{"id":623801,"date":"2023-05-22T14:35:46","date_gmt":"2023-05-22T18:35:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=623801"},"modified":"2023-05-22T14:45:33","modified_gmt":"2023-05-22T18:45:33","slug":"doncaster-rovers-complete-first-signing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2023\/05\/22\/doncaster-rovers-complete-first-signing\/","title":{"rendered":"Doncaster Rovers Complete First Signing of Summer With Returning Player"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Doncaster Rovers have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.doncasterroversfc.co.uk\/news\/2023\/may\/lawlor-signs\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">signed<\/a> goalkeeper Ian Lawlor on a two-year deal.<\/p>\n<p>The 28-year-old goalkeeper is returning to the Eco-Power Stadium and reuniting with former boss Grant McCann, who <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2023\/05\/12\/former-hull-city-boss-returns-doncaster-rovers\/\" target=\"_self\">Rovers reappointed as manager<\/a> after another disappointing season came to an end.<\/p>\n<p>Lawlor is Rovers\u2019 first signing under the returning McCann regime. He spent the last two seasons with Dundee in Scotland.<\/p>\n<h2>Goalkeeper Ian Lawlor Returns to Doncaster Rovers<\/h2>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">WELCOME BACK | We are delighted to confirm the signing of Ian Lawlor on a two-year deal<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udd34\u26aa\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/drfc?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#drfc<\/a> \ud83d\udd34\u26aa\ufe0f<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/AtelkDsSrL\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/AtelkDsSrL<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Doncaster Rovers FC (@drfc_official) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/drfc_official\/status\/1660707047099211802?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 22, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Grant McCann Secures First Signing<\/h3>\n<p>Lawlor will strengthen a thin goalkeeping department days after the club confirmed the departure of Jonathan Mitchell at the end of his contract. Mitchell had a disappointing season between the sticks for Rovers and it was pretty clear the position would need a change.<\/p>\n<p>Louis Jones, who missed much of the 2022\/23 season with injury, has been offered a new deal, alongside Ben Bottomley.<\/p>\n<p>At one point last season, Rovers had to sign an emergency loan goalkeeper when facing a trip to Salford City, due to injuries.<\/p>\n<p>Lawlor is a familiar face at the club, joining after leaving <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2023\/05\/22\/manchester-city-new-form-football\/\" target=\"_self\">Manchester City<\/a> in 2017 before leaving Doncaster in 2021.<br \/>\n<a id=\"QUvSZG47TRZQ8UeKjQLCfA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1164012349\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'QUvSZG47TRZQ8UeKjQLCfA',sig:'5PG1yBHK39iGiJhLMo5mPDkQ8pUM3uif5jfQVj-GpqA=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1164012349',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>\u2018Feels Like Home\u2019 &#8211; Ian Lawlor<\/h3>\n<p>On returning to Rovers, Lawlor told the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.doncasterroversfc.co.uk\/news\/2023\/may\/lawlor-signs\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">club website<\/a>: \u201cIt feels like home and I\u2019m delighted to be back. I really enjoyed the previous spell here.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a club that I have a lot of love for. We had success over the years. The fan base were great with me. It was a move that just felt right for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lawlor was at the club for McCann\u2019s season in charge in 2018\/19 when semi-finalists in the League One playoffs, losing to Charlton Athletic on penalties.<\/p>\n<p>Manager Grant McCann <a href=\"https:\/\/www.doncasterroversfc.co.uk\/news\/2023\/may\/lawlor-signs\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">added<\/a>: \u201cIan is someone I know, who I\u2019ve worked with before. He had a good relationship here with the fans and the previous promotion from League Two here was a massive factor because he\u2019s been here and done it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re absolutely delighted to get him. He\u2019s commanding, 6ft4, kicks the ball a mile, a good communicator and most of all he\u2019s a good person.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lawlor kept three clean sheets in five Scottish Championship appearances this past season and will be looking to build on his 24 clean sheets in 85 games for Doncaster, gained over the course of his previous spell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Doncaster Rovers have signed goalkeeper Ian Lawlor on a two-year deal. The 28-year-old goalkeeper is returning to the Eco-Power Stadium and reuniting with former boss Grant McCann, who Rovers reappointed as manager after another disappointing season came to an end. Lawlor is Rovers\u2019 first signing under the returning McCann regime. He spent the last two [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3469,"featured_media":623803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32,34,28],"tags":[294,4744],"class_list":["post-623801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-league-football","category-league12","category-transfers","tag-doncaster-rovers","tag-ian-lawlor"],"modified_by":"Jordan Hackett, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3469"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}