Football Season Review

Rotherham entered the season following a torrid Championship campaign and gave Paul Warne free reign to rebuild the squad and try to engineer a return to the second tier. Despite being in a higher division the season before, the Millers were not really seen as one of the favourites to achieve promotion, as they started the season with a new-look side and Warne indeed needed time to get his men to play according to their full potential, although there were definitely some flashes of promise early in the campaign. Rotherham got better and better as time elapsed, while a lengthy unbeaten run which they had midway through the season even got them dreaming of direct promotion. It was a dream that ultimately proved unrealistic, as Wigan and Blackburn were too far ahead, but Warne's men secured a play-off place with a month of the season to spare and entered the play-offs in a fine mood. They beat Scunthorpe on aggregate with a 4:2 scoreline to set up a play-off final meeting with Shrewsbury, who they beat with a 2:1 scoreline after extra-time to return to the second tier at the first time of asking. Warne deserves a lot of praise for the way he stabilized a side in turmoil, but now faces an equally tough task as, by Championship standards, Rotherham are a small club and their boss will need to display some clever management if he is to keep them up.

Player of the Season: Will Vaulks