Luke Molyneux on following his heart and head to stay at League Two outfit Doncaster Rovers - and rebuffing rival interest to keep his proud grandparents happy

He and his Doncaster Rovers team-mates timed their run for the League Two play-offs to perfection in a scintillating final third of the last campaign.

It was a surprise to many when they ran out of time in their subsequent semi-final elimination at the hands of Crewe on penalties at the Eco-Power Stadium after winning the first leg in Cheshire by a 2-0 margin.

It proved as incomprehensible and surprising as their run from the bottom end of the division to the top seven was relentless.

Still, when it came to deciding on his future, Molyneux - who had reported interest from the likes of MK Dons and Gillingham - followed not just his heart, but his head in electing to sign a three-year deal.

Outstanding in Rovers’ barnstorming late-season run, the winger has unfinished business at a club who have made great strides not just on the pitch but off it in the past six months. The time was right to stay.

Molyneux, who joined Rovers in June 2022 from Hartlepool, said: “I feel like when I was at Hartlepool, we got promotion and then I had a good first season in League Two. Obviously, I loved Hartlepool and what they had done for me, but it was more like you felt that the club wasn’t going in the right direction.

"When I came here with what we went through last season - not just the stuff on the pitch but off it as well - you just had a feeling that a lot of change was going on behind the scenes and that the club was going in the right direction and you want to be a part of that (going forward).

"It’s definitely a project and the gaffer proved that when he first came in and bringing in people like Dave Rennie, the physio. He has been massive behind the scenes and the owner has been huge with us recently and there’s been a lot of changes behind the scenes.

"You feel like there’s a long way to go for Doncaster and that it’s not just a League One project. I feel once we have got to League One, the project is to get to the Championship. It’s something you want to be a part of."

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Molyneux got a few tasters regarding the pulling power of a successful Rovers among the sporting public in the city on some choice occasions in 2023-24.

Around 11,000 supporters packed the home sections on the club’s fateful night versus Crewe.

It did not end well, but it offered a tantalising glimpse into the future with Rovers desperate for more of these types of occasions if not necessarily the final result. It still whetted the appetite and showed what the club is capable of.

Molyneux added: “I’d never seen that many fans here at Doncaster before. We had the Everton game which brought a lot of fans together and the Wrexham game was huge. But to see the amount of fans there for the Crewe game was unbelievable and you just want to play in front of that many fans every week.

"The only way we can really do that is continue the performances from last year and keep building on the results and more and more fans will come.”

His grandparents are regulars at home games, but circumstances meant they did not attend the second leg. Hopefully there will be more packed out, but pleasurable occasions to come.

He continued: “They come to every home game and make sure they are always there. But they actually missed the Crewe game as they were on holiday. But they are at every game (normally). It’s massive for me - for them to watch every game.

"They wouldn’t have been able to do that if I’d moved more down south or something.”