Fascinating Facts About Doncaster

Up until recently (well 2011!) Patgod used to introduce the following week's opponents with articles titled "Fascinating Facts About (insert opponents name here).  Curiously this fluffy piece of half-researched nonsense fell from favour when we stopped playing teams like York City, Wrexham, Mansfield and Cambridge in favour of teams like Arlesey,  North Greenford United and, of course, Chalfont St Peters.  There was only so many times we could bring ourselves to either lean heavily on Wikipedia or even make up shite about places the size of Thrapston that were expected to give us a good thumping a few day later.

Never afraid to dust off a hoary old chestnut in the chase for the blue tick on "The Musk 4 Trump Network", we present some guff about the hometown of our FA Cup opponents, Doncaster.

• Like Kettering, Doncaster traces it's history through Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods.  They were granted a charter to hold a market in 1248, fully 21 years after we'd been granted ours.  In your face Doncaster you Johnny-Come-Latelys!  Chances are that their market today eclipses our small cluster of stands selling old vinyl, out-of-season clothing and eye-wateringly-expensive posh loaves.
• Doncaster Airport is home to the last Vulcan bomber to fly.  This is the Vulcan that buzzed Rockingham Road about 15 years ago and by doing so almost won that season's  Player of the Year vote.
• At the time of writing Doncaster has two theatres and two cinemas.  This is likely to be two more of each than Kettering in a month's time.
• The phrase "Earl of Doncaster" was shorthand in the first season of "The Blackadder" for homosexual.  

Doncaster is the birthplace of numerous famous faces, including: -

• Bubble-permed former footballing great, Kevin Keegan
• Car f**ker, and selfless defender of millionaires in wellies everywhere - Jeremy Clarkson
• A still living former member of One Direction
• Alleged comedy writer Roy (Last of the Summer Wine) Clarke
• Loveable goggly-eyed Emma Chambers from The Vicar of Dibley.  An actually funny comedy
• Soprano Lesly Garrett, basically a third rate version of Faryl Smith (isn't it about time we got her back to a Poppies game and actually let her sing this time?)
• Professional shouter and sometime actor Brian Blessed, star of the previously mentioned "The Blackadder", which contrary to perceived wisdom, was the second best season of Blackadder after Blackadder II.

Looking back at these articles we were struck by the number that gratuitously included photographs of attractive women who just happened to have been born in the towns or cities we were honouring.  Or lived there.  Or visited.  Any excuse really to include a pretty face.  Obviously, in these more enlightened times we naturally draw back from such obvious and needless titillation.  In other news, here's another actor originally from Doncaster, though thanks to Received Pronunciation and years at the RSC, you wouldn't know it - the lithe and lovely Diana Rigg.  Former Avenger, Bond girl and latterly co-star of The Detectorists.  Another funny comedy.