Yep, Louis Tomlinson and John Ryan (the club’s former chairman) have joined forces and his spokesman has confirmed the deal is done.
He told the Press Association: “It’s done, the takeover is complete.”
And that’s not all. It has also been revealed that Louis and John have set up a crowdfunding campaign (The Tomlinson Ryan Trust), which aims to raise £2 million to support their ambitions for the football club and guarantee the club’s finance future.
Doncaster-born Louis said: “For me, this is all about the football, the community and restoring the excitement and desire to making Doncaster Rovers the most exciting club to play for in Yorkshire. I want to see the Doncaster Rovers supporters get the club the success it deserves.
“I grew up in Doncaster and have felt the love for football run through the town, it’s for that reason that I have a real personal passion to make Doncaster Rovers a success story. This is a big step which I believe will open up opportunities to provide a very, very exciting future for the club and its supporters.”
John added: “By setting up the Trust, launching the crowdfunding campaign with crowdfunder.co.uk, and putting our own money in, we are making it clear to Doncaster Rovers supporters, and the general public, that we are planning to give the club the support and resources it needs.
“As its previous chairman I am still totally committed to developing an exciting future for the club. The objectives of the trust provide a roadmap to make the club an even greater success. I am very pleased to join forces with Louis to make this happen. It’s an exciting moment for Doncaster Rovers.”
It was reported earlier in June that a deal had been finalised between Louis and John.
After they were relegated to the third tier of English football in May the pair agreed to take over the side.
A press conference was expected to take place earlier this month at Wembley Stadium at ahead of a One Direction’s gig at the venue but that was postponed. The announcement of the deal last week was again cancelled.
Discussions were said to be ongoing concerning matters linked to Louis’ image rights.
At the end of last month, Doncaster confirmed they were in talks with Louis’ representatives about a possible takeover.
It has also been reported that due to Louis’ extensive commitments in the UK, Europe and around the world with his band, he is expected be a ‘silent partner’ with John effectively running the club on his and Louis’ behalf.
However, the takeover was apparently in doubt recently after when controversial footage of Louis and bandmate Zayn Malik showed them smoking a suspicious looking roll-up in Peru.
According to The Sun, a source said: “The timing of the Peru video has really upset him because he doesn’t want anything to jeopardise the deal, which is very commercially sensitive and worth a seven-figure sum.”Following a boardroom split, John dramatically resigned as both a director and chairman on November 9 2013 after 15 years as chairman
John retained his shareholding of around 23 per cent despite stepping down from official duties.