2019–20 Rotherham United F.C. season explained

The 2019–20 season was Rotherham United's 95th season in their existence and the first back in the League One following relegation last season.^[1] The club also participated in the FA Cup, the EFL Cup and the EFL Trophy.

Key Events

Rotherham occupied second place in the League One table when the season was temporarily suspended on 31 March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[2]

Promotion back to the Championship was confirmed on 9 June 2020, when the EFL clubs voted to accept a proposal which would curtail the League One season and decide league positions on a points-per-game basis.^[3]

Squad statistics

Player statistics

http://www.soccerbase.com/teams/team.sd?team_id=2180&teamTabs=statsPlayers with zero appearances have been unused substitutes in one or more games.

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Total		League		FA Cup		EFL Cup		EFL Trophy		Discipline
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK		Daniel Iversen	38	0	34	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
12	GK		Lewis Price	5	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	3	0	1	0
30	GK		Laurence Bilboe	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	DF		Billy Jones	11+1	0	9+1	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	4	0
3	DF		Joe Mattock	23+2	1	22+2	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	4	1
5	DF		Adam Thompson	12+2	0	9+1	0	2+1	0	0	0	1	0	2	1
6	DF		Richard Wood	26+2	4	21+2	3	2	0	2	1	1	0	3	0
15	DF		Clark Robertson	21+1	2	17	2	1	0	2	0	1+1	0	3	0
18	DF		Trevor Clarke	5+5	1	4+4	0	1	0	0	0	0+1	1	3	0
20	DF		Michael Ihiekwe	38	4	33	2	3	2	2	0	0	0	4	0
22	DF		Matthew Olosunde	34+5	0	27+5	0	3	0	2	0	2	0	6	0
23	DF		Curtis Tilt	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
33	DF		Jake Southern-Cooper	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
4	MF		Shaun MacDonald	4+13	0	3+10	0	0	0	0+2	0	1+1	0	1	0
8	MF		Ben Wiles	35+5	3	28+5	3	3	0	2	0	2	0	2	0
11	MF		Daniel Barlaser	32+3	2	24+3	2	3	0	2	0	3	0	5	0
14	MF		Hakeeb Adelakun	8+1	0	8+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	MF		Jamie Lindsay	16+12	1	14+8	1	0+1	0	0+2	0	2+1	0	2	0
17	MF		Matt Crooks	35+4	11	31+2	9	2+1	1	2	1	0+1	0	9	0
19	MF		Chiedozie Ogbene	21+8	1	19+6	1	2+1	0	0	0	0+1	0	5	1
25	MF		Josh Koroma	0+5	0	0+5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
26	MF		Julien Lamy	2+3	0	0+3	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
7	FW		Kyle Vassell	17+7	6	13+7	4	2	1	2	1	0	0	1	0
9	FW		Jamie Proctor	1+4	0	0+3	0	0	0	0+1	0	1	0	0	0
10	FW		Freddie Ladapo	26+13	17	20+11	14	1+2	2	2	1	3	0	2	0
21	FW		Jerry Yates	0+1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	FW		Michael Smith	30+11	12	26+10	7	2+1	3	1+1	0	1+1	0	4	0
32	FW		Joshua Kayode	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0
34	FW		Jacob Gratton	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Players played for the club this season on loan who returned to their parent club during the season:
14	FW		Carlton Morris	15+12	4	11+10	3	2+1	0	1	0	2+1	1	3	0
23	FW		Jake Hastie	11+5	3	10+4	3	0+1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Players played for the club this season who were permanently transferred out before the end of the season:
31	DF		Akeem Hinds	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0

Goalscorers

http://www.soccerbase.com/teams/team.sd?team_id=2180&teamTabs=stats

width=60	Place	width=60	Position	width=60	Nation	width=60	Number	width=150	Name	width=80	Total	width=80	League	width=80	FA Cup	width=80	EFL Cup	width=80	Other
1	FW		10	Freddie Ladapo	17	14	2	1	0
2	FW		24	Michael Smith	12	9	3	0	0
3	MF		17	Matt Crooks	11	9	1	1	0
4	FW		7	Kyle Vassell	6	4	1	1	0
5	DF		6	Richard Wood	4	3	0	1	0
=	FW		14	Carlton Morris	4	3	0	0	1
=	DF		20	Michael Ihiekwe	4	2	2	0	0
8	MF		8	Ben Wiles	3	3	0	0	0
=	FW		23	Jake Hastie	3	3	0	0	0
10	MF		11	Daniel Barlaser	2	2	0	0	0
=	DF		15	Clark Robertson	2	2	0	0	0
12	DF		3	Joe Mattock	1	1	0	0	0
=	MF		16	Jamie Lindsay	1	1	0	0	0
=	MF		19	Chiedozie Ogbene	1	1	0	0	0
=	DF		18	Trevor Clarke	1	0	0	0	1

Pre-season friendlies

The club confirmed their usual opening pre-season friendly with Parkgate on 9 May 2019.^[4] A second friendly, at Farsley Celtic was announced on 14 May.^[5] A third friendly at Chesterfield was announced on 16 May.^[6] On 21 May the first home friendly, against Leicester City, was announced.^[7] A trip to Bradford Park Avenue was confirmed on 23 May 2019.^[8] A second home friendly, against West Brom was announced on 24 May 2019.^[9]

On 28 May 2019 the club announced that 1. FC Magdeburg would be the opposition for one of the games to take place during their German training camp.^[10]

Competitions

League One

See main article: 2019–20 EFL League One.

Matches

On Thursday, 20 June 2019, the EFL League One fixtures were revealed.^[11]

FA Cup

See main article: 2019–20 FA Cup.

The first round draw was made on 21 October 2019.^[12] The second round draw was made live on 11 November from Chichester City's stadium, Oaklands Park.^[13] The third round draw was made live on BBC Two from Etihad Stadium, Micah Richards and Tony Adams conducted the draw.^[14]

EFL Cup

See main article: 2019–20 EFL Cup.

The first round draw was made on 20 June.^[15] The second round draw was made on 13 August 2019 following the conclusion of all but one first-round matches.^[16]

EFL Trophy

See main article: 2019–20 EFL Trophy.

On 9 July 2019, the pre-determined group stage draw was announced with Invited clubs to be drawn on 12 July 2019.^[17]

Matches

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
1 July 2019				Free transfer	[18]
1 July 2019				Undisclosed	[19]
1 July 2019				Free transfer	[20] [21]
5 July 2019				Free transfer	[22]
24 July 2019				Undisclosed	[23]
29 July 2019				Undisclosed	[24]
27 August 2019				Free transfer	[25]
29 August 2019				Undisclosed	[26]
31 January 2020				Undisclosed	[27]

Loans in

Date from	Nationality	Name	From	Date until	Ref.
1 July 2019				8 January 2020	[28] [29]
3 July 2019				30 June 2020	[30]
22 July 2019				30 June 2020	[31]
2 September 2019				28 January 2020	[32] [33]
9 January 2020				30 June 2020	[34]
31 January 2020				30 June 2020	[35]

Loans out

Date from	Nationality	Name	To	Date until	Ref.
1 July 2019				21 January 2020	[36] [37]
5 July 2019				31 January 2020	[38] [39]
2 August 2019				22 August 2019	[40] [41]
3 August 2019				9 January 2020	[42] [43]
7 August 2019		Jacques Etia		30 June 2020	[44] [45]
30 August 2019				20 January 2020	[46] [47]
14 November 2019		Harrison Beeden		31 January 2020	[48] [49]
6 December 2019				25 April 2020	[50] [51]
15 January 2020				30 June 2020 Or end of season whichever later	[52] [53]
16 January 2020				February 2020	[54]
20 January 2020				30 June 2020
29 January 2020				30 June 2020	[55]
31 January 2020				30 June 2020	[56]

Transfers out

Date from	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
1 July 2019				Released
1 July 2019				Released
1 July 2019				Released
1 July 2019				Contract expired	[57] [58]
1 July 2019				Released	[59]
1 July 2019				Released
1 July 2019				Contract expired
1 July 2019				Contract expired	[60] [61]
1 July 2019				Undisclosed	[62]
1 July 2019				Contract expired	[63]
1 July 2019		Tyrone Lewthwaite		Contract expired
1 July 2019				Contract expired	[64]
2 July 2019				Undisclosed	[65]
20 July 2019				Undisclosed	[66]
29 January 2020				Released	[67]
31 January 2020				Mutual consent

Notes and References

1. News: Rotherham United history . Football Club History Database.
2. News: EFL suspends all Championship, League 1 and League 2 games over coronavirus . Burrows . Ben . . 13 March 2020.
3. News: League One and League Two clubs vote to curtail season and hold play-offs . Fisher . Ben . . 9 June 2020.
4. Web site: READ Millers to take on Parkgate in pre-season opener. Rotherham United Official Site. 9 May 2019.
5. Web site: READ Millers confirm second pre-season friendly. Rotherham United official site. 14 May 2019.
6. Web site: READ Third pre-season date confirmed. Rotherham United official site. 16 May 2019. 17 May 2019. 17 May 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190517125109/https://www.themillers.co.uk/news/2019/may/read--third-pre-season-date-confirmed/. dead.
7. Web site: READ Millers to host Foxes in pre-season. Rotherham United official site. 21 May 2019.
8. Web site: READ Millers to travel to Bradford Park Avenue in pre-season. Rotherham United official site. 23 May 2019.
9. Web site: READ Millers confirm home date with West Brom in pre-season. Rotherham United official site. 24 May 2019.
10. Web site: READ Millers confirm friendly on German tour. Rotherham United Official Site. 28 May 2019. 3 June 2019.
11. Web site: Sky Bet League One fixtures 2019/20 . . 20 June 2019.
12. Web site: FA Cup first-round draw . . 24 October 2019.
13. Web site: Emirates FA Cup second round Draw Made At Oaklands Park . . 16 November 2019.
14. Web site: Liverpool to host Everton in FA Cup third round . . 3 December 2019.
15. Web site: Carabao Cup first-round draw . . 20 June 2019.
16. Web site: Carabao Cup Round Two draw . . 14 August 2019.
17. Web site: EFL Trophy Round One Group Stage Draw . . 9 July 2019.
18. Web site: Millers sign midfielder . . 3 June 2019.
19. Web site: Freddie Ladapo: Rotherham United sign Plymouth Argyle striker for club-record fee. BBC Sport. 25 June 2019.
20. Web site: Lamy makes Millers move . . 27 June 2019.
21. Web site: Rotherham United to sign left-winger Julien Lamy. getfooballnewsfrance.com. 16 April 2019.
22. Web site: SIGNING USA international checks in at New York. Rotherham United F.C. Official Site. 5 July 2019.
23. Web site: SIGNING Jamie Lindsay joins the Millers. Rotherham United Official Site. 24 July 2019.
24. Web site: SIGNING Trevor Clarke makes Millers move. Rotherham United Official Site. 29 July 2019.
25. Web site: Millers bolster defensive ranks . . 27 August 2019.
26. Web site: Chiedozie Ogbene leaves Brentford and joins Rotherham United . . 29 August 2019.
27. News: Tilt Moves To Rotherham United . 31 January 2020 . Blackpool F.C..
28. Web site: Morris to return for second Millers loan stint . . 22 May 2019.
29. Web site: Norwich recall Carlton Morris from Millers loan . . 8 January 2020.
30. Web site: SIGNING Millers make loan swoop for Magpies midfielder. Rotherham United Official Site. 3 July 2019.
31. Web site: SIGNING Foxes stopper joins on loan. Rotherham United Official Site. 22 July 2019.
32. Web site: Jake Hastie joins on loan . . 2 September 2019.
33. Web site: READ Hastie returns to Rangers. Rotherham United F.C.. 28 January 2020.
34. News: Adelakun arrives on loan . 9 January 2020 . Rotherham United F.C..
35. News: Huddersfield Town winger Josh Koroma joins Rotherham United on loan . 31 January 2020 . Huddersfield Examiner.
36. Web site: Jerry joins Swindon . . 20 June 2019.
37. Web site: READ Yates recalled by Millers. Rotherham United F.C.. 22 January 2020.
38. Web site: Palmer Pens Season-Long Loan Switch . . 5 July 2019.
39. News: Palmer departs AESSEAL New York Stadium . 31 January 2020 . Rotherham United F.C..
40. Web site: Bradford (Park Avenue) sign Akeem Hinds on loan from Rotherham . . 2 August 2019.
41. Web site: Hinds Returns To Rotherham. Bradford Park Avenue Official Site. 22 August 2019. 27 August 2019.
42. Web site: Joshua Kayode heads out on loan . . 3 August 2019.
43. Web site: READ Kayode recalled from Gateshead loan. Rotherham United F.C.. 9 January 2020.
44. Web site: Millers youngster makes Brighouse loan move . . 7 August 2019.
45. Web site: Brighouse sign Rotherham striker on loan. Non League Yorkshire. 7 August 2019.
46. Web site: Iron sign Jamie Proctor on loan . . 30 August 2019.
47. Web site: READ Proctor recalled from Scunthorpe to join AFC Fylde on loan. Rotherham United F.C.. 20 January 2020.
48. Web site: Saturday's Transfer List - November 16th . . 21 November 2019 . 25 March 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200325191908/https://www.betvictornorthernpremier.co.uk/saturdays-transfer-list-november-16th-59788 . dead .
49. Web site: Beeden Extends Brighouse Stay. Northern Premier League. 13 December 2019.
50. Web site: Cooper heads out on loan . . 6 December 2019.
51. Web site: READ Jake Cooper extends loan stay at Gateshead. Rotherham United Official Site. 4 January 2020.
52. News: Striker in from the Millers . 15 January 2020 . Carlisle United F.C..
53. Web site: Kayode extends loan period with Carlisle United. Rotherham United F.C.. 15 May 2020.
54. News: Gratton moves out on loan . 16 January 2020 . Rotherham United F.C..
55. News: Yates re-joins Swindon on loan . 29 January 2020 . Rotherham United F.C..
56. News: Lamy joins AFC Wimbledon on loan . 31 January 2020 . Rotherham United F.C..
57. Web site: READ Newell thanks Millers for 'four memorable years'. Rotherham United Official Site. 5 June 2019.
58. Web site: Joe Newell Signs On . . 9 June 2019 . 11 June 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190611124311/http://www.hibernianfc.co.uk/news/10025 . dead .
59. Web site: Rotherham United: Jon Taylor & Ryan Williams among five players in talks with Millers. BBC Sport. 15 May 2019.
60. Web site: Jon Taylor, Ryan Williams and Richie Towell leaving Rotherham United. Rotherham Advertiser. 30 May 2019.
61. Web site: Ryan Williams: Portsmouth to re-sign Australia winger from Rotherham United. BBC Sport. 26 June 2019.
62. Web site: Will Vaulks, Joe Day and Curtis Nelson sign for Cardiff City. BBC Sport. 27 June 2019.
63. News: Paul Davis. Matt's made up to become a Bantam. Rotherham Advertiser. Sport. 12 July 2019. Regional Media Ltd. 33.
64. Web site: Anthony Forde becomes fourth winger to leave Rotherham United. Rotherham Advertiser. 28 June 2019.
65. Web site: Wembley hero Ben Purrington signs on a permanent deal . . 2 July 2019.
66. Web site: Ajayi completes West Brom switch . . 20 July 2019.
67. Web site: READ Hinds departs the Millers. . 29 January 2020.