Rotherham relegated

[StocktonRover]

Lost to Plymouth tonight to seal their relegation.

[mushRTID]

23 points they have. Really really bad.

[DonnyNoel]

Watched the game, truly abysmal side but that's possibly more about a growing gap between the champ and L1 than RUFC specifcally. Be even worse if they didn't have suh a quality keeper.

[Pancho Regan]

I really wish we could be in League 1 next season.

Rotherham down, possibly to be joined by Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield.

They would be great fixtures.

As for Rotherham …… how sad

[Donnyjim]

Tony Christie Stewart’s money must be running out? Only a matter of time before they start sinking like a ship. If he pulls out out they are knackered. They need to remember that before having a go at him.

[Chris Black come back]

Rotherham United is a well run club financially but probably at the cost of being competitive in the Championship.

They have far lower debt than we have and last season in the Championship they had a wage bill of £8.5 million on turnover of £15 million and operating loss of only £1 million, which was less than we lost in League Two last season.

They had gates of 10k with season ticket sales of 6.7k (i.e. two thirds of their total matchday attendance is committed income). They struggle to monetise their talent though with relatively minimal player sale income.

Financially good but this is probably at the cost of being really poor on the pitch this season. They live largely within their means and are regularly in the Championship so that's not a bad outcome for them.

[colincramb]

With Stockport and Wrexham likely to spunk big money next season when they go up, I think league 1 will be difficult next season. They might be there a while

[Padge_DRFC]

League 1 looks very competitive next season already. League 2 on the other hand for me will be easier if the top 3 and MK Dons go up for sure.

[Campsall rover]

I really wish we could be in League 1 next season.

Rotherham down, possibly to be joined by Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield.

They would be great fixtures.

As for Rotherham …… how sad

And Barnsley if they don’t win the play offs will be in League 1
Don’t worry Pancho we will be playing all 4 of them the season after next.
If Chesterfield come up with us that’s another derby game. Could also have Lincoln if they don’t go up.
Bradford if they can scramble out of this league somehow is another.

That would be quite a season having so many derby’s
I think it is mid 1970’s since Rovers Rotherham & Barnsley have all been in the same league. 

[Chris Black come back]

Us getting back into League One and being a top half side there again should be the goal over the next few seasons. That’s a good outcome.

[Chris Black come back]

The 2005/6 season saw Doncaster Rovers, Barnsley and Rotherham United in the same league (League One).

[PDX_Rover]

Awwwwww.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

We're not going to see a truly fair and competitive Championship until the parachute payments are scrapped. 

[Chris Black come back]

Some rays of light though. Luton going up last season. Potentially Coventry in with a shot this season. It can happen but it is largely the usual suspects fuelled by parachute cash.

[Campsall rover]

The 2005/6 season saw Doncaster Rovers, Barnsley and Rotherham United in the same league (League One).

Forgot that one CBcb
My memory must be fading. 

[Nudga]

Although I can't stand Rotherham, I actually wanted them to stay up because the footballing powers that be really do not want the smaller clubs playing at these levels.
I bet the PL cartel hate the fact that Luton are in their elite members clubs.
I would much rather us battle it out with Rotherham in the championship than at lg1 and lg2 level.

[tyke1962]

Unless you have owners willing to lose millions of pounds every year just to stand still in the championship such as Preston , Bristol City , Millwall and Birmingham then you have to wonder what's the point of it .

It's not as if the financial rewards in the championship are that great , they aren't , ok the standard of football is way above league one but not necessarily from the teams we support and it's a slog without any real reward .

Getting promoted from League one is a fine achievement but the prize sucks .

If we get promoted this season then God help us next season in the championship , I'd struggle to name you two players in our current group who'd cut it at championship level , Herbie Kane possibly but that's about it .

I don't think neither Millers or Barnsley fans think for one minute that we are going to establish ourselves in the championship but half a chance would be nice .

Half a chance isn't even remotely possible and that's going over budget too I might add .

It's a while since Rovers were in the championship and I'd imagine this post might come across poorly given Rovers haven't had the best of times recently but if you were to have a season like the Millers have just had and ourselves had two years ago you'd find out that your aspirations are well and truly dead now and the championship is way out of your depth .

You begin to wonder what the point of it is anymore .

[Nudga]

Hopefully top flight football will implode on itself Tyke and we get our game back

[Chris Black come back]

Broadcast income is 7.5x in Championship than League One.

[tyke1962]

Hopefully top flight football will implode on itself Tyke and we get our game back

Well they've said that for years Nudga and nothing's changed and I personally don't think it will despite talk of a football regulator getting installed .

The big club's are too powerful with the EPL and EFL absolutely frightened to death of them , you could even include UEFA in that across Europe .

I'm afraid ourselves , Rotherham and I suspect Rovers are at best league one club's now and we are unlikely to be anymore than that going forward .

I know my club's best days are long gone , the only real satisfaction is that at least I saw them .

[tyke1962]

Broadcast income is 7.5x in Championship than League One.

It's all relative though , our last championship season saw us have a wage bill of £14.2m , the team barely got 30 points in the championship .

£14.2m is chicken feed in the championship and that's the reality .

[DonnyBazR0ver]

This just about sums up the reality.

"Getting promoted from League one is a fine achievement but the prize sucks"

[tyke1962]

This just about sums up the reality.

"Getting promoted from League one is a fine achievement but the prize sucks"

It's not just the reality of seeing your team rinsed most weeks in the championship it's also the consequences of actually having to try and compete up there to any reasonable satisfaction in a financial way .

The £14.2m wage bill that we accumulated in the championship was at least an attempt to try and stick around at that level and still we were way short of the required quality .

That then has serious financial implications for life in League One when relegation inevitably comes .

The owners had to roll out a Rights Issue to the tune of £10m to keep the club from going under last year .

We then sold Mads Andersen and Liam Kitching last summer for a collective £8m and none of that money will be getting reinvested in to the squad .

We tend to do our business in the out of contract market these days and haven't paid a transfer fee for anybody since we were relegated from the championship .

There are costs in that market but it's still the cheaper way of doing our business and excludes us from the wider market .

For all that the wage bill is still £9.2m to compete at the top end of league one and I don't actually believe that's really sustainable unless we sell a couple of players every year for decent money , which isn't guaranteed by any means .

This summer Kane , Cole , Cadden and Jordan Williams will all leave the club as free agents and I'm struggling to see where the good fees for our players will come from minus those four .

So even competing at the top end of league one is likely to be extremely difficult and this at a club who averages 12k every home game .

I go back to the point I made earlier , unless you have owners prepared to lose millions of pounds every year then any aspirations in football are extremely difficult .

[Prez]

Tony Christie Stewart’s money must be running out? Only a matter of time before they start sinking like a ship. If he pulls out out they are knackered. They need to remember that before having a go at him.

Its Tony Stewart.

I watched the game last night. In terms of quality it was truly horrific.

[colincramb]

This just about sums up the reality.

"Getting promoted from League one is a fine achievement but the prize sucks"

It's not just the reality of seeing your team rinsed most weeks in the championship it's also the consequences of actually having to try and compete up there to any reasonable satisfaction in a financial way .

The £14.2m wage bill that we accumulated in the championship was at least an attempt to try and stick around at that level and still we were way short of the required quality .

That then has serious financial implications for life in League One when relegation inevitably comes .

The owners had to roll out a Rights Issue to the tune of £10m to keep the club from going under last year .

We then sold Mads Andersen and Liam Kitching last summer for a collective £8m and none of that money will be getting reinvested in to the squad .

We tend to do our business in the out of contract market these days and haven't paid a transfer fee for anybody since we were relegated from the championship .

There are costs in that market but it's still the cheaper way of doing our business and excludes us from the wider market .

For all that the wage bill is still £9.2m to compete at the top end of league one and I don't actually believe that's really sustainable unless we sell a couple of players every year for decent money , which isn't guaranteed by any means .

This summer Kane , Cole , Cadden and Jordan Williams will all leave the club as free agents and I'm struggling to see where the good fees for our players will come from minus those four .

So even competing at the top end of league one is likely to be extremely difficult and this at a club who averages 12k every home game .

I go back to the point I made earlier , unless you have owners prepared to lose millions of pounds every year then any aspirations in football are extremely difficult .

Sorry, I’m not buying this depressing outlook. Look at Luton. The dream is still alive if everything aligns in a club. Thats what should keep everyone interested. It can still be done without a billionaire oil merchant.

[Chris Black come back]

It’s worth highlighting that Luton went up last season with a wage bill of £27.6 million amounting to 150pc of their revenue last season.

[tyke1962]

This just about sums up the reality.

"Getting promoted from League one is a fine achievement but the prize sucks"

It's not just the reality of seeing your team rinsed most weeks in the championship it's also the consequences of actually having to try and compete up there to any reasonable satisfaction in a financial way .

The £14.2m wage bill that we accumulated in the championship was at least an attempt to try and stick around at that level and still we were way short of the required quality .

That then has serious financial implications for life in League One when relegation inevitably comes .

The owners had to roll out a Rights Issue to the tune of £10m to keep the club from going under last year .

We then sold Mads Andersen and Liam Kitching last summer for a collective £8m and none of that money will be getting reinvested in to the squad .

We tend to do our business in the out of contract market these days and haven't paid a transfer fee for anybody since we were relegated from the championship .

There are costs in that market but it's still the cheaper way of doing our business and excludes us from the wider market .

For all that the wage bill is still £9.2m to compete at the top end of league one and I don't actually believe that's really sustainable unless we sell a couple of players every year for decent money , which isn't guaranteed by any means .

This summer Kane , Cole , Cadden and Jordan Williams will all leave the club as free agents and I'm struggling to see where the good fees for our players will come from minus those four .

So even competing at the top end of league one is likely to be extremely difficult and this at a club who averages 12k every home game .

I go back to the point I made earlier , unless you have owners prepared to lose millions of pounds every year then any aspirations in football are extremely difficult .

Sorry, I’m not buying this depressing outlook. Look at Luton. The dream is still alive if everything aligns in a club. Thats what should keep everyone interested. It can still be done without a billionaire oil merchant.

I've seen the perfect season Colin when all the ducks lined up and it was wonderful , even in my wildest dreams I never thought it would happen .

Here's the thing though , it came at a price , within four years of that PL season we were in administration and this at a time when the game was still way more equal than now .

Not just ourselves either , Bradford City , Oldham Athletic and  Swindon Town all had the kind of season's you spoke about .

It doesn't end well , it almost bankrupted Huddersfield Town recently and I suspect it will happen times over with club's currently living the dream , Bournemouth , Brentford or even Luton Town .

I remember as the clock ticked towards us going out of business altogether in 2003 asking myself , " was it worth it " .

To tell the truth at that point it wasn't because we were within hours of going under .