A man on his way to a fancy-dress party dressed as a Viking, walking past a London Underground station. That was my first impression of the Doncaster Rovers badge. (PIC 1) But thanks to a very interesting chat with Doncaster Rovers historian Barry Watson, and the fact that Rovers have now dropped the London underground sign, a more interesting description unfolded. (PIC 2) The badge is in the club’s colours of red and white, and used to have a red circle behind a helmeted golden Viking, resting his sword on his shoulder. The Viking is known to locals as the Turks Head, but Barry could not shed any light onto the reason why. The Viking,s shield has the club’s initials, and a white Yorkshire rose on a red and white background. At the base of the circle in the older badge lies the year the club was founded.
In 1879, apprentices from the plant works organised a game against the Yorkshire Institute for the Deaf and Dumb. They enjoyed themselves so much that they started to meet regularly, and suggested playing under the name of Doncaster Rovers. So what of the Viking? Does Doncaster lie on an old Viking settlement? Perhaps it was founded by a Viking? I don’t know how far back the Vikings go but is probably further than 1879. Is the town’s coat of arms made up of Viking symbolism? Do the people of Doncaster see their footballing heroes as Viking Gods? I was pondering over these questions and other romantic ideas when Barry phoned, and finally put me straight. Before 1972, the club used the town’s coat of arms as their badge, as did many clubs, but there is no sign of a Viking there. However, in 1972, while under the management of Morris Setters, a deal was struck between himself and the local Rover car dealers that went something like: “You give me and some of my staff a car to drive about in, and I will change our club’s badge to that of the Rover cars emblem”. Well, I don’t think you could get away with that today, otherwise, I would be writing about Manchester Bentley, Chelsea Lexus, Southampton Rolls Royce, and the Portsmouth Skoda. The fact that it was a Rover dealer and Doncaster are called and nicknamed “The Rovers” was purely a happy coincidence.
The Rover car mascot started life as a pun on the most famous of rovers, the Vikings. As the word rover means wanderer or seafarer, a Viking was considered most apt for the Rover Company. Designs have included the rather grand bonnet mascot, (PIC 3) and the more modern-looking Viking Longship. (PIC 4) But it is the Viking with the sword that has endured to this day on the club’s badge. As I mentioned earlier the club used the town’s coat of arms before 1972. (PIC 5) These arms were updated in 1974 when seven other Yorkshire borough councils were added, and this fact is represented by the eight white Yorkshire roses on the shield. Otherwise the old Doncaster arms remain the same. The colours of green and black in the shield represent the industrial and rural areas of the borough. Also from the old arms come the castled gateway, and the wavy lines which symbolise the River Don. On the crest sits an owl, a symbol of wisdom, and on each side is an oak branch. Oak is a symbol of endurance. The supporters are two lions, and their collars are distinctive. The Dexter lion, or the one on the right of the wearer, has a collar in the shape of the old British Rail logo, showing the importance of Doncaster as a railway town. From it hangs a mining lamp, a symbol of the local mining industry. The Sinister lion, or the lion on the left of the wearer, has a blue lightning flash, a reference to the generation of electricity. from this hangs an anchor, a symbol for shipping. The motto on the banner means what it says, “BE STEADFAST”.
The actual name of Doncaster is made up from Don, a Celtic name meaning water or river, which makes sense as the River Don winds its way through the area, and an Anglo-Saxon word, ceaster from the Roman word for fort or walled city, which in turn is from the Latin word castrum. Rovers played at the 10,500 capacity, Earth Stadium, which was still referred to by some as Belle Vue. Rovers played at Belle Vue since the beginning of the club, playing on playing fields there at their birth in 1879, so the name has always been associated with the football club. Home for Doncaster Rovers is now the 15,231 capacity, Keepmoat Stadium. The stadium can boast to being home to the football club, rugby club the Doncaster Belles Ladies FC, and an American football club. Local rivals are the United’s Rotherham, and Scunthorpe. For more on Doncaster, play the wild rover and go to www.doncasterroversfc.co.uk
