fundraising for a DRFC memorial in hyde park cemetery

Alongside the museum project, IRWT have been working with Friends of Hyde Park Cemetery to identify the final resting places of many of the club’s earliest players. These include club founder Albert Jenkins and John Mitchell, later of Newton Heath (Manchester United) and Bolton Wanderers (for whom he played on the opening day of the Football League, in which the first ever league goal was scored).

Most of that 1879 ‘first eleven’ have now been located. They lie in Hyde Park Cemetery, a short distance from the Eco-Power Stadium. Unfortunately many of the graves are unmarked and their exact locations are not visible to the public.

We are determined to create a permanent memorial at Hyde Park Cemetery which will honour and remember these key figures in the early years of DRFC. 

In conjunction with the club we are raising funds now:

DONATE NOW TO FUND A DRFC MEMORIAL IN HYDE PARK CEMETERY

The target is £10,000.

To have a permanent memorial to all the former Rovers players buried at Hyde Park Cemetery would be a fitting way of recognising the part those individuals played in the formation and history of our club. We have also located and been in touch with some living descendants. We aim to find more locations of early players and find out more about their lives and their part in DRFC history.

We wanted to build a museum which could display and celebrate 150 years of DRFC history by the time we reach that anniversary in September 2029. So we had to start the project by finding the final resting place of Albert Jenkins. Then we’ve gradually found almost all his teammates. They’re mostly in Doncaster’s historic cemetery between the stadium and the city centre, among 56,000 other graves. 

You can also help an earlier fundraising campaign at Hyde Park Cemetery  in memory of Rovers player Len Goodson.