'Let's go have some fun': Grant McCann and Doncaster Rovers set lofty target on League One return

Rovers start their third tier campaign at home to Exeter City on Saturday, their first game at this level since relegation in 2022.

It is a staggered start to the return of the domestic season, with the Championship resuming next weekend and the Premier League on the weekend of the 16th, with Leeds United kicking-off their return to the top flight on Monday, August 18.

Five Yorkshire teams kick-off their League One campaigns today, among them League Two champions Rovers, who with Grant McCann as manager and Terry Bramall as chairman, have used their time in League Two to put themselves on a more secure footing.

"I met with the shadow board before we played our pre-season friendly against Gateshead," revealed Baldwin. "After the meeting they came out and watched some of the game.

"One of the comments I heard was that our second team is probably stronger than the team that got relegated from League One last time they were in it.

"That was them watching the game and following our recruitment over the summer. I thought it was a really good way of summing it up, how positive everyone feels at the moment."

With Luton Town still receiving Premier League parachute payments, Huddersfield Town embarking on an ambitious recruitment drive under new manager Lee Grant and plenty of League One nous from the rest, the step up will be tough for both Doncaster and Bradford City, who join them after finishing third last season.

But it is not in McCann's mentality to be anything but ambitions. When his team were a place above the relegation zone in February 2024, he told his players he was starting the league table afresh then and challenged them to win it. They did, but were beaten on penalties by Crewe Alexandra in the play-off semi-final.

Immediately after the game he told the media his players had been instructed not to come back unless it was to win the league title, and 12 months on they promptly did.

So "consolidation" is not in the former Northern Ireland manager's lexicon.

"We've budgeted for mid-table - as regards crowds, commercial partners etc," revealed Baldwin.

"However, with the squad we've recruited, Grant would say we've got the best chance of having some fun. His definition of having fun is he's targeting promotion.

"Realistically, the play-offs would be a massive success in my opinion and give us the chance to really enjoy the season and build on it the next season. Grant genuinely feels we have a chance of promotion, a chance of the play-offs, through the squad he's assembled."

And Bramall has played his part. As well as allowing McCann to bolster his coaching staff and upgrade facilities at Doncaster's Cantley Park training ground, he took a very relaxed attitude to meeting the manager's transfer demands.

"The way the budget was set this year was completely different to any other year," said Baldwin. "Grant painted a picture of what he wanted the squad to look like, the players he would like to fill the positions, and we added up how much that would cost and that was the squad budget, rather than saying to him your budget is X, go and recruit to that.

"Grant came to us with an ask, Terry approved it because he wanted to give us the best chance of doing well. It wasn't a negotiation, it was yes within an hour.

"That's given Grant the ability to recruit early. So Grant's had his squad together for all of pre-season, they went to Spain and that's what he believes to be the essential ingredient to give us the best chance - maximum time with the full squad, not coming in and out.

"That's what we set ourselves out to do and it's been successful this summer."