Doncaster City FC may currently play in the Central Midlands League North Division (tier 11), but they made national news last week and racked up over five million impressions on twitter. In this article we take a look at why.
Doncaster City FC are a club formed in 2022 by Scottish agent Willie McKay. They were originally placed in the Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior Football League, winning the division two title at the first time of asking.
However, they withdrew from the league, instead deciding to ply their trade in the Central Alliance League. They first made news in Scotland after applying to participate in the Scottish Cup, attempting to exploit a loophole arguing that Doncaster was a part of Scotland as the Treaty Of Durham which gave the city to Scotland, was never officially withdrawn.
This was just the start of the bizarreness that has surrounded this club in the short history thus far.
City currently sit second in the division, after winning 16 and losing just two of their 18 games. In all competitions, games at the Marra Falcons Stadium had seen 22/22 wins for Doncaster.
Dearne & District FC currently occupy top spot, winning 18, drawing one and losing one of their 20 games.
The leaders only defeat came at the hands of Doncaster City FC who called upon the help of three internationals to get them over the line.
The 41-year-old originally retired from football in 2022 after a fruitful spell at Cambridge that spanned two years. However, it was at Norwich where the Irishman made a name for himself.
Hoolahan made well in excess of 300 appearances for the Canaries, captaining the side in the Premier League, while also being capped 43 times by Ireland.
At the age of 37, Charlie Mulgrew retired from football in September 2023 after an 18-year career that saw him feature for Celtic, Aberdeen, Wolves, Blackburn and Dundee United to name a few.
A commanding centre-back, Mulgrew has been capped 44 times by Scotland.
McCormack was released by Aston Villa in 2o19 after a tough couple of seasons after signing for £12m. The Scot has enjoyed a very fruitful career, scoring 172 goals across his professional tenure for clubs such as Leeds, Fulham, Cardiff City, Rangers and Aston Villa.
He has also been capped 13 times by Scotland.
So why did Doncaster City sign a trio of retired footballers? Owner Willie McKay is an agent that has boasted a host of clients. Some of his clients have included:
McKay was one of the agents investigated, with investigators looking into allegations of frauds in transfers. In December 2006, it was claimed that the £8.5 million transfer of Jean-Alain Boumsong from Rangers to Newcastle was one of the transfers investigated. On 1 February 2008 McKay won substantial libel damages against the Daily Express over false claims about his transfer dealings.
He then wound up in controversy yet again in 2007. In November, it was reported by BBC News that Mckay had been arrested by City of London Police. On top of this, Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp, managing director Peter Storrie, former Portsmouth and then acting Leicester chairman Milan Mandaric and former football Amdy Faye. It was in relation to ongoing inquiries into allegations of corruption in football. Nothing came of it and two years later bail was dropped.
Doncaster City aren't the first team in Doncaster that McKay has been involved in. Doncaster Rovers were deep in relegation trouble in the 2011-2012 season, with McKay called upon to save them from relegation to League 1.
With his help, Rovers managed to bring in big name players on loans and short contracts such as El Hadji Diouf, Pascal Chimbonda, Carl Ikeme, Frederic Piquionne and Habib Beye. However, the experiment failed with Doncaster comfortably relegated.
The big-name signings have been signed "for a short period to gain valuable fitness." Whether they will be in the lineup for the rest of the season remains to be seen. What is certain though is that Doncaster City have a controversial owner, but an owner who will do what it takes to propel them up the leagues.
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