Rotherham County F.C. was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in

Rotherham Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

. They spent a number of years in the

English 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, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

before merging with rivals Rotherham Town in 1925 to form

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

History

The club was founded in 1877, as Thornhill Football Club (later 'Thornhill United'), before, in 1905, changing to Rotherham County. It joined the

Midland League The Midland Football League, officially known as the Capelli Sport Midland Football League since January 2025 for sponsorship reasons, is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midl ...

in 1903, and stayed in that competition until it was abandoned for

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. They won the Midland League title for four consecutive seasons, from 1911–12 to 1914–15 inclusive. After the War, they were elected to

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

when the league expanded from 40 clubs to 44 in 1919. In 1925 they merged with local rivals Rotherham Town to form

who are still members of the Football League.

Notable former players

Players that played in the

with Rotherham County – * John Ackroyd * Arthur Beachill * George Bertram * Jackie Bestall * William Birch * Thomas Birtles *

John Bramley John Bramley (1898 – after 1927), also known as Jack Bramley, was an English professional footballer who played as a right half, centre half or right back. He made 29 appearances in the Football League without scoring. Career Born in East Kir ...

* Philip Bratley * Jimmy Broadhead * Frank Brown * Robert George Brown * Billy Clarkson * George Cook * Harry Draper *

Billy Easton William Easton (10 March 1904 – c.1982) was an English footballer who played at inside-forward for Blyth Spartans, Rotherham County, Montreal Maroons (Canada), Everton, Swansea Town, Port Vale, Aldershot, and Workington. Career Easton pla ...

* Charles Elliott * Reuben Grice * Tommy Hakin * John Hammerton * Howard Humphries * Richard Jackson * Jack Lambert *

Joe Lees Joseph William D. Lees (q1 1892 – 26 July 1933) was an English footballer who scored 31 goals from 92 appearances in the Football League playing for Barnsley, Rotherham County, Lincoln City and Halifax Town. He was a member of Rotherham Co ...

* James Lofthouse * Percy Mackrill * Jack Manning *

Ernest Milton Ernest Milton may refer to: * Ernest Milton (footballer) * Ernest Milton (actor) {{hndis, Milton, Ernest ...

John Murphy John Murphy may refer to: Arts and entertainment *John Francis Murphy (1853–1921), American landscape painter * John Murphy (fiddler) (1875–1955), Irish fiddle player *John Cullen Murphy (1919–2004), American illustrator * John Murphy (play ...

Billy Palmer William Palmer (1887–1955) was an English professional footballer who played for eight different clubs in over a seventeen-year span that was interrupted by the First World War. Originally from Barnsley, Palmer joined his home town club in ...

Albert Pape Albert Arthur Pape (13 June 1897 – 18 November 1955) was an English association football, footballer. His regular position was as a Forward (association football), forward. Born in Elsecar, West Riding of Yorkshire, he played for several club ...

George Reid Sir George Houston Reid (25 February 1845 – 12 September 1918) was a Scottish-born Australian and British politician, diplomat, and barrister who served as the fourth Prime Minister of Australia, prime minister of Australia from 1904 t ...

* Archie Roe * Joe Scott * George Simpson * George Stacey * George Thompson *

Joey Williams Joseph Joshua Williams (4 June 1902 – 1978) was an English footballer. Williams featured for clubs Arsenal, Carlisle United, Huddersfield Town, Middlesbrough, Rotherham County and Stoke City in his playing career. Career Williams was an ou ...

League and cup history

Honours

League

**Champions: 1911–12, 1912–13 1913–14, 1914–15

Cup

Sheffield & Hallamshire County Cup The Sheffield & Hallamshire County Cup was a county cup competition involving the professional sides within the Sheffield and Hallamshire County Football Association. It ran from 1920/21 to the mid-1990s, with several gaps between tournaments. E ...

**Winners: 1922–23 **Runners-up: 1924–25 *

Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cup The Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cup is a county cup competition involving teams within the Sheffield and Hallamshire County Football Association. Originally named the Sheffield Challenge Cup, it is the 5th oldest surviving cup competition ...

**Winners: 1912–13, 1913–14 **Runners-up: 1908–09

Records

*Best league performance: 16th, Football League Division 2, 1921–22 *Best

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

performance: 1st round, 1922–23

References

{{former football league members Defunct football clubs in England Association football clubs established in 1877 Association football clubs disestablished in 1925 English Football League clubs Sport in Rotherham Defunct football clubs in South Yorkshire 1877 establishments in England 1925 disestablishments in England Midland Football League (1889) Sheffield Association League Hatchard League