Season 1989/90 in Division Two wasn't a memorable season for the Dons of the 28 league games played they won 15,lost 11 & 2 were drawn.

This was in the days before the introduction of summer rugby & played at Tattersfield yet the crowds were significantly much better than the Dons could attract in a very successful 2012 season played mostly in the summer in a new stadium.

A total of 31450 attended the 13 home games & 1 county cup game that are listed in the stats table shown below for season 1989/90 giving an average home attendance of 2246.(I don't have the attendance to hand for the Nottingham City game April 16 1990)

Highest home attendance 3843 against Oldham November 5th 1989
Lowest home attendance 1208 against Hunslet December 17th 1989


[url=http://imgur.com/TdcU53q[/url

You are living in the past, that is a thought.

I thought as a long standing supporter of the game you could have come up with a more constructive answer

No , any way you are not a supporter of the game.

Paul it is a fair question many other clubs are in the same situation as the Dons you can't just ignore how the crowds have declined even in the super league Salford had just over 2000 there last night
There must be some valid reasons for this ie the current economic climate , matches played on different days, promotion or relegation only every three years, cheaper to watch the game on television.

I

You are like a politciian Geoff, you havent answered my question are you a fan of the game ?

Sky television taking the game away from the masses, seemingly constant rule changes , the casual supporter no longer understands the game. Many ridicule the play off system, particularly in the championship with nothing to play for. Many laugh that a team who finishes eighth could be crowned champions.

Where & when did you post the question?

5.38pm . but it was more of a statement based on your previous postings.

So you haven't actually asked me the question.

Forget it Geoff, I am more concerned with the Dons 2013 .

The collapse of the mining industry collapsed the fan base.

The collapse of The Dons since 1995 on a regular basis hasn't been much of an attraction either. And before someone decides to takes offence, this is not a pop at the current regime who have done sterling work in stabilising the club, and taking it forward.

I have said before that given the current situation in which the Dons play (stadium, season, recent achievements) and the fact that there are considerable numbers of rugby league fans within the DMBC area it should not be too much to expect to get perhaps 1% of the DMB population at home matches. This would amount to crowds of about 3,000. What does it need to get these people out of their homes for a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon? The Keepmoat is not, perhaps the easiest place to get to. Would the provision of dedicated bus services from the outlying areas make a difference? Are some people staying away because we are no longer at Tattersfield?

The ground issue is precisely the reason why the crowds are lower. The donny heartlands of RL are the Bentley , Toll bar area which is on the doorstep of Tattersfield. The Keepmoat is at the other end of Donny and some people cant be d to travel across town.Its as simple as that for me.

I Think ground location is a minor issue Karlos, you dont even live in the town, but i know you are fervent supporter, and like me have watched the Dons in several home locations like Tattersfield, the greyhound stadium at stainy, belle vue and Keepmoat. Its economic time in my opinion, yes keepmoat is not easy to get to, but Tatteresfield wasnt for peeps from other areas.

I got back into supporting the Dons last year, but I have very little enthusiasm to return this, my major gripe from last year still exists the whole not being able to pay on the gate idea.

Whats doing for me this year is the Dual reg system, we've taken some promising talent from Wakey and Cas and sacrificed some of they 100% performers from last year for them and I have to be honest on what I have seen thus far they are no better than we had and they are never our players and who can be recalled at a whim so we never have a settled side.

I rated Welsh and Butterfield very highly but these seem to have fallen out of favour with the club how long before some of the other players who got us into this division also are pushed out.

I cannot fault the club for using the Dual reg system but I cannot help but feel were getting the rough end of the deal.

Im not in a position to criticise a long standing supporter, only started going last season , but i don't really think paying at the ticket office , then a very short walk to the entrance was too much of a bind. Bought a season ticket now so doesn't come into play anyway. I do agree, as I've said before, on the dual reg system, if it carries on the game will lose a lot of players, then when SL clubs decide they want to reintroduce reserve grade rugby, there won't be enough players about for championship teams. It's a great shame that supporters like you appear lost to the Dons , don't really know what else the club can do to bring back old fans and introduce new ones, the success of last season , i thought, would have seen a good increase.sadly , as yet, no.

The Dewsbury crowd was a decent one to be fair.
I reckon along with the Dewsbury fans there were returners coming to have a look.
But what were they served up? ... a defeat from a game that could and should have been a win.
Not good, I reckon they had seen enough after one game.

And yet again last week a defeat from a game that could and should have been won.

The dual reg thing is vexing me because I think in those positions we are NO BETTER than last year and I am starting to get a bit restless. Where is the CLASS???

Brett Waller is the ONLY class addition to our squad, the rest are OK at best.

And another thing while I am griping is, that other teams know now that a certain individual only passes the ball along the line these days and never makes a break or threatens a break. And that is not good.

We need more people to contribute to Squadbuilder ,more money to spend on players , better crowds (hopefully).

Ex fans , not just Steve, seem to make excuses not to come back !

For me leaving Tattersfield cost us hundreds of supporters we have never got back. As Karlos touched on, much of the support at that time was from North Doncaster (Bentley, Toll Bar, Askern, Skellow, Carcroft, Woodlands, Scawsby, Scawthorpe etc). When we relocated to Stainforth, many either wouldn't travel or couldn't get there easily enough on Sundays.

Few of those who drifted away during that time have ever returned.

I along with many fans first started watching the Dons in the mid eighties when John Sheridan got a team with a lot of local lads together who were moderately successful. As the crowds grew from a few hundred to a couple of thousand plus there was a real feeling that the team could go somewhere and maybe one day compete with the big boys. The atmosphere under the old tin roof at Tattersfield was special at times, remember the defeat of Hull KR? The arrival of full time professionalism has killed the chance of such dreams ever coming true again.
All we need is a successful team, a smaller stadium with better access, the return of semi pro RL and the reintroduction of P&R and then we'll be laughing.