Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1930. They have played home matches at the New York Stadium since 2012, having briefly moved to the Don Valley Stadium from their original home at Millmoor in 2008.
The club was formed as a merger between Rotherham County and Rotherham Town in 1925 and were immediately placed in the Football League. They won promotion as champions of the Third Division North in 1950–51 and were beaten finalists in the inaugural League Cup final in 1961, losing to Aston Villa 3–2 on aggregate. After seventeen seasons in the Second Division, relegations followed in 1968 and 1973. Promotion from the Fourth Division was secured in 1974–75 and the club went on to win the Third Division title in 1980–81. Relegations in 1983 and 1988 gave Rotherham the opportunity to win the Fourth Division title in 1988–89, though they had to win another promotion in 1991–92 following relegation the previous season. They beat Shrewsbury Town 2–1 in the 1996 final of the Football League Trophy.
Under the stewardship of Ronnie Moore, Rotherham secured back-to-back promotions in 1999–2000 and 2000–01. They stayed in the second tier for four seasons, though were relegated twice in three years by 2007. The club again secured back-to-back promotions, this time under Steve Evans, securing automatic promotion from League Two in 2012–13 and promotion from League One via the play-offs in 2013–14. The club moved between the Championship and League One for six successive seasons between 2016–17 and 2021–22, winning the play-offs in 2018 as well as the 2022 EFL Trophy final. In the 2025-26 season, Rotherham were relegated to League Two for the first time since the 2012-13 season.
Contents
History
The club's roots go back to 1877, when the club was formed as Thornhill Football Club (later Thornhill United). George Cook was the trainer around this time. For many years the leading team in the area was Rotherham Town, who spent three seasons in the Football League while Thornhill United were still playing in the Sheffield & Hallamshire League. By the turn of the century, however, Town had resigned from the Football League and gone out of business; a new club of the same name later joined the Midland League. Meanwhile, Thornhill's fortunes were on the rise to the extent that in 1905 they laid claim to being the pre-eminent club in the town and changed their name to Rotherham County. For a period both clubs competed in the Midland League, finishing first and second in 1911–12. Rotherham County became members of the second division of the Football league in 1919 whilst Rotherham Town failed to become elected to the third division northern section the following year. By 1925 County's fortunes had declined and they had to seek re-election to the third division. By this time it had become clear that to have two professional clubs in the town was not sustainable. Talks had begun in February 1925 and in early May the two clubs merged to form Rotherham United. Days later the reformed club was formally re-elected to the Football League under its new name.
The red and white kit was adopted around 1930 after playing in amber and black, but there was no improvement in the club's fortunes: in 1931 they again had to apply for re-election. Immediately after the Second World War things looked up. The Millers won the only post-war edition of the Football League Third Division North Cup in 1946 beating Chester 5–4 on aggregate. They then finished as runners-up three time in succession between 1947 and 1949 and then were champions of Division Three (North) in 1951. 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. During that season they had notable results including a 6–1 win over Liverpool. In 1961 the Millers beat Aston Villa 2–0 at Millmoor in the inaugural League Cup final first leg; they lost the second leg 3–0 however at Villa Park. The second leg was played the season after due to Villa having a 'Congested Fixture List'. The club held on to its place in Division Two until 1968 and then went into a decline that took them down to Division Four in 1973. In 1975 they were promoted back to the Third Division finishing in the 3rd promotion spot in the Fourth Division. The Millers won the Division Three title in the 1980–81 season, and missed out on a second consecutive promotion by four points, finishing seventh In the second tier (then Division 2) 1981–82. They have not finished this high since. This season also saw Rotherham accomplish their highest-scoring second-tier league double, beating Chelsea 6–0 at home (31 October 1981) and 4–1 away at Stamford Bridge (20 March 1982).
Kit and sponsorship
Since 2015, the naming rights to the stadium are currently owned by local multimillion-pound company AESSEAL.
Since 2026, the kits have been supplied by Hummel International.
Stadium
The club's traditional home was Millmoor in Rotherham where the team played from 1907 to 2008. On one side of the ground is the site of the new Main Stand which remains unfinished. It was hoped that the 4,500 capacity stand which is single tiered, all seated and covered, would be completed sometime during the 2006–07 season, but this had not come to fruition by the time the ground became disused in 2008. On the other side of the ground is the Millmoor Lane Stand, which has a mixture of covered and open seating. Roughly each section on this side is about a third of the length of the pitch. The covered seating in the middle of this stand looks quite distinctive, with several supporting pillars and an arched roof. Both ends are former terraces, with several supporting pillars and have now been made all seated. The larger of the two is the Tivoli End, which was used by home fans. It was noticeable that the pitch sloped up towards this end. The ground also benefits from a striking set of floodlights, the pylons of which are some of the tallest in the country at approximately 124 feet (38 m) high. Following the failure of the owners of the club and the owners of Millmoor to reach a lease agreement the club left for the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield in 2008.
Whilst a new purpose-built community stadium was being built in Rotherham, the club relocated to the Don Valley Stadium in nearby Sheffield for four seasons from 2008–09 to 2011–12.
In January 2010 the club announced that their new stadium, later named the AESSEAL New York Stadium, would be built on the former Guest and Chrimes foundry site in Rotherham town centre.
Preparation work on the site began in February 2010 to make way for the foundations to be put in place and for the old factory to be knocked down to make way for the stadium. Construction started in June 2011 and the first game played at the stadium was a pre-season match between Rotherham and Barnsley, held on 21 July 2012. The Millers won 2–1; the first goal in the stadium was scored by Jacob Mellis of Barnsley, and David Noble scored Rotherham's first goal in their new home. The New York Stadium made its league debut on 18 August 2012, in which Rotherham beat Burton Albion 3–0,
Daniel Nardiello scoring the first competitive goal in the ground.
Supporters
Supporters of Rotherham United include:
Paul Chuckle – one half of the Chuckle Brothers comedy duo, and an honorary life president of the club since 2007.
Barry Chuckle – lifelong supporter of the club and honorary life president alongside his brother Paul.
Howard Webb MBE – former Premier League and FIFA referee, born in Rotherham, who has stated that he has supported the club since childhood.
Chris Wolstenholme – bassist for the rock band Muse, who grew up in Rotherham and has confirmed his support for the club, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather.
Matt Nicholls – drummer for the band Bring Me the Horizon, who has spoken publicly about his lifelong support for Rotherham United.
Records and statistics
Highest league finish: 3rd, 1954–55 Football League Second Division
Best FA Cup performance: Fifth round, 1952–53, 1967–68
Record league victory: 8–0 v. Oldham Athletic, Millmoor, Division 3 North, 26 May 1947
Record cup victory: 6–0 v. Spennymoor United, FA Cup second round, 17 December 1977, v. Wolverhampton Wanderers, FA Cup first round, 16 November 1985, v. King's Lynn, FA Cup second round, 6 December 1997
Record defeat: 1–11 v. Bradford City, Division 3 North, 25 August 1928
Record home attendance at Millmoor: 25,170 v. Sheffield United, Football League Second Division, 13 December 1952
Record home attendance at Don Valley Stadium: 7,082 v. Aldershot Town, Football League Two play-offs, 19 May 2010
Record home attendance at the New York Stadium: 11,758 v. Sheffield United, Football League One, 7 September 2013
Most played opponents in league and cup matches: Lincoln City (94), Doncaster Rovers (84), Crewe Alexandra (79), Bradford City (78), York City (78)
Opponents with most victories against in league and cup matches: Lincoln City (49), Doncaster Rovers (40), Bradford City (37), Rochdale (36), Chester City (35)
Opponents with most defeats against in league and cup matches: Chesterfield (41), Wrexham (31), Darlington (30), Walsall (29), Crewe Alexandra (29), Huddersfield Town (29)
Opponents with most draws against in league and cup matches: Swansea City (25), Doncaster Rovers (22), Lincoln City (21), Walsall (21), Crewe Alexandra (20), York City (20)
Players
First-team squad
As of 1 September 2026
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Club management
Coaching positions
As of 7 August 2026
Director of Football: Steve McClaren
Director of Football Recruitment: Rob Scott
Head Coach: Alex Bruce
Assistant Manager: Steve Agnew
First Team & Development Coach: Richard Wood
Goalkeeping Coach: Richard Hartis
Lead Scout: Warren Spalding
Head of Performance: Ross Burbeary
PHD Sports Science Lead: Sam Laycock
Performance Analyst: Matt Dixon
Physiotherapists: TBC
Club Doctor: Dr S. Basu
Honorary Medical Officers: Dr J. Roberts and Dr S. Sepehri
Academy Manager: Richard Hairyes
Head of Academy Coaching: Callum Gilmartin
Lead Professional Development Phase Coach: Donovan Gethfield
Lead Youth Development Phase Coach: Jamie Yates
Lead Foundation Phase Coach: Dan McKenzie
Head of Academy Physiotherapy: Adrian Littlejohn
Academy Sports Scientist: Reiss Turton
Managerial history
As of 7 August 2026
Board of directors and ownership
Chairman: Tony Stewart
Vice-chairman: Richard Stewart
Chief Executive: Paul Douglas
Operations Director: Julie Hunt
Commercial Director: Steve Coakley
Financial Director: Karen Thomas
Honours
League
Third Division North / Third Division / Second Division / League One (level 3)
Champions: 1950–51, 1980–81
2nd place promotion: 2000–01, 2019–20, 2021–22
Play-off winners: 2014, 2018
Fourth Division / Third Division / League Two (level 4)
Champions: 1988–89
2nd place promotion: 1991–92, 1999–2000, 2012–13
3rd place promotion: 1974–75
Cup
Football League Cup
Runners-up: 1960–61
Football League Trophy / EFL Trophy
Winners: 1995–96, 2021–22
Football League Third Division North Cup
Winners: 1945–46