Tranmere Rovers

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Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere.png
Basic data
Surname Tranmere Rovers Football Club
Seat Birkenhead
founding 1884
president EnglandEngland Mark Palios
Board EnglandEngland Michael Jackson
Website tranmererovers.co.uk
First soccer team
Head coach vacant
Venue Prenton Park , Birkenhead
Places 16,567
league EFL League Two
2019/20   21st place (EFL League One)
home
Away

Tranmere Rovers (officially: Tranmere Rovers Football Club ) - or Rovers for short - is an English football club from Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula in Metropolitan County Merseyside . The club will play in the EFL League Two , the fourth highest English division , for the 2020/21 season .

history

Foundation phase

The club was initially founded in 1884 as a merger of the cricket club Belmont CC and the Lyndhurst Wanderers under the name Belmont Football Club . After the first game in November of the same year, then still in blue jerseys and white shorts, the club changed its name to Tranmere Rovers in 1885 , after the Tranmere district of Birkenhead, and moved into the Steele’s Field stadium for its home games .

The Tranmere Rovers played their first official game in the Liverpool & District Challenge Cup in 1886 and a year later they bought the future venue on Borough Road from Tranmere Rugby Club . In 1889, the club joined the local West Lancashire League and appeared for the games in blue shorts and maroon-orange jerseys. Six years later, after having left the league for a short time, the stadium was renamed Prenton Park , which is still valid today . However, the re-entry into league football brought with it various adversities when the club was initially deducted two points in the 1897/98 season due to the use of non-eligible players and only a year later the continued existence of the club had to be questioned. All players in the service of the Rovers left the club in 1899 to join Birkenham Football Club .

However, the club was able to report its renewed participation in the league The Combination in 1900 and from 1902 rented its stadium to the local rugby club Birkenhead Warriors Rugby Club , which could be used to finance a stand with 250 seats. The Rovers changed their club colors back to blue and white and two years after another 2-point penalty for using unauthorized players in the 1905/06 season, the club won its first regional championship.

A year after a stadium renovation, when the grandstand was expanded to 800 seats, the Rovers joined the second division in the Lancashire Combination in 1910 , rose directly to the first division and won it under coach Bert Cooke on the second attempt. During the uprising year, the club moved into the new Prenton Park in the immediate vicinity of the old venue, as the property on the site of the old stadium had been sold to the local town planners. In 1914, the club also acquired a grandstand from the Oval Sports Ground in nearby Port Sunlight , cut it in half and placed it on both sides as the main grandstand.

Entry into professional football

After the end of World War I , the Rovers joined the Cheshire County League for the 1919/20 season , but only played eight games in the local Central League . The stadium was fully completed in 1920 and just a year later the club joined the newly formed Third Division North as a founding member.

In the early days of professional football, two notable attackers stood in the ranks of the rovers. At the age of only 16, Dixie Dean, a future England international , made his debut for the club in 1923 , while later Bunny Bell scored 104 goals in 114 games, including nine goals in the club's record win 13: 4 in a championship game against Oldham Athletic in the year 1935.

The club was unable to celebrate any notable successes itself and in 1925, being penultimate in the table, even had to ask the Football League to remain in the league. At the beginning of the 30s, the club covered the west stand, which from then on should be called “cowshed” by fans , and in 1935 replaced the long-time coach Cooke. Jack Carr was signed as a replacement, but was replaced by Jim Knowles after just one year .

Knowles rose in 1938 with the team in the Second Division , but could not hold it there and was then inherited by Bill Ridding , before the game was interrupted due to the Second World War.

Stay in the lower English professional leagues

The grandstand roof that had been constructed recently was destroyed during an air raid and rebuilt immediately after the war. The Rovers got back into the Third Division North, played there under coach Ernie Blackburn and from 1955 under the player- coach Noel Kelly , without being a serious candidate for promotion to the second division. When the club barely prevented the fall into the amateur camp in 1957 as the bottom of the table, he hired a new player- coach in Peter Farrel . With Farrel succeeded in the following season, the qualification for the now single-track Third Division . There the rovers got off to a good start and the season in which the new floodlight system was put into operation ended in a good seventh place.

Only two years later, the club was relegated to the new Fourth Division for the first time in its history . After the narrowly missed return to the third division in 1966, this succeeded in the following season under the coach Dave Russell, who has been active since 1961. At the same time, the Rovers inaugurated the new main grandstand with 4,000 seats. During this time, the Rovers celebrated notable successes, especially in cup competitions, when the team reached the fourth round in the FA Cup in the 1971/72 season and split 2-2 in front of their own record crowd of 24,424 spectators from Stoke City and only in the replay retired after a 2-0 defeat. Two years later they defeated Arsenal at Highbury in a league cup game . Due to the rise of Liverpool FC to a domestic and European top team in the early 1970s, however, many supporters turned away from the Rovers, although this effect was not weakened by the frequent Friday games to which the club avoided.

Two years after the stadium roof had to be replaced due to a storm damage in 1973, the club rose again to the fourth division and hired John King as coach, who should be active for the Rovers for five years in his first term. King managed to rise again in his first season, but had to accept the fall in the lowest English professional league again three years later. King was fired in 1980, and the Football Conference case narrowly escaped the following season . During the 1982/83 season, the club found themselves again in the relegation zone and were on the verge of bankruptcy , which could be averted by a loan from the Wirral Council in the amount of 200,000 pounds and friendly matches against neighboring Liverpool. The Rovers moved henceforth financially always on the border, which only through the investment of local businessman Peter Johnson at the club for the season 1986 / 87 changed. In a landmark decision, Johnson brought King back to the Rovers' dugout at the end of the season when the Rovers were in acute danger of relegation.

The "John King Era" (1987–1996)

John King is now widely recognized as the Tranmere Rovers' most successful coach. After his return, he ended with the team on the last day of the game after a goal by Gary Williams a series of nine winless games with a 1-0 against Exeter City and thus prevented relegation. The victory was then extensively celebrated when 7,000 spectators stormed the field.

In King's first full season during his second term in office, the team qualified due to good form in the middle of the season, together with Wolverhampton Wanderers as representatives of the fourth division, for a tournament that was played on the occasion of the centenary of the Football League. The Rovers were the surprise team on their debut at Wembley, beating first division clubs Wimbledon and Newcastle United before losing to Nottingham Forest , eventual tournament winners, on penalties .

King's second season brought the club back to the third division as runners-up. This season, the Rovers also laid the foundation for their later reputation as a favorite scare in cup competitions when they eliminated the first division club Middlesbrough from the league cup tournament in the 1988/89 season . Later similar surprise victories against Millwall FC , Aston Villa , Chelsea FC and Coventry City , all of which were beaten at home in Prenton Park, should follow.

In the season 1989/90 Tranmere immediately reached fourth place and qualified for the play-offs for promotion to the Second Division. Although the Rovers were defeated there in the final Notts County , they were initially allowed access to the second division by the association, as Swindon Town was downgraded to the third division due to several violations of the rules and thus an additional place in the second division became free. After a successful appointment, Swindon Town was then classified in the second division, so that Tranmere had to remain in the third division. As a sporting consolation, winning the Associate Members' Cup after a 2-1 final victory against third division champions Bristol Rovers at Wembley Stadium was considered. After Tranmeres Ian Muir had taken the early lead, Muir's strike partner Jim Steele scored the decisive goal shortly before the end of the game after Devon White's interim equalizer, thus ensuring the first big cup win in the club's history.

After a fifth place at the end of the season 1990 / 91 again reached the team the play-offs and made for an exciting 1: 0 win and a goal by Chris Malkin in injury time against local rivals Bolton Wanderers , the first part in the second division safe since the 1930s . At the same time, the club reached the final of the Associate Members' Cup again, but this time lost 3-2 to Birmingham City . In total, the club had played four games in just one year at Wembley Stadium. Another special feature took place on New Year's Day 1991 when right- back Tony Thomas scored a goal after just eight seconds, making it the fastest video-recorded goal in history.

In the summer, John Aldridge was signed by Real Sociedad San Sebastián, an Irish international and former player from Liverpool FC, who would initially be available as a player and then as a coach for the Rovers over the next ten years.

After a mediocre first season in the second division, the club experienced a three-year high phase, at the end of which there was a play-off participation for promotion to the Premier League , but lost in the semifinals. In the middle of this phase, the Rovers also made it to the League Cup semi-finals, where they were defeated by Aston Villa on penalties. When the club was in mid-division midfield in March 1996, King announced his resignation.

The "John Aldridge Era" (1996-2001)

John Aldridge took over the leadership of the team as player-coach and acted in this role for the next five years. During this time, the club could not reach the qualifying games, but failed in the 1996/97 season just barely at this goal. In the 1999/2000 season, the Rovers celebrated their greatest cup successes when they advanced to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and reached the league cup final, which meant their first participation in a prestigious cup competition and not only for lower-class clubs. Despite a goal from David Kelly, the team lost 2-1 to Leicester City , with the Rovers outnumbered after a red card for Clint Hill. Noteworthy was the fact that Aldridge was playing with a team that did not include a player who had been bought from another club for a transfer fee. The attacking player Wayne Allison was the only player who had been bought by the club in a time of financial restrictions, due to his participation in the competition for his previous club.

In the immediately following season, Tranmere made it back to the FA Cup quarter-finals. On the way there, they dueled with their big neighbor, Everton , in whose shadow, shared with Liverpool, the Rovers had always stood. The Rovers surprisingly beat Everton 3-0 away at Goodison Park after a goal from Jason Koumas and two headers from Steve Yates. January 27, 2001 is still celebrated as Saint Yates Day among Rovers' supporters . In the subsequent round they were already 3-0 down in the replay against Southampton FC at halftime before a hat-trick from Paul Rideout and the winning goal from Stuart Barlow turned the game around to 4-3.

The performances in the championship could not keep up with the cup game successes and the club found itself in the lower region of the table. When Tranmere lost a home game against Barnsley FC in March 2001 3-2 after a 2-0 lead , Aldridge resigned. As a joint interim solution on the coaching post, Ray Mathias and Kevin Sheedy could not prevent the Rovers from relegating to the third division after ten years in the second division.

The "Dave Watson Era" (2001–2002)

The hopes for a quick return to the second division should not come true in the first third division season after a long time. The club finished the season under new coach David Watson, a former team captain of Everton FC, in a midfield position and had no chance in the promotion battle.

In 2002 it was also announced that Stephen Vaughan , owner of the Chester City Club, was seeking a merger with Tranmere Rovers. Since the club owed its owner Johnson £ 5.3 million, it was suspected that the club would have to sell its Prenton Park stadium. Vaughan planned in this context the construction of a new stadium in Birkenhead for the future joint club. However, this endeavor was quickly dashed after the supporters resisted Vaughan's plan, so that the club is still under Johnson's control today, with his long-time business partner Lorraine Rogers holding the official presidency.

The "Ray Mathias Era" (2002–2003)

A positive development took place in the following year under Ray Mathias , Watson's successor. The team lost only one time in 23 games in the second half of the season and, despite a good number of 80 points gained, with seventh place, and only one point behind Cardiff City , narrowly missed participation in the play-off games.

The "Brian Little Era" (2003-2006)

In October 2003 Tranmere hired Brian Little as the new coach, who had previously been able to celebrate two-fold promotion successes with Darlington FC and one promotion with Leicester City. He had also won the League Cup with Aston Villa in 1996. The Rovers were at the time of Little's inauguration in the relegation zone, but were quickly led out of this by him and the team was at the end of the season in eighth place. In addition, the club moved back into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and lost there against Millwall FC .

In the 2004/05 season Tranmere reached third place behind Luton Town and Hull City . Despite great confidence for the play-offs, they disappointed in the first leg with a 0-2 at Hartlepool United . The Rovers equalized this deficit in the home game with a 2-0 win after 90 minutes, but after the third goal also failed in extra time , Tranmere was eliminated in the semi-finals after losing penalties.

The subsequent 2005/06 season began on a negative note, as the four top scorers from the previous season left the club. Ryan Taylor and Ian Hume were sold to Wigan Athletic and Leicester City. Eugene Dadi was cleared, as was Paul Hall, who was only offered a one-year contract, so these players later joined Nottingham Forest and Chesterfield FC . The Rovers found themselves immediately in the lower half of the table, but were able to hold onto as 18th but finally in Football League One .

The steady fall (from 2006)

In 2006-2009, the Rovers occupied midfield positions in Football League One. In the 2009/10 season, the club saved on the last day of the game with a 3-0 win at Stockport County to stay in Football League One.

At the end of the 2013/2014 season, they rose by a 2-1 home defeat in the last game of the season against Bradford City after 10 years from Football League One. The following season 2014/2015 in Football League Two, the Rovers closed at the bottom of the table, which means they were relegated again. As a result of this relegation, the Rovers played in the five-class Conference National in the 2015/2016 season and were therefore not represented in professional football for the first time in 94 years.

Famous former players

     

League affiliation

literature

  • Gilbert Upton, Steve Wilson, Peter Bishop: Tranmere Rovers - The Complete Record . Breedon Books, Derby 2009, ISBN 978-1-85983-711-5 .

Web links

Commons : Tranmere Rovers  - Collection of images, videos and audio files