IT'S finally here. The football season that is. Well, alright the purists among you will argue it started last week when the football league kicked off.
And as a diehard Doncaster Rovers fan, I'd have to argue that you're right.
But for much of the football-watching world the season starts when the Premier League starts. And that means that everything happens from Saturday.
It promises to be an interesting season. For the first time in a long time, you could probably name more than three teams that could actually lift the title.
And for the first time in an equally long time, there's no obvious relegation candidates - with the exception of Blackpool - so it could all be a hell of a struggle.
And it remains to be seen what impact the new rules will have, which say clubs must register 25 players and 25 players only. Of that 25, at least four must be 21 and under with at least three continuous years in the English system.
The reasons for such a move are obvious. Younger players will have to be given a chance, and younger British players at that. But it could also leave some big names on the scrapheap when the final squads are announced.
In effect, when the transfer window slams shut on August 31, clubs will then have 24 hours to name their squads. Expect a flurry of activity just before the window closes as players realise that they haven't made the cut.
Of course all this could be of huge benefit to smaller clubs, who might be able to play the loan system to its maximum potential. Younger players who are not quite ready for first team action will be farmed out, while several big names - including Craig Bellamy and Johnathan Woodgate - look likely to be available on loan if you believe the rumours and/or the national tabloid newspapers.
The Premier League could be set for its toughest battle yet. Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City look capable of going the distance - the latter likely to have added Mario Balotelli to join Davide Silva and Jerome Boateng as new signings. But Arsenal, with their younger players another year older, Liverpool - under a very talented and experienced manager - and even Tottenham Hotspurs are capable to throwing a massive spanner in the works.
Arsenal still don't seem to have sorted their defensive issues - particularly in goal where Manuel Almunia still looks likely to be their number one despite a series of high-profile mistakes. They have been linked with every keeper going though.
And Liverpool are a massive unknown for me. The squad is strong and has underachieved for a few years, but are some of the players just not good enough? Is David N'Gog really going to fire you to the title? Defensively are they up to it?
The Championship looks equally tight. Bookies favourites Middlesborough got walloped at home on the opening day by Ipswich, and with a whole host of signings from Scotland, could be the flops of the season.
History shows the top flight and Championship full of players who looked brilliant north of the border, but then flopped big style in the English game.
So where does that leave us? Well for what it's worth I put my money on QPR. But it was a case of pick one from about 10 teams. They are all capable of beating each other and all will beat each other. Even Doncaster are in with a shout...
Below the Championship, it's difficult to see past Huddersfield and Southampton for the League One title, although Charlton could well be in the mix.
And League Two looks there for the taking for Shrewsbury Town if they perform to anything like their potential. Rotherham United will also be thereabouts.
And how about some surprise packages? There's always a few, and in the Premiership it could be West Ham. They've struggled in recent years but under a succession of poor managers. Avram Grant is anything but a poor manager.
How about Sunderland? Steadily improving year on year, of Birmingham, with ambitious owners and a manager that gets the best out of his team? Title contenders no, but they could make a determined by for European football...
Drop down a division, and what about my own team, Doncaster? Every year they get better - having finished higher than the previous season for about seven season in a row. Last season they finished just outside the play-off places.
They have one of the Football League's best managers in Sean O'Driscoll, and in Billy Sharp may have signed the player that can score the goals they need.
However, like all clubs of their stature, strength in depth is a massive issue. Lose a couple of key players and there just isn't the players to replace them. They'd need luck on the injury front at least to mount any sort of serious challenge.
Like many clubs they will be thinking well, if Blackpool did is, so can we?
And Blackpool must surely the the banker of the season to be relegated? You just can't see how they can survive? A good, efficient, hard-working side but with little flair that had one good season, snook into the play-offs, and found themselves in the promised land. They've barely added to the squad, except a few unknown Frenchman and a defender plucked from Manchester United's reserves.
It's going to take an almighty effort to finish anywhere other than bottom. Still, they've said that it recent years about Stoke City and Hull City, and they survived...