Doncaster Rovers fans hit back after Louis Tomlinson wins kit-design competition

Doncaster Rovers fans have slammed the club for 'fixing' a kit design contest - claiming it favoured One Direction star Louis Tomlinson.

It comes after the club announced the pop star received the highest number of votes from the five shortlisted designs for the club's new away kit.

The five shirt designs were put to Rovers fans to vote on in February, but the designers' identities were kept secret until the winner was announced.

The club said Louis' design came top of the poll with 33.7 per cent of the vote.

Louis, who signed a non-contract deal with the South Yorkshire club in August 2013, posted on Twitter shortly after midnight on Tuesday:

But die-hard Donny fans took to social media to slam the announcement as a ploy to use the singer's popularity to sell more shirts.

The competition also included a week-long trip to Thailand, however there is no confirmation whether Louis will claim the holiday.

Neil Taylor, who administrates the Doncaster Rovers Facebook group, said fans are considering boycotting the away kit in protest against the club's decision to award the design contest to the One Direction star.

Rovers have also announced that 20 people who pre-order the away shirt before midnight on June 10 will be drawn at random to win a shirt personally signed by Louis.

However the contest to design Doncaster's home shirt for next year was won by Rovers fan Shaun Smith, whose red and white strip received 41.4% of the vote.

A spokesperson for Doncaster Rovers said the process for receiving kit designs, shortlisting and the public voting for the kit design competition 'followed strict legal guidance'.