Rotherham Town F.C. was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

club based in

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. The club was a member of

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

between 1893 and 1896.

History

The original club was founded in 1878 as Lunar Rovers, becoming Rotherham in 1882, and eventually Rotherham Town. In 1889 the club became a founder member of the

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History T ...

. They were champions in 1892 and 1893, and were subsequently elected to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

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. The club played at

Clifton Lane Clifton Lane is a sports stadium located in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. It is the home ground of the professional rugby union team Rotherham Titans who play in the National League 1 National One (last season known as National Leagu ...

and Clifton Grove.

Arthur Wharton Arthur Wharton (28 October 1865 – 12 December 1930) is widely considered to be the first black professional footballer in the world. Though not the first black player outright – the amateurs Robert Walker, of Queen's Park, and Scotland inte ...

, the man widely regarded as the first ever black professional footballer, played for the club from 1889 to 1894.

Liverpool Football Club Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has ...

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.Liverpool's First Ever Game
This Is Anfield A second Rotherham Town formed in 1899, going on to merge with

Rotherham County Rotherham County F.C. was an England, English association football, football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. They spent a number of years in the English Football League before merging with rivals Rotherham Town F.C. (1899), Rotherham ...

in 1925 to form

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

League and cup history

Honours

**Champions: 1891–92, 1892–93

Records

*Best league performance: 12th,

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

Division 2 *Best

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

performance: Second round, 1883–84, 1886–87, 1887–88

References

{{former football league members Association football clubs established in 1878 Association football clubs disestablished in 1896 Defunct English Football League clubs Defunct football clubs in England Defunct football clubs in South Yorkshire Sport in Rotherham Midland Football League (1889) 1878 establishments in England 1896 disestablishments in England

History

League and cup history

Honours

Records

See also

References