Former Doncaster Rovers star busts big myth on 10-year anniversary of promotion win at Brentford

Ten years ago today Furman was a member of the Doncaster side who famously beat Brentford – now of the Premier League – in injury time to seal the League One title and pip them to promotion to the Championship.

The official match report from that afternoon charged the South African midfielder with giving away a 94th-minute penalty.

But the real culprit, Furman claims, was his teammate Jamie McCombe.

“I have got no idea why my name's associated with this,” he told The Free Press on the 10th anniversary of one of the most dramatic days in Rovers’ history.

"It was Jamie McCombe who gave away the pen.

"He’s 6ft 6in and I’m 5ft, I was in the vicinity but the foul was for a high foot in the penalty area on Toumani Diagouraga. My foot can’t get up to his head, it definitely wasn’t me!”

Furman’s claim is backed up by video evidence from the day.

Still, guilty or not, what goes through a player’s mind in a moment like that with so much at stake?

"I remember thinking ‘we have blown it’ and just having a vivid thought that the team who drops into the play-offs very often doesn’t get promoted,” said Furman, who captained

Warrington Rylands 1906 in the Northern Premier League this season and, now aged 34, is hoping to continue playing for another year.

"Brentford hit the post earlier in the match but we had been relatively comfortable.

“My brother was at university in the States at the time and I had a plan to go and see him, I would have had to cancel.

"Going up in the play-offs, there’s probably nothing better, but you just want to get it done. The thought of going back into battle was devastating.

"It really is difficult once you are almost there.”

Despite the devastating body blow, Furman recalled a delay in the spot kick playing into Doncaster’s hands.

"A few of their players were fighting over who should take it,” he said.

"The best thing would have been to put it on the spot and take it without thinking about it.

"The more it went on, the more there was drama surrounding the moment.”

Had Marcello Trotta converted his spot kick, which crashed back off the crossbar, who knows what might have happened next for Furman and Doncaster.

Abuse in his direction had already begun pouring in on social media before the dramatic twist in events that was to come – and it could have worsened.

"I nearly gave away another penalty against my old teammate Tom Adeyemi when the ball came back out but I pulled my leg out of the challenge,” Furman recalled.

The rest, as they say, is history.

In Furman’s view: “It was the most phenomenal moment.

"It was just written in the stars for Copps (James Coppinger, who scored the match-winning goal following Billy Paynter’s run) to go and put the ball in.

"It was pandemonium after that. What was particularly nice was that the goal was scored in front of the Donny fans.

"The roller coaster of emotions from that 94th minute onwards was incredible.

"We said ‘this will never happen again’ and the following week the same thing happened when Leicester played Watford. What was interesting was that it was the same referee, Michael Oliver.”

Furman’s parents were in the top tier of the away end at Griffin Park that day and his match-worn shirt from April 27, 2013 is framed in their house.

"I love this time of year when it comes round,” he added.

“For us players and the fans it will be something we remember for as long as we live. I will certainly be telling the grandchildren about it.

"The day itself is like Copps day. I know he will be doing a lot of social media, it’s nice that something we did 10 years ago has got its own anniversary.

"For us to not only get promoted but win the league as well as just the cherry on the cake.

"Captaining my national team was the highlight of my career but in terms of moments, there can’t be anything beating it.

"I count myself incredibly lucky to be involved in that great side.”

Furman, who represented Bafana Bafana 55 times, had switched to Rovers from Oldham Athletic on loan in March 2013.

He started the final six matches of the season before making the move permanent following promotion, representing Doncaster 82 times in total.

“We went up with the last kick of the game and went down with the last kick of the game next season,” he said.

"As great as it was to go up the way we did it was just was painful to go down the way we did. That was a huge, huge disappointment because we had more than enough to stay up.

"The season after we finished mid-table when really we should have had a play-off push.”

Furman turned down the chance to stay at Doncaster when his contract expired in the summer of 2015 and moved to his native South Africa, joining top tier side SuperSport United.

He returned to the UK in 2020 and now balances football with an altogether different career as a financial adviser for insurance firm Gameplan Financial, who specifically recruit former professional athletes.

"I wouldn’t mind rolling the clock back 10 years and going back to Brentford but unfortunately life moves on and you have to adapt,” said Manchester-based Furman.

"Doncaster’s is one of the first results I look out for. It’s really disappointing to see the club in League Two at the moment and having an underwhelming season.

"It’s a team that needs to be challenging at the top end of League One to get in the Championship, that’s where I believe they belong.”