Rotherham United Football Club is an association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. The club was formed in 1925 as a merger between Rotherham Town and Rotherham County when it was decided that having two professional clubs in the town was not sustainable. After the merger, the club was elected to play in the Football League Third Division North. United played in the Third Division North until 1950–51, when they were champions of the division and were promoted to the Second Division. During their first spell in the Second Division the club reached the fifth round of the FA Cup twice and were runners up in the inaugural Football League Cup, which is the furthest they have reached in these competitions. Their furthest Football League Trophy run saw the club win the competition twice, in the 1995–96 season defeating Shrewsbury Town 2–1 in the final; and in the 2021–22 season defeating Sutton United 4–2 after extra time in the final.

As of the end of 2022–23, the club's first team has remained in the English Football League since its formation. Their highest finish came in 1954–55 when they finished in third place in the Second Division, missing out on promotion to the top division only on goal average. In total the club has spent 27 seasons in the second tier of the English football league system, 47 in the third and 13 in the fourth. Rotherham has qualified for four Football League play-offs, in 1998–99 they lost in the Third Division semi-final to Leyton Orient, in 2009–10 they reached the League Two final but lost 3–2 to Dagenham & Redbridge, in 2013–14 they reached the League One final and defeated Leyton Orient in a penalty shoot-out to gain promotion the Football League Championship, and in 2017–18 they again reached the League One final and defeated Shrewsbury Town 2–1 to gain promotion the EFL Championship. The table details their achievements in first-team competitions for each completed season since their first appearance in the Football League in 1925–26.

Key

Key to divisions Division 1 – Football League First Division Division 2 – Football League Second Division Division 3 – Football League Third Division Division 3N – Football League Third Division North Division 4 – Football League Fourth Division Championship – Football League Championship League 1 – Football League One League 2 – Football League Two

Key to rounds PR – Preliminary Round GS – Group Stage R1 – First Round, etc. QF – Quarter-finals SF – Semi-finals F(N) – Runner-up for the Northern section RU – Runner-up W – Winner

Key to positions and symbols – Champions – Runners-up – Promoted – Relegated

Seasons SeasonLeague recordFA CupEFL CupEFL TrophyTop scorer(s)DivisionPlayer(s)Goals1925–26Division 3N 42 17 7 18 69 92 41 14th R3 — — Joe Scott141926–27Division 3N 42 10 12 20 70 92 32 19th R1 — — Cyril Hemingway111927–28Division 3N 42 14 11 17 65 69 39 14th R3 — — Joe Scott211928–29Division 3N 42 15 9 18 60 77 39 16th R1 — — Billy Bottrill111929–30Division 3N 42 11 8 23 67 113 30 20th R3 — — Egbert Murden211930–31Division 3N 42 13 12 17 81 83 38 14th R1 — — Billy Hick301931–32Division 3N 40 14 4 22 63 72 32 19th R1 — — Albert Parkin151932–33Division 3N 42 14 6 22 60 84 34 17th R1 — — John Nock101933–34Division 3N 42 10 8 24 53 91 28 21st R3 — — Vic Wright181934–35Division 3N 42 19 7 16 86 73 45 9th R2 — — Billy Dickinson251935–36Division 3N 42 16 9 17 69 66 41 11th R2 — — Billy Dickinson181936–37Division 3N 42 14 7 21 78 91 35 17th R1 — — Ernest Smith221937–38Division 3N 42 20 10 12 68 56 50 6th R2 — — Arnold Bramham241938–39Division 3N 42 17 8 17 64 64 42 11th R1 — — Arnold Bramham301939–40Division 3N 3 1 1 1 5 6 3 11th — — 1939–45No competitive football was played between 1939 and 1945 due to the Second World War.1945–46N/AR4 — — 1946–47Division 3N 42 29 6 7 114 53 64 2nd R3 — — Wally Ardron401947–48Division 3N 42 25 9 8 95 49 59 2nd R1 — — Wally Ardron301948–49Division 3N 42 28 6 8 90 46 62 2nd R3 — — Wally Ardron331949–50Division 3N 42 19 10 13 80 59 48 6th R3 — — Gladstone Guest181950–51Division 3N 46 31 9 6 103 41 71 1st R4 — — Jack Shaw461951–52Division 2 42 17 8 17 73 71 42 9th R4 — — Jack Shaw251952–53Division 2 42 16 9 17 75 74 41 12th R5 — — Jack Grainger181953–54Division 2 42 21 7 14 80 67 49 5th R4 — — Ronnie Burke331954–55Division 2 42 25 4 13 94 64 54 3rd R4 — — Jack Grainger191955–56Division 2 42 12 9 21 56 75 33 19th R3 — — Ian Wilson141956–57Division 2 42 13 11 18 74 75 37 17th R3 — — Peter Johnson Jack Grainger141957–58Division 2 42 14 5 23 65 101 33 18th R3 — — Barry Webster121958–59Division 2 42 10 9 23 42 82 29 20th R3 — — Barry Webster121959–60Division 2 42 17 13 12 61 60 47 8th R4 — — Brian Sawyer211960–61Division 2 42 12 13 17 65 64 37 15th R4RU — Ken Houghton Alan Kirkman141961–62Division 2 42 16 9 17 70 76 41 9th R3 — Alan Kirkman221962–63Division 2 42 17 6 19 67 74 40 14th R3 R4 — Albert Bennett231963–64Division 2 42 19 7 16 90 78 45 7th R3 — Brian Tiler Ken Houghton221964–65Division 2 42 14 12 16 70 69 40 14th R4 R3 — Albert Bennett271965–66Division 2 42 16 14 12 75 74 46 7th R4 R4 — John Galley221966–67Division 2 42 13 10 19 61 70 36 18th R4 R3 — Les Chappell171967–68Division 2 42 10 11 21 42 76 31 21st R5 R2 — John Galley71968–69Division 3 46 16 13 17 56 50 45 11th R2 R1 — Jim Storrie151969–70Division 3 46 15 14 17 62 54 44 14th R3 R3 — Steve Downes111970–71Division 3 46 17 16 13 64 60 50 8th R3 R2 — Dave Watson121971–72Division 3 46 20 15 11 69 52 55 5th R4 R1 — Carl Gilbert271972–73Division 3 46 17 7 22 51 65 41 21st R2 R3 — Bobby Ham101973–74Division 4 46 15 13 18 56 58 43 15th R2 R2 — Ron Wigg151974–75Division 4 46 22 15 9 71 41 59 3rd R3 R2 — Richard Finney171975–76Division 3 46 15 12 19 54 65 42 16th R2 R1 — Richard Finney111976–77Division 3 46 22 15 9 69 44 59 4th R3 R2 — Alan Crawford311977–78Division 3 46 13 13 20 51 68 39 20th R3 R2 — Richard Finney161978–79Division 3 46 17 10 19 49 55 44 17th R3 R3 — Dave Gwyther181979–80Division 3 46 18 10 18 58 66 46 13th R2 R2 — Richard Finney131980–81Division 3 46 24 13 9 62 32 611st R2 R1 — Ronnie Moore251981–82Division 2 42 20 7 15 66 54 67 7th R3 R2 — Ronnie Moore251982–83Division 2 42 10 15 17 45 68 45 20th R3 R3 — John Seasman Joe McBride111983–84Division 3 46 15 9 22 57 64 54 18thR3 R1 Kevin Kilmore211984–85Division 3 46 18 11 17 55 55 65 12thR1 R3 R1 Tony Simmons141985–86Division 3 46 15 12 19 61 59 57 14thR4 R1 Tommy Tynan171986–87Division 3 46 15 12 19 48 57 57 14thR1 R2 PR Gareth Evans111987–88Division 3 46 12 16 18 50 66 52 21stR2 R2 R1 Paul Haycock141988–89Division 4 46 22 16 8 76 35 82 1stR2 R2 R1 Bobby Williamson281989–90Division 3 46 17 13 16 71 62 64 9thR2 R2 Bobby Williamson251990–91Division 3 46 10 12 24 50 87 42 23rdR4 R2 R1 Clive Mendonca121991–92Division 4 42 22 11 9 70 37 77 2ndR2 R1 Tony Cunningham201992–93Division 2 46 17 14 15 60 60 65 11thR4 R2 R2 Tony Cunningham121993–94Division 2 46 15 13 18 63 60 58 15thR1 R2 R2 Imre Varadi211994–95Division 2 46 14 14 18 57 61 56 17thR2 R1 R2 Shaun Goater251995–96Division 2 46 14 14 18 54 62 56 16thR1 R2 W61996–97Division 2 46 7 14 25 39 70 35 23rdR1 R1 R1171997–98Division 3 46 16 19 11 67 61 67 9thR3 R1 R2181998–99Division 3 46 20 13 13 79 61 73 5thR3 R1 R1121999–2000Division 3 46 24 12 10 72 36 84 2ndR2 R1 R2172000–01Division 2 46 27 10 9 79 55 91 2ndR3 R1 R1262001–02Division 1 46 10 19 17 52 66 49 21stR4 R2 —162002–03Division 1 46 15 14 17 62 62 59 15thR3 R4 —162003–04Division 1 46 13 15 18 53 61 54 17thR3 R3 —152004–05Championship 46 5 14 27 35 69 29 24thR3 R2 —62005–06League 1 46 12 16 18 52 62 52 20thR1 R2 R2142006–07League 1 46 13 9 24 58 75 38 23rdR1 R2 R1162007–08League 2 46 21 11 14 62 58 64 9thR1 R1 R2112008–09League 2 46 21 12 13 60 46 58 14thR1 R4 192009–10League 2 46 21 10 15 55 52 73 5thR2 R2 R1302010–11League 2 46 17 15 14 75 60 66 9thR1 R1 252011–12League 2 46 18 13 15 67 63 67 10thR2 R1 R2202012–13League 2 46 24 7 15 74 59 79 2ndR3 R1 R1132013–14League 1 46 24 14 8 86 58 86 4thR2 R2 SF182014–15Championship 46 11 16 19 46 67 4621st R3 R2 —102015–16Championship 46 13 10 23 53 71 4921st R3 R2 —82016–17Championship 46 5 8 33 40 98 2324th R3 R1 —122017–18League 1 46 24 7 15 73 53 794thR1 R2 R1132018–19Championship 46 8 16 22 36 77 4022nd R3 R2 —82019–20League 1 35 18 8 9 61 38 62 2ndR3 R2 GS172020–21Championship 46 11 9 26 44 60 42 23rdR3 R1 —102021–22League 1 46 27 9 10 70 33 90 2ndR3 R1 W252022–23Championship 46 11 17 18 49 60 5019th R3 R2 —92023–24Championship 46 5 12 29 37 89 27 24thR3 R2 —62024–25League 1 46 16 11 19 49 54 5913th R1 R2 QF152025–26League One 46 10 11 25 41 71 41 22ndR1 R2 R of 16 12

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