Football Season Review

A season of missed opportunities for Rotherham as they fall back into League One. They went into the final day still with a chance of staying up but conceding an 88th minute equaliser condemned them to relegation. The Millers, who came up from League One last season, were predicted to struggle and spent almost the entirety of this campaign in the bottom three. They were always in games but couldn’t take their chances, failed to take points from close matches and 19 of their 26 defeats were by a single-goal margin. They were badly affected by Covid-19, having to deal with two outbreaks at the club. This left them with games in hand on their relegation rivals, but during a punishing April schedule they were only able to pick up four points from nine games. A long-term injury to key attacking player Chiedozie Ogbene did not help their cause. The exciting winger missed over seven months of the season. Matt Crooks was again the driving force from midfield and his harsh suspension late in the season severely hampered their survival bid. With manager Paul Warne expected to stay, Rotherham could bounce straight back, especially as Warne has led successful League One promotion campaigns on two previous occasions. However, it remains to be seen how many of their current set of players will be left at the club as they have shown that they can perform well in the Championship.

Player of the Season: Matt Crooks