Rotherham Town
Full nameRotherham Town Football Club
Founded1878 (as Lunar Rovers)
Dissolved1896

Rotherham Town F.C. was a football club based in Rotherham, England. The club was a member of the Football League between 1893 and 1896.

History

The original club was founded in 1878 as Lunar Rovers, becoming Rotherham in 1882, and eventually Rotherham Town.[1] In 1889 the club became a founder member of the Midland League. They were champions in 1892 and 1893, and were subsequently elected to the Second Division of the Football League in 1893.

The club's League tenure lasted just three seasons, finishing in 14th, 12th and 15th place (out of 16). At the end of the 1895/96 season they failed to apply for re-election and subsequently folded.[2]

The club played at Clifton Lane and Clifton Grove.

Arthur Wharton, the man widely regarded as the first ever black professional footballer, played for the club from 1889 to 1894.[3] Liverpool Football Club played their first ever fixture against Rotherham Town on 1 September 1892 in a friendly fixture, Liverpool won 7-1, the first ever opponent to score at Anfield was Rotherham striker Charlie Leatherbarrow.[4]

A second Rotherham Town formed in 1899, going on to merge with Rotherham County in 1925 to form Rotherham United.

League and cup history

Rotherham Town League and Cup history[5][6][7][8]
SeasonDivisionPositionFA Cup
1883–842nd Round
1884–851st Round
1885–861st Round
1886–872nd Round
1887–882nd Round
1888–892nd qualifying round
1889–90Midland League3rd/114th qualifying round
1890–91Midland League7th/104th qualifying round
1891–92Midland League1st/113rd qualifying round
1892–93Midland League1st/133rd qualifying round
1893–94Football League Division 214th/151st qualifying round
1894–95Football League Division 212th/161st qualifying round
1895–96Football League Division 215th/164th qualifying round

Honours

Records

See also

  • Category:Rotherham Town F.C. (1878) players

References

  1. ↑ Rotherham United Archived 9 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine The Beautiful History
  2. ↑ Gone But Not Forgotten Archived 11 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine Gottfried Fuchs
  3. ↑ The Footballer Archived 15 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine ArthurWharton.com
  4. ↑ Liverpool's First Ever Game Archived 11 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine This Is Anfield
  5. ↑ FA Cup Archive Archived 13 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine The FA
  6. ↑ Rotherham Town Archived 18 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine WildStat
  7. ↑ Rotherham Town Archived 5 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine Football Club History Database
  8. ↑ "British Newspaper Archive". Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
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