# 2019–20 Rotherham United F.C. season

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. 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.
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.

## Squad statistics
### Player statistics

    As of end of season.
Players with zero appearances have been unused substitutes in one or more games.
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | Total | Total | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | EFL Cup | EFL Cup | EFL Trophy | EFL Trophy | Discipline | Discipline |
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | 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

    As of end of season.
| Place | Position | Number | Name | Total | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | 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. A second friendly, at Farsley Celtic was announced on 14 May. A third friendly at Chesterfield was announced on 16 May. On 21 May the first home friendly, against Leicester City, was announced. A trip to Bradford Park Avenue was confirmed on 23 May 2019. A second home friendly, against West Brom was announced on 24 May 2019.
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.
* ↑ The friendly at Farsley was cancelled due to concerns over the state of the pitch.

## Competitions
### League One
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | PPG | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Coventry City (C, P) | 34 | 18 | 13 | 3 | 48 | 30 | +18 | 67 | 1.97 | Promotion to the EFL Championship |
| 2 | Rotherham United (P) | 35 | 18 | 8 | 9 | 61 | 38 | +23 | 62 | 1.77 | Promotion to the EFL Championship |
| 3 | Wycombe Wanderers (O, P) | 34 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 45 | 40 | +5 | 59 | 1.74 | Qualification for League One play-offs |
| 4 | Oxford United | 35 | 17 | 9 | 9 | 61 | 37 | +24 | 60 | 1.71 | Qualification for League One play-offs |
| 5 | Portsmouth | 35 | 17 | 9 | 9 | 53 | 36 | +17 | 60 | 1.71 | Qualification for League One play-offs |
| 6 | Fleetwood Town | 35 | 16 | 12 | 7 | 51 | 38 | +13 | 60 | 1.71 | Qualification for League One play-offs |
| 7 | Peterborough United | 35 | 17 | 8 | 10 | 68 | 40 | +28 | 59 | 1.69 | |
| 8 | Sunderland | 36 | 16 | 11 | 9 | 48 | 32 | +16 | 59 | 1.64 | |
* ↑ Four teams play for one spot and promotion to the EFL Championship.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 7 March 2020. Source: BBC

#### Results by matchday

| Matchday | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A |
| Result | W | L | W | D | L | W | D | D | L | W | W | L | W | L | W | W | W | L | L | D | D | W | W | W | W | W | L | W | W | W | D | W | D | D | L |
| Position | 6 | 13 | 6 | 13 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |

#### Matches

On Thursday, 20 June 2019, the EFL League One fixtures were revealed.

### FA Cup

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

### EFL Cup

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

### EFL Trophy

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

#### Table

| Pos | Div | Teamvte | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | ACA | Manchester United U21 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 9 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 2 | L1 | Doncaster Rovers | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 3 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 3 | L1 | Lincoln City | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | L1 | Rotherham United | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 3 | |

#### Matches
## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date from | Name | From | Fee |
| 1 July 2019 | Shaun MacDonald | Wigan Athletic | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2019 | Freddie Ladapo | Plymouth Argyle | Undisclosed |
| 1 July 2019 | Julien Lamy | Free Agent | Free transfer |
| 5 July 2019 | Matthew Olosunde | Free Agent | Free transfer |
| 24 July 2019 | Jamie Lindsay | Ross County | Undisclosed |
| 29 July 2019 | Trevor Clarke | Shamrock Rovers | Undisclosed |
| 27 August 2019 | Adam Thompson | Bury | Free transfer |
| 29 August 2019 | Chiedozie Ogbene | Brentford | Undisclosed |
| 31 January 2020 | Curtis Tilt | Blackpool | Undisclosed |

### Loans in

| Date from | Name | From | Date until |
| 1 July 2019 | Carlton Morris | Norwich City | 8 January 2020 |
| 3 July 2019 | Daniel Barlaser | Newcastle United | 30 June 2020 |
| 22 July 2019 | Daniel Iversen | Leicester City | 30 June 2020 |
| 2 September 2019 | Jake Hastie | Rangers | 28 January 2020 |
| 9 January 2020 | Hakeeb Adelakun | Bristol City | 30 June 2020 |
| 31 January 2020 | Josh Koroma | Huddersfield Town | 30 June 2020 |

### Loans out

| Date from | Name | To | Date until |
| 1 July 2019 | Jerry Yates | Swindon Town | 21 January 2020 |
| 5 July 2019 | Matt Palmer | Bradford City | 31 January 2020 |
| 2 August 2019 | Akeem Hinds | Bradford (Park Avenue) | 22 August 2019 |
| 3 August 2019 | Joshua Kayode | Gateshead | 9 January 2020 |
| 7 August 2019 | Jacques Etia | Brighouse Town | 30 June 2020 |
| 30 August 2019 | Jamie Proctor | Scunthorpe United | 20 January 2020 |
| 14 November 2019 | Harrison Beeden | Brighouse Town | 31 January 2020 |
| 6 December 2019 | Jake Cooper | Gateshead | 25 April 2020 |
| 15 January 2020 | Joshua Kayode | Carlisle United | 30 June 2020 Or end of season whichever later |
| 16 January 2020 | Jacob Gratton | Scarborough Athletic | February 2020 |
| 20 January 2020 | Jamie Proctor | A.F.C. Fylde | 30 June 2020 |
| 29 January 2020 | Jerry Yates | Swindon Town | 30 June 2020 |
| 31 January 2020 | Julien Lamy | AFC Wimbledon | 30 June 2020 |

### Transfers out

| Date from | Name | To | Fee |
| 1 July 2019 | David Ball | Free agent | Released |
| 1 July 2019 | Dominic Ball | Free agent | Released |
| 1 July 2019 | Alex Bray | Free agent | Released |
| 1 July 2019 | Joe Newell | Hibernian | Contract expired |
| 1 July 2019 | Manny Onariase | Free agent | Released |
| 1 July 2019 | Darren Potter | Free agent | Released |
| 1 July 2019 | Jon Taylor | Free agent | Contract expired |
| 1 July 2019 | Ryan Williams | Portsmouth | Contract expired |
| 1 July 2019 | Will Vaulks | Cardiff City | Undisclosed |
| 1 July 2019 | Reece McGinley | Free agent | Contract expired |
| 1 July 2019 | Tyrone Lewthwaite | Free agent | Contract expired |
| 1 July 2019 | Anthony Forde | Free agent | Contract expired |
| 2 July 2019 | Ben Purrington | Charlton Athletic | Undisclosed |
| 20 July 2019 | Semi Ajayi | West Bromwich Albion | Undisclosed |
| 29 January 2020 | Akeem Hinds | Free Agent | Released |
| 31 January 2020 | Matt Palmer | Free agent | Mutual consent |
* ↑ Originally January 2020, but was recalled.
* ↑ David Ball subsequently signed for Wellington Phoenix.
* ↑ Dominic Ball subsequently signed for Queens Park Rangers.
* ↑ Bray subsequently signed for Hereford.
* ↑ Onariase subsequently signed for Dagenham & Redbridge.
* ↑ Potter subsequently signed for Tranmere Rovers.
* ↑ Taylor subsequently signed for Doncaster Rovers.
* ↑ McGinley subsequently joined Crusaders.
* ↑ Lewthwaite subsequently joined Hampton & Richmond Borough.
* ↑ Forde subsequently joined Oxford United.
* ↑ Hinds subsequently joined Lincoln City.
* ↑ Palmer subsequently joined Swindon Town.