Rovers chief executive Gavin Baldwin says this summer has been "frustrating", it is anything but negative.
A club that not long ago was on its knees has a spring in its step. Keeping star players has become "easy" thanks to heavy investment from chairman Terry Bramall which has kicked them on without putting the long-term future at risk.
Baldwin's frustration is he is itching to see last season's League Two champions playing competitive football once more because football in Doncaster has become "fun" again now the club finds itself in a virtuous circle.
He will have to wait until August 2, when Exeter City visit.
It is worth remembering how miserable what went before was.
Rovers were contenders for automatic promotion to the Championship when manager Darren Moore jumped ship for Sheffield Wednesday in March 2021 as his club, like many others, struggled to keep its head above water in the Covid-19 pandemic. Four managers followed in 26 months.
By the end of it they were 18th in League Two, average crowds were down to 6,500 and disillusionment stank the place out.
"It was tough," Baldwin reflects. "The definition of success then was existing in the league and as a club."
Two men more than anyone turned the tide. Grant McCann returned as manager in May 2023 and fans started to believe again. Majority shareholder Bramall took over as chairman that December, and really began to invest.
Gates nudged past 8,000 last term, Baldwin is hopeful season ticket sales will be 2,000 up this summer.
"Now it's where can we finish in League One, what can we do off the field to raise money?" says Baldwin. "Can we do international pop concerts or regional boxing events?"
The goal is funding football, not shareholders. Baldwin is wearing a tracksuit, not a business one.
Eight signings were made with the kind of early-bird speed that has been a McCann hallmark – Sean Grehan, Matty Pearson, Glenn Middleton, Robbie Gotts, Brandon Hanlan, Connor O’Riordan, Damola Ajayi and Thimothee Lo-Tutala – but just as importantly, departures have been kept to a minimum. Joseph Olowu turned down a new contract but League Two player of the year Luke Molyneux is still on board, and Doncaster could confidently tell the world they turned down a £500,000 bid for centre-back Jay McGrath before he signed a new contract.
"We (the board) can't take any credit for this but it's been easy," says Baldwin. "Jay McGrath and the other players there's been interest in want to stay at Doncaster Rovers.
"Jay McGrath could have earned more money elsewhere but wanted to stay at Doncaster Rovers for the long-term vision of the club. He's from Doncaster, you cut him in half and he's Doncaster, and he wanted to stay here.
"Him and his agent, Sean McDaid, who used to play at the club, came to us and said, 'We want to stay but we also want to feel valued.' It was an easy conversation.
"Other players there's been interest in have not pursued those conversations.
"The players enjoy the environment at the training ground, they enjoy all the staff they work with. They're challenged every day and they think they're going to get better.
"If we do get an offer for players, we don't need to (sell). The decision is not made by Terry and myself primarily, it's made from a football basis. That's because we're not under the financial problems we have been in the past.
"Terry has challenged Grant – and it's what Grant does anyway – to produce players of value. Very quickly we were getting big offers for players
"You do need your 32-year-olds, your experience, your voices in the changing room. But to challenge, to be sustainable, all the cliched words, we do need to produce some players that could be sold for the betterment of the squad."
Bramall's investment has not all been on players. Improvements have been made to the stadium, hopefully sorting out the inaudible tannoy, and training ground. McCann has been able to strengthen his coaching staff.
"We've committed to £1.7m of capital spend with the support of Terry," explains Baldwin, "The new tannoy, new medical facilities at the training ground, a new gym, new wifi, a new fan zone, new hospitality areas.
"It feels that on and off the pitch we've got a real momentum and a lot of the credit for this has to go to Grant and his staff on the field and also Terry off the field who's released the staff to do everything they want to do for years.
"We've got to make the fan experience better.
"We've got planning permission in for a new fan park just outside the Belle View Bar. That will enable us to improve the Belle View Bar because some of the criticisms we get is that for older supporters there's not enough seating.
"Our hospitality last year was virtually sold out and we've never been in that situation before so we've created a new hospitality area.
"We're giving ourselves opportunities to generate more money.
"Everything is done with a purpose of making matchday more enjoyable and we're aware the result is the primary focus.
"Can we make it a whole day experience so everyone cannot wait for Saturday to come down here, enjoy the experience, we treat them well, and they feel that the pricing's fair and the activities are exciting and for all the family?
"At the moment we're 1,400 season tickets up (to 5,100) and if we follow the trends of last year there'll be another 800, 900 by the time the season starts.
"Another 2,000 on a matchday over a season is another £400,000 to £600,000 depending on the catering sales that come with it.
"When we were trying to sign players in the past we used to bring them to the stadium and fall over ourselves not to go to the training ground. Now we're quite proud to bring them to the stadium and the training ground.
"Dick Watson, the previous owner, used to say to me, 'We know we're doing well when I can drive up here and see a crane.' I didn't really know what he meant but I do now because it's exciting when you see cranes and things going on.
"Donny Fest, the concert, is already booked in for next year, the Eve Merton Trust (a cancer charity who brought a legends game to the stadium in May) is already booked in for next year. By improving the stadium we've already got the surety of those monies in 12 months' time.
"Additional season ticket holders coming in early gave us the confidence to spend money with a view to getting a return on those monies spent. It's already paying off."
Bramall's own attitude towards the club seems to have changed.
"Terry has always supported the club financially but he wanted the opportunity to be in charge, to set the direction of the club," argues Baldwin. "With that he was more comfortable to release more money. Therefore the team has done better."
Necessary though Bramall's cash injections are in a division containing nine former Premier League clubs, Rovers should not become reliant on them. Events elsewhere in South Yorkshire have shown the danger a football club – even one as big as Sheffield Wednesday – being over-dependent on one man's money.
"Terry is here for the long term but equally he is very clear on a succession plan should he get run over by a bus tomorrow," stresses Baldwin.
"Doncaster Rovers, through Club Doncaster, will exist and would have a playing squad without him, we would not be in danger of administration. But that playing squad would be nowhere near what it is now.
"Terry produces the ability to compete in the league so we're all talking about 'Can we get (into the) play-offs?', 'Can we get promotion?' rather than 'Can we survive in the Football League?'
"It would definitely be a challenge to stay in League One. In League Two it would probably be a mid-table squad without Terry.
"With him we have got a (playing) budget set by Grant that means we should have some fun. But it's not a budget that's putting the club's health at risk going forward."
Only a couple of years on from finding themselves in a dark place, Rovers appear to be in rude health.