GROUNDS: BENNETTHORPE

Team photo 1921/22 season. 

Given the date, presumably this is a photo of the Bennetthorpe Ground. So far, this is the only photo we have of this ground.

If this is the correct location and date, this photo was taken in the second of our two seasons there.  We've found no record so far of another grandstand at Bennetthorpe. So we believe the edge pf the stand on the right of this picture is the ‘Cowshed’. This stand was jacked up and wheeled on rollers to Belle Vue and erected at the Town End in 1922. It was eventually dismantled and removed from Belle Vue in 1985 after the Bradford City fire.

This picture seems to suggest the Cowshed was a side stand at Bennetthorpe. It was only about 44 yards long (it can be measured against the width of the Town End penalty area in later photos of Belle Vue). So this would explain the line of the crowd to the left of the stand. Perhaps the fans are standing on a section of terracing. The position of the photographer and his subject and the  line of trees behind the stand, may suggest the orientation of the stand was similar to the Main Stand at Belle Vue . This would mean the Great North Road (known as 'Bennetthorpe' sometimes spelt 'Bennitthorpe' at this point) was behind the stand.

Source:  This picture is taken from the 1994 first edition of the Rovers history book, but it’s not in the second (2010) one. References: Bluff, Tony & Watson, Barry (1994) Donny: The official history of Doncaster Rovers FC. Yore Publications. ISBN 1874427550 & Bluff, Tony (2010) Donny: Doncaster Rovers FC The Complete History (1879-2010). Yore Publications. ISBN: 9780956410375.