Football Season Review

It was another season of bitter disappointment for Tranmere Rovers, which ended in defeat in the play-off semi-finals by Morecambe. Rovers were relegated from League One after the final table was decided on 'points per game' and it left them with a real grudge against the Football League . Manager Micky Mellon left to join Dundee United and the promotion of assistant Michael Jackson proved a bad decision. Two wins in the opening ten league matches saw him sacked less than two months into the season. A remarkable resurgence under caretaker Ian Dawes was then carried on by the experienced Keith Hill as Rovers climbed up the table and into contention for automatic promotion. They reached the final of the EFL Trophy but were beaten 1-0 by Sunderland at Wembley. Two wins in the last eleven league games saw the side scrape into the play-off places but it wasn’t enough to save Hill, who was sacked after calling out his players. Dawes was given both games in charge against Morecambe and repeated Hill’s criticism of the players following a 3-2 aggregate defeat that saw them miss out on a return to Wembley. A knee injury to leading goalscorer James Vaughan that required surgery in March didn’t help but ultimately they weren’t good enough. Current Hartlepool United manager Dave Challinor has been linked with a return to his former club but whoever takes over will have get rid of the dead wood and rebuild the squad for next season.

Player of the Season: Jay Spearing