Doncaster Rovers Belles – Millmoor

Jimmy Muir
Nov 30, 2025
6 min read

With Doncaster Rovers Belles now playing at the old ‘abandoned’ Milmoor Stadium, just a stone’s throw away from the New York Stadium, it gave me a chance to revisit and rekindle treasured memories, having last visited 23 years ago!

Left derelict since 2008, since Rotherham United made a temporary move to Don Valley, before cementing their place at the newly built New York Stadium in 2012. Unable to demolish the ground and use the land for other purposes- unlike most football clubs who relocate, Millmoor has stood firmly as a reminder of what once was. A museum which nobody has (officially) visited. However, in recent years this former Football League ground, despite showing its age, has been used for local Sunday League football as well as Women’s football- recently Doncaster Rovers Belles using the ground from the start of this season (2025/26). There was also another match scheduled to take place shortly afterwards.

The Stadium is showing its age and a lack of TLC can be seen everywhere within the ground. The half-finished Main Stand which the Millers never completed before exiting. Barely used, the few seats that were installed are now sun bleached- to the crumbling refreshment stand as well as overgrown weeds on the perimeter of the ground, perhaps, makes you appreciate how tired that this ground looks. You cannot help but feel disappointed that a permanent football club cannot come in and rejuvenate this once vibrant stadium.

The game itself was an unusual affair, as it was unfortunately abandoned after approximately 65 minutes. The Belles were hosting Norton & Stockton Ancients (Women). A £4.00 entrance fee, no programme (online only), and no inside refreshments as they were on holiday was bitterly disappointing on a cold Sunday afternoon.

The visitors had gained a commanding two-goal lead before the break. Although a scrappy affair, Norton, the North East side, netted twice. Their first goal was scored within one minute of play, whilst they almost added to their tally, but were denied by the crossbar.

A sluggish second-half saw Doncaster pull a goal back with an amazing free-kick, struck from 25 yards out. However, at 65 minutes, the game turned to chaos. Belles’s keeper, Scarlette Slater-Rowley, spilt a cross and as she dived to smother the ball, an attacking player non-maliciously caught the stopper with her studs in the face. Although conscious, the injury warranted an ambulance presence, which, after some time, the referee (correctly in my opinion), decided to calla halt to the match and abandon the game as a contest.

Doncaster Belles History

Doncaster Rovers Belles are one of the most storied names in the history of the women’s game in England. Founded in 1969 as Belle Vue Belles by a group of friends and lottery sellers in Doncaster, the club quickly grew from a local curiosity into a national powerhouse through the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, winning trophies, producing international players and helping to normalise women’s football at a time when the sport fought hard for recognition. Their early years were defined by a combination of local community roots, volunteer energy and a hunger to compete; by the time the national women’s leagues formed and the FA began to give more formal structure to the women’s game, the Belles were already established as regular finalists in the FA Women’s Cup and one of the leading sides outside London.

On the pitch the Belles enjoyed their most successful era in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They were among the dominant teams when the nationalised league structure took shape and were twice crowned national champions of the FA Women’s Premier League National Division, lifting the crown in 1992 and again in 1994. Across their history they have reached multiple FA Cup finals and collected a remarkable record of cup victories that underlines how influential the club was in the formative decades of organised women’s football in England. That pedigree made what followed in the 2010s all the more painful for supporters and neutrals alike: off-field criteria and the changing economics of the modern women’s game produced a controversial relegation from the top tier in 2013 that highlighted the fragile financial and infrastructural foundations beneath even the most famous historic clubs. The FA’s decision to replace Doncaster with Manchester City provoked widespread debate about standards, facilities and the shape of the emerging professional era.

Like many long-running clubs, the Belles’ history is tied to a sequence of homes rather than a single, unbroken stadium identity. Over the decades they have played at a variety of grounds: originally at Belle Vue in Doncaster, later moving to the Keepmoat/Eco-Power Stadium main arena and its adjacent athletics track, and in more recent seasons shifting between non-league and community grounds when circumstances required it. In the 2018–19 season they used Rossington Main’s Oxford Street ground; from 2022–23 they played at Thorne Colliery’s Iqbal Poultry Stadium in Moorends; when their return to the Eco-Power (formerly Keepmoat) was announced for 2024 it was noted that weather and pitch-use constraints meant some fixtures still had to be completed at smaller venues such as Tickhill Square (Denaby United Juniors) and Cannon Park, Retford. In August 2025 the club announced a further move to Millmoor — the historic former home of Rotherham United — as the Belles sought better facilities and a fresh start for the 2025–26 campaign.

To make the list clear:

· Belle Vue

· Keepmoat/Eco-Power Stadium (and the nearby athletics track),

· Rossington Main (Oxford Street),

· Thorne Colliery (Iqbal Poultry Stadium, Moorends),

· Tickhill Square (Denaby United Juniors),

· Cannon Park (Retford United),

· Millmoor (Rotherham).

The club’s pathway has been shaped not only by sporting results but by changing ownership models, alliances and attempts to secure sustainable infrastructure. In the late 2010s there were moves to more formal links with Club Doncaster and to re-establish firmer administrative backing; at various times the club has proposed purpose-built facilities and sought leases or partnerships intended to provide greater security. Those efforts reflect a wider truth of women’s football: success on the field is increasingly linked to stable off-field investment, reliable access to quality pitches and the administrative capacity to meet league governance requirements. Periods of optimism — including short-term returns to larger stadiums — have sometimes had to be balanced against the realities of preserving playing surfaces, sharing with men’s teams and the cost of operating at higher-tier venues.

Financial fragility has periodically threatened the club’s continuity. In recent seasons the Belles have battled dwindling resources and precarious league positions; during 2024–25 their league form put them close to relegation and there were repeated references in local reporting to the need for administrative help or an “administrative reprieve” to avoid demotion. National and local media coverage throughout 2024–25 and into 2025 described managerial changes, urgent appeals for support and the club’s leadership seeking new models and revenue streams to stabilise operations. While contemporary reportage speaks to the club needing help from administrators or being in a perilous place in the league structure, public records and company filings do not show a clear, widely reported formal company administration event for Doncaster Rovers Belles as of mid-2025. In short: the club has faced very serious financial pressures and at times required administrative assistance or an administrative reprieve to preserve its league status, but that should not be conflated with verified evidence of the formal insolvency process of entering administration unless and until a specific administrator’s appointment is publicly recorded.

The move to Millmoor in 2025 was portrayed by the club and local press as an opportunity to re-establish stability with improved facilities and to give supporters a memorable setting steeped in football history. Club statements emphasised the practical benefits — improved transport links, seating and a sense of permanence — and said that plans for a permanent, purpose-built home at the Club Doncaster Sports Complex at Lakeside were being pursued in parallel. For many long-standing fans the relocation to Millmoor represented a bittersweet moment: leaving Doncaster’s immediate civic footprint to play in a neighbouring town, but doing so in a stadium that carries its own deep football heritage and that could provide the infrastructural backbone the Belles have often lacked.

Sportingly, the Belles’ fall from the very top of the women’s game to the fourth tier has been jarring but not terminal; the club’s historic achievements — multiple FA Cup victories, two national league titles and a role in nurturing generations of players — mean the name still commands respect and affection. The contemporary project is therefore twofold: to survive and stabilise financially and administratively, and to rebuild competitively so the Belles can once again match the ambition and standing their supporters remember. That task remains difficult in an era where big-money investment concentrates at the top of the women’s pyramid, but it is precisely the mixture of community roots, a proud history and the renewed commitment signalled by moves like Millmoor that explain why so many people still hope the Belles can find their way back to sustained success.