Rotherham United F.C.

Rotherham United Football Club was originally founded in 1925 and is located in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, UK. The club was established following a merger between Rotherham’s two football clubs, Rotherham Town and Rotherham County. The english based football club currently competes in The Football League Championship, which is the second league in the english football pyramid. The club traditionally play in red and white, but started their playing years in the 1920s playing in yellow and black.

Throughout Rotherham United’s history they have played their home league games at three grounds. From their foundation in 1925, they played at Millmoor, before moving to The Don Valley Stadium as a temporary home for a 4 year period. In 2012, they moved into their current ground, The New York Stadium. The New York Stadium gets its name from the area of Rotherham where it is located. The area of New York, located a number of factories dating back to the 1900s located close to Rotherham’s town centre.

Rotherham traditionally have a strong rivalry with both Sheffield based clubs, Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United.

The clubs most notable honor was in 1961, when Rotherham played in the inaugural League Cup final. The first ever League Cup was played over two legs against Aston Villa. Rotherham were runners-up after losing 3-2 on aggregate. The club has won three league titles within the english football pyramid since its foundation.

Club History Overview

Rotherham United F.C. was formed in 1925, but dates back to 1870 due to their historical links with Thornhill Football Club & Rotherham County. In 1870, there were a number of football clubs in the area that has links to Rotherham United. These included, Thornhill Football Club, Rotherham Town and Rotherham County. Thornhill Football Club and Rotherham Town reguarly played each other in the late 1800s, with Rotherham Town often considered the larger of the two. In the late 1800s Rotherham Town went out of business, leaving Thornhill as the only football league representative from Rotherham for a short period. Rotherham Town later reformed and played in the Midland league.

In 1905, Thornhill renamed their club Rotherham County. Both County and Town played in the Midland league from this period forward, with the clubs finishing 1st and 2nd in the 1911-12 season. By 1925, it was decided that the town could no longer support two football clubs, and the clubs merged to form Rotherham United. Following the formation, Rotherham United was re-elected under its new name to compete in the english football league from 1925 onwards.

The first time Rotherham United wore red and white as their traditional strip was in 1928, after playing in amber and black until then. In 1931, the club entered problems and had to apply for re-election to the English football league in 1931. The clubs next notable event came after the second world war, when they finished as runners-up three years isuccession between 1947 and 1949. They were finally crowned champions of Division Three (North) (now League 1) in 1951.

Their highest league position came in 1955, when they finished 3rd in the Football League Second Division (now Championship). They finished level on points with both Birmingham City and Luton Town, but finished third due to their inferior goal difference.

The club had a period of decline from 1968 onwards, when they were relegated from the second tier of english football. 5 years later in 1973, they were relegated to Division 4 for the first time in over 25 years. Two years later they were promoted to the Third Division after finishing third in 1975. Rotherham again became promotion contenders in the 1981-82 season. Towards the end of the season, the club achieved a double over Chelsea F.C., both home and away. On 31st November 1981, Rotherham beat Chelsea 6-0 at Millmoor in their home fixture. The reverse fixture on 20th March 1982 saw Rotherham beat Chelsea F.C. 4-1. This is seen by many Rotherham fans as their most memorable league double.

Rotherham United were promoted to Division 3 after they were crowned league champions in the 1988/1989 season. The following season they were relegated from Division 3, back into Division 4. The club was again promoted after a season in Division 4 as Runners-up to the newly named Division 2 (old Division 3). The rename came due to the renaming of Division 1 to the Premier League. They spent 5 years in League 2, before being relegated in 1997. The season prior to their relegation, saw Rotherham United beat Shrewsbury Town in the final of the Auto Windscreen Trophy (now Football League Trophy). Nigel Jemson scored both goals for Rotherham, who won the game at Wembley 2-1.

During the 1990s Rotherham were promoted and relegated between the Football League's lowest two divisions and they slipped into the Fourth Division in 1991, just two years after being promoted, but reclaimed their status in the third tier (renamed Division Two for the 1992–93 season due to the launch of the FA Premier League) by finished third in the Fourth Division in 1992. They survived at this level for five years, never looking like promotion contenders, before being relegated in 1997.

Following relegation to Division 3, Rotherham appointed former player Ronnie Moore for the coming season. Rotherham missed out on promotion in their first season, finishing 8th, one place outside the Playoffs. The following season, Rotherham made it into the playoffs, only to lose to Lleyton Orient in the semi-finals. In 1999/2000 season, saw Rotherham promoted back to the 2nd Division as runners-up to Swansea City. The following season saw Rotherham achieve their first double promotion in their history, when they finished second behind Millwall.

Support & Rivalries

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Staff

Current Squad

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Backroom Staff

• Manager - Steve Evans

Stadium

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