# 2016–17 Rotherham United F.C. season

The 2016–17 season was Rotherham United's 92nd season in their existence and their third consecutive season in the Championship. In the previous season, Rotherham secured their place in the championship with a 21st-placed finish, 9 points above the relegation zone. Along with competing in the Championship, the club also participated in the FA Cup, in which they entered in the third round, and the EFL Cup.

## Key events

On 1 June 2016, Rotherham appointed Alan Stubbs as manager, with John Doolan joining him as assistant manager. Both signed three-year contracts with the Millers. Two days later, the club announced the departure of first team coach Nicky Eaden.
On 30 June 2016, Andy Holden was appointed as first team coach. Holden had previously worked with Stubbs at Hibernian.
On 19 October 2016 the club announced the departure of Stubbs, Doolan and Holden with immediate effect.
Kenny Jackett was named manager on 21 October 2016, signing a three-year deal. On 28 November 39 days later and after only 5 games in charge, he resigned. Paul Warne took over as interim manager.
On 12 January 2017, the club changed goalkeeping coach, with Andy Dibble leaving for Cardiff and Mike Pollitt returning to the club for a third time to replace him.
Rotherham became the first side in the top six tiers of English football to be relegated in the 2016–17 season on 1 April, after losing 1–0 at home to Fulham.
On 5 April 2017, the club formally appointed Paul Warne as manager, on a one-year rolling contract.

## 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 | Championship | Championship | FA Cup | FA Cup | EFL Cup | EFL Cup | Discipline | Discipline |
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | | |
| 1 | GK | | Lee Camp | 18 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | GK | | Lewis Price | 18+1 | 0 | 16+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 18 | GK | | Richard O'Donnell | 12 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | GK | | Laurence Bilboe | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 46 | GK | | George McMahon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | | Stephen Kelly | 16+4 | 0 | 16+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | | Joe Mattock | 34+3 | 0 | 33+3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | | Kirk Broadfoot | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | | Richard Wood | 29+2 | 2 | 28+1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 14 | DF | | Dominic Ball | 12+1 | 0 | 12+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | | Semi Ajayi | 17 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | | Kelvin Wilson | 9 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | DF | | Darnell Fisher | 34+1 | 0 | 33+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| 23 | DF | | Tom Thorpe | 1+2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | DF | | Aymen Belaïd | 14+3 | 2 | 14+3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 29 | DF | | Joel Ekstrand | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | DF | | Ben Purrington | 7+3 | 0 | 7+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 40 | DF | | Mason Warren | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | DF | | Fabian Bailey | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | MF | | Will Vaulks | 33+9 | 1 | 31+9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | | Anthony Forde | 21+13 | 3 | 20+12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | | Lee Frecklington | 18+4 | 1 | 18+4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | | Jon Taylor | 36+7 | 4 | 35+7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | | Scott Allan | 5+6 | 0 | 4+6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | | Joe Newell | 29+6 | 2 | 28+6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | | Tom Adeyemi | 29+1 | 7 | 28+1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | | Alex Bray | 0+5 | 0 | 0+5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 33 | MF | | Richard Smallwood | 21+5 | 1 | 20+5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 42 | MF | | Darnelle Bailey-King | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | | Danny Ward | 41+2 | 12 | 40+1 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | | Carlton Morris | 6+2 | 0 | 6+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | | Jonson Clarke-Harris | 2+5 | 0 | 2+5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | | Dexter Blackstock | 5+12 | 1 | 4+12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 39 | FW | | Jerry Yates | 8+15 | 3 | 7+14 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | FW | | Kuda Muskwe | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players played for Rotherham this season on loan who returned to their parent club during the season: ||||||||||||||
| 18 | DF | | Dael Fry | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | | Jake Forster-Caskey | 6+1 | 0 | 5+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | FW | | Isaiah Brown | 17+3 | 3 | 17+3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Players played for Rotherham this season who have left the club: ||||||||||||||
| 15 | DF | | Greg Halford | 11+4 | 1 | 10+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 13 | FW | | Peter Odemwingie | 3+4 | 0 | 3+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |

### Goalscorers

    As of end of season.
| Place | Position | Number | Name | Total | Championship | FA Cup | EFL Cup |
| 1 | FW | 9 | Danny Ward | 12 | 11 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | MF | 24 | Tom Adeyemi | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | MF | 11 | Jon Taylor | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | MF | 7 | Anthony Forde | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| = | FW | 37 | Isaiah Brown | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| = | FW | 39 | Jerry Yates | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | DF | 6 | Richard Wood | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| = | MF | 22 | Joe Newell | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| = | DF | 26 | Aymen Belaïd | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | 4 | Will Vaulks | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| = | MF | 8 | Lee Frecklington | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| = | DF | 15 | Greg Halford | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| = | DF | 15 | Semi Ajayi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| = | FW | 20 | Dexter Blackstock | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| = | MF | 33 | Richard Smallwood | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |

## Pre-season friendlies

Source:

## Competitions
### Championship
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 20 | Burton Albion | 46 | 13 | 13 | 20 | 49 | 63 | −14 | 52 | |
| 21 | Nottingham Forest | 46 | 14 | 9 | 23 | 62 | 72 | −10 | 51 | |
| 22 | Blackburn Rovers (R) | 46 | 12 | 15 | 19 | 53 | 65 | −12 | 51 | Relegation to EFL League One |
| 23 | Wigan Athletic (R) | 46 | 10 | 12 | 24 | 40 | 57 | −17 | 42 | Relegation to EFL League One |
| 24 | Rotherham United (R) | 46 | 5 | 8 | 33 | 40 | 98 | −58 | 23 | Relegation to EFL League One |

#### 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 May 2017. Source:

#### Matchday summary

| 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 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 |
| Ground | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | D | L | L | W | L | D | D | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | D | L | L | L | L | W | L | L | W | L | L | W | L | L | L | L | D | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | D | L | W | D | D |
| Position | 8 | 19 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 23 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 |

#### Results
### FA Cup

On 5 December 2016, the third round draw for the EFL Cup was made.

### EFL Cup

On 22 June 2016, the first round draw for the EFL Cup was made.

## Transfers

    As of 5 September 2016

### Transfers in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| 1 July 2016 | LW | Anthony Forde | Walsall | Undisclosed |
| 16 July 2016 | GK | Lewis Price | Sheffield Wednesday | Free transfer |
| 22 July 2016 | CM | Will Vaulks | Falkirk | Undisclosed |
| 2 August 2016 | CB | Kelvin Wilson | Nottingham Forest | Free transfer |
| 3 August 2016 | RW | Jon Taylor | Peterborough United | Undisclosed |
| 10 August 2016 | RB | Darnell Fisher | Celtic | Undisclosed |
| 12 August 2016 | CB | Dominic Ball | Tottenham Hotspur | Undisclosed |
| 5 September 2016 | CF | Dexter Blackstock | Nottingham Forest | Free transfer |
| 24 October 2016 | CF | Peter Odemwingie | Free agent | Free transfer |
| 19 January 2017 | GK | Richard O'Donnell | Bristol City | Undisclosed |
| 30 January 2017 | LB | Ben Purrington | Plymouth Argyle | Undisclosed |
| 2 February 2017 | CB | Joel Ekstrand | Bristol City | Free transfer |

### Transfers out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| 1 July 2016 | CF | Luciano Becchio | Free agent | Released |
| 1 July 2016 | CF | Leon Best | Free agent | Released |
| 1 July 2016 | RB | Lewis Buxton | Free agent | Released |
| 1 July 2016 | GK | Alex Cairns | Free agent | Released |
| 1 July 2016 | GK | Adam Collin | Free agent | Released |
| 1 July 2016 | CB | Danny Collins | Free agent | Released |
| 1 July 2016 | CF | Matt Derbyshire | Omonia | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2016 | CB | Lloyd Doyley | Free agent | Released |
| 1 July 2016 | CM | Paul Green | Free agent | Released |
| 1 July 2016 | GK | Paddy Kenny | Free agent | Released |
| 1 July 2016 | CF | Emmanuel Ledesma | Free agent | Released |
| 1 July 2016 | RB | Frazer Richardson | Free agent | Released |
| 1 July 2016 | LW | Jerome Thomas | Free agent | Released |
| 6 January 2017 | CB | Greg Halford | Cardiff City | Undisclosed |
| 25 January 2017 | CF | Peter Odemwingie | Free agent | Released |
* ↑ Following Best's release, he signed for Ipswich Town.
* ↑ Following Buxton's release, he signed for Bolton Wanderers.
* ↑ Following Cairns' release, he signed for Fleetwood Town.
* ↑ Following Collin's release, he signed for Notts County.
* ↑ Following Doyley's release, he signed for Colchester United.
* ↑ Following Green's release, he signed for Oldham Athletic.
* ↑ Following Kenny's release, he signed for Northampton Town.
* ↑ Following Ledesma's release, he signed for Brentford.
* ↑ Following Richardson's release, he signed for Doncaster Rovers.
* ↑ Following Thomas' release, he signed for Port Vale.

### Loans in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Date until |
| 20 July 2016 | CM | Jake Forster-Caskey | Brighton & Hove Albion | 5 January 2017 |
| 4 August 2016 | CM | Scott Allan | Celtic | End of Season |
| 15 August 2016 | CF | Isaiah Brown | Chelsea | 6 January 2017 |
| 18 August 2016 | CM | Tom Adeyemi | Cardiff City | End of Season |
| 31 August 2016 | CB | Dael Fry | Middlesbrough | 4 January 2017 |
| 27 January 2017 | RW | Alex Bray | Swansea City | 9 June 2017 |
| 30 January 2017 | CB | Semi Ajayi | Cardiff City | End of Season |
| 31 January 2017 | CF | Carlton Morris | Norwich City | End of Season |
* ↑ Jake Forster-Caskey's loan deal was originally until the end of season, but agreement was reached to terminate early.
* ↑ Isaiah Brown's youth loan was originally until the end of the season, but he was recalled early by Chelsea.
* ↑ Dael Fry's loan deal was originally until the end of season, but agreement was reached to terminate early.

### Loans out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Date until |
| 17 August 2016 | CM | Chris Dawson | Viking | 10 January 2017 |
| 24 August 2016 | FW | Darnelle Bailey-King | Gainsborough Trinity | End of season |
| 26 August 2016 | FW | Kuda Muskwe | Stocksbridge Park Steels | 25 September 2016 |
| 26 August 2016 | CB | Tom Rose | Stocksbridge Park Steels | 25 September 2016 |
| 31 August 2016 | CM | Richard Smallwood | Scunthorpe United | 9 January 2017 |
| 31 August 2016 | CB | Tom Thorpe | Bolton Wanderers | End of Season |
| 2 September 2016 | GK | Laurence Bilboe | Mickelover Sports | 1 October 2016 |
| 10 October 2016 | FW | Kuda Muskwe | Grantham Town | 10 November 2016 |
| 13 October 2016 | LB | Mason Warren | Grantham Town | 12 November 2016 |
| 14 October 2016 | CB | Tom Rose | Sheffield | 17 January 2017 |
| 14 October 2016 | RB | Fabian Bailey | Sheffield | 13 November 2016 |
| 11 November 2016 | FW | Kuda Muskwe | Frickley Athletic | 10 December 2016 |
| 19 December 2016 | LB | Mason Warren | Matlock Town | 16 January 2017 |
| 3 January 2017 | CB | Dominic Ball | Peterborough United | End of Season |
| 17 February 2017 | CB | Tom Rose | Worcester City | End of season |
| 24 February 2017 | FW | Kuda Muskwe | Mickelover Sports | 23 March 2017 |
| 23 March 2017 | FW | Kuda Muskwe | Worcester City | End of season |
* ↑ Richie Smallwood's loan was originally until the end of the season, but agreement was reached to terminate it early.