Rotherham Town F.C. was a

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 ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The club was a member of

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 ...

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, 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 ...

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

in 1893. The club lost the Wharncliffe Charity Cup in 1889–90 in unusual circumstances; the final with Staveley ended 1–1, and Staveley could not play extra-time because of travel difficulties, so Town was told to walk the ball into the goal to claim the match. Somehow, Town managed to miss and there was nobody to take the subsequent goal-kick. The game was eventually replayed with Staveley winning. 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 and Clifton Grove. Arthur Wharton, 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 (association football), football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in ...

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

League and cup history

Colours

As Lunar Rovers, the club played in navy blue and white. From 1882 to 1892 it wore various combinations of chocolate and light blue, and as a League club settled on red jerseys with navy knickers.

Ground

The club's original ground was on Clifton Lane, and in 1891 it moved a short distance to a new ground it called Clifton Grove - indeed the club took its covered seated stand with it from the old to the new ground.Paul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) ''The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005'', Yore Publications, p38,

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

Division 2 *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: 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 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