Rotherham United F.C.
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Rotherham United F.C. are an English football club from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, who play in the Football League.
They were formed by the merger of two Rotherham clubs. Rotherham F.C. were formed in 1870, and later changed their name to Rotherham Town. They had three years in the League in the 1890s. Another team, Thornhill, were formed in 1877, before renaming themselves Rotherham County, and being admitted to the League in 1919. The two teams merged in 1925 to form the present club.
Rotherham play at the Millmoor ground, and as a result are nicknamed the "Millers" (or occasionally the "Merry Millers"). Their home strip is red with white shorts. For the 2005-06 season, they play in Football League One.
Rotherham reached their highest ever league position of third in the Football League Second Division in 1955, when only goal average denied them a place in the top flight after they finished level on points with champions Birmingham City and runners-up Luton Town.
In 1961, Rotherham got to the first ever League Cup final, losing to Aston Villa F.C., while in 1996, they won the Auto Windscreens Shield, beating Shrewsbury Town 2-1 in the final at Wembley Stadium. The Chuckle Brothers are fans of Rotherham United, as are American band Orson after a random draw on the TV show, Soccer AM.
Their current manager is Alan Kill, who took over from Mick Harford at the end of the 2005-06 season after a long run without a win.
Rotherham United will begin the 2006-07 League One campaign with 10 points deducted as a penalty for going into financial administration. This will make avoiding relegation an even greater task than it was last time round, especially as the club will not be able to buy any new players until it comes out of receivership.
Recent history
The most successful manager to take charge of Rotherham United in recent years is Ronnie Moore, a former player of the club who was named as manager after the club's relegation to Division Three at the end of the 1996-97 season.
His first season ended in a mid table finish and his second in a playoff defeat, but it was third time lucky in 1999-2000 when Rotherham finished as Division Three runners-up and gained promotion to Division Two. They were favourites to be relegated in 2000-01, but surprised all the observers by finishing runners-up in Division Two and gaining a second successive promotion.
They remained in Division One (later renamed the Football League Championship) for four seasons, finally going down in 2004-05. Ronnie Moore resigned during the relegation campaign, which saw Rotherham rooted to the foot of the division virtually all season long.
Moore was replaced as manager by Mick Harford. After a run of 17 games in all competitions without winning Harford was relieved of his duties in December 2005. The club is now managed by former Wales international Alan Knill, who had previously been caretaker manager.
Early in 2006 it was announced that the club faced an uncertain future unless a funding gap in the region of £140,000 per month could be plugged. The problem was compounded as Rotherham do not own their ground (Ken Booth took ownership of Millmoor in return for clearing £3m of debt), and have no tangible assets - as a result administration would not be a viable option for them, as it has been for other clubs. This has led to the launch of a Save Our Millers campaign (Hotline 01709 512434) which aims to raise £1m.
Rotherham's turnover is said to be around £2.5m with roughly half coming from gate receipts which is expected to be £0.5m short of what is required to complete next season. It is estimate that another £1m is required to complete work on the stand.
Rotherham's South Yorkshire neighbours have all offered their support. Barnsley FC have written off all fees pertaining to Barry Conlon's loan move to Rotherham in the autumn, and have also sent a cheque for £5,000. Sheffield United are paying the wages of Stephen Quinn and Jonathan Forte during their loan spells at Millmoor, and have also donated profits from the beam-back of the Sheffield derby on February 18th to Save The Millers. Sheffield Wednesday have held bucket collections at matches, including the derby with United. League One rivals Doncaster Rovers have also held collections to aid the Millers.
On 10th April 2006, the band Orson were supposed to be performing a gig (without taking a fee) at Rotherham's Magna Centre to aid the Save Our Millers campaign. However this event had to be postponed for the time being, and a new date is yet to be set. Orson were recently number #1 in the UK Singles Chart with their song 'No Tomorrow' and so a good attendance is expected.
An eleventh hour intervention by a consortium of local businessmen offering substantial investment and a new business plan averted a possible dissolution of the club.http://www.themillers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10360~805836,00.html
Their final match of the 2005-06 season, home to MK Dons, was a winner-take-all relegation showdown. A scoreless draw, combined with a Hartlepool United draw with Port Vale, kept Rotherham up and consigned both MK Dons and Hartlepool to the drop. However, their survival has been marked with controversy as their league status depended on them postponing a Company Voluntary Arrangement meeting in order to receive a 10 points reduction for the following season rather than their current one. Without this postponement, Rotherham would have been reduced 10 points and consequently would have been relegated.
Rotherham have recently been saved from liquidation. They will begin their 2006/07 season with minus ten points. This was able to happen after creditors agreed to a Company Voluntary Agreement which saves the club from going into liquidation.
Current squad
''As of 4 July, 2006Nationality given from place of birth
External links
- [Official Site]
- [Rotherham United Mad]/ Announcement of March 2006 investors
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