# 2020–21 Tranmere Rovers F.C. season

The 2020–21 Tranmere Rovers F.C. season was the 137th season of Tranmere Rovers' existence and their first season return in EFL League Two having been relegated after the premature conclusion of the 2019-20 season due to COVID-19. Along with League Two, the club contested in the FA Cup, EFL Cup and EFL Trophy. The season covered the period from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021.

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| 5 August 2020 | DM | Jay Spearing | Blackpool | Free transfer |
| 10 August 2020 | LW | Otis Khan | Mansfield Town | Free transfer |
| 11 August 2020 | CF | James Vaughan | Bradford City | Free transfer |
| 17 August 2020 | CM | Paul Lewis | Cambridge United | Free transfer |
| 22 August 2020 | GK | Joe Murphy | Shrewsbury Town | Free transfer |
| 14 September 2020 | LW | Kaiyne Woolery | Swindon Town | Free transfer |
| 10 November 2020 | RW | Danny Lloyd | Salford City | Free transfer |
| 25 January 2021 | CF | Charlie Jolley | Wigan Athletic | Undisclosed |

### Loans in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Date until |
| 17 August 2020 | CB | Lee O'Connor | Celtic | 30 June 2021 |
| 19 August 2020 | LB | Calum Macdonald | Blackpool | 30 June 2021 |
| 17 September 2020 | RW | Liam Feeney | Blackpool | 30 June 2021 |
| 14 October 2020 | DM | Jack Young | Newcastle United | End of season |
| 16 October 2020 | CF | Sam Smith | Reading | January 2021 |
| 22 January 2021 | CM | Nya Kirby | Crystal Palace | End of season |
| 1 February 2021 | CM | Ali Crawford | Bolton Wanderers | End of season |
| 1 February 2021 | CF | David Nugent | Preston North End | End of season |

### Loans out

| Date from | Position | Nationality | Name | To | Date until | Ref. |
| 8 March 2021 | CB | | Mark Ellis | Notts County | End of season | |

### Transfers out

| Date | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| 1 July 2020 | CF | Connor Jennings | Stockport County | Free Transfer |
| 1 July 2020 | FW | Bailey Thompson | Tadcaster Albion | Free Transfer |
| 20 July 2020 | CF | Paul Mullin | Cambridge United | Free transfer |
| 1 August 2020 | DM | Luke McCullough | Glentoran | Free transfer |
| 6 August 2020 | RB | Jake Caprice | Exeter City | Free transfer |
| 7 August 2020 | RB | Evan Gumbs | Warrington Town | Free transfer |
| 17 August 2020 | DM | David Perkins | AFC Fylde | Free transfer |
| 22 August 2020 | CM | Harvey Gilmour | Stockport County | Free Transfer |
| 4 September 2020 | GK | Luke Pilling | Notts County | Free transfer |
| 16 October 2020 | CM | Neil Danns | Radcliffe | Free transfer |
| 22 October 2020 | CM | Darren Potter | Altrincham | Free transfer |
| 18 January 2021 | CM | Ollie Banks | Barrow | Undisclosed |
| 25 January 2021 | CF | Stefan Payne | Grimsby Town | Free transfer |
| 11 February 2021 | CF | Morgan Ferrier | Maccabi Petah Tikva | Undisclosed |

## Pre-season

Win  Draw  Loss  Postponed

## Competitions
### League Two
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 3 | Bolton Wanderers (P) | 46 | 23 | 10 | 13 | 59 | 50 | +9 | 79 | Promotion to the EFL League One |
| 4 | Morecambe (O, P) | 46 | 23 | 9 | 14 | 69 | 58 | +11 | 78 | Qualification for League Two play-offs |
| 5 | Newport County | 46 | 20 | 13 | 13 | 57 | 42 | +15 | 73 | Qualification for League Two play-offs |
| 6 | Forest Green Rovers | 46 | 20 | 13 | 13 | 59 | 51 | +8 | 73 | Qualification for League Two play-offs |
| 7 | Tranmere Rovers | 46 | 20 | 13 | 13 | 55 | 50 | +5 | 73 | Qualification for League Two play-offs |
| 8 | Salford City | 46 | 19 | 14 | 13 | 54 | 34 | +20 | 71 | |
| 9 | Exeter City | 46 | 18 | 16 | 12 | 71 | 50 | +21 | 70 | |
| 10 | Carlisle United | 46 | 18 | 12 | 16 | 60 | 51 | +9 | 66 | |
| 11 | Leyton Orient | 46 | 17 | 10 | 19 | 53 | 55 | −2 | 61 | |

#### Result summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 8 May 2021. Source:

#### 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 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | H | H | A | H | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | D | L | D | W | D | L | L | W | L | L | W | W | W | W | W | L | L | W | L | D | D | W | W | W | W | W | L | D | W | W | W | L | W | D | W | D | D | L | D | D | L | D | W | W | L | D |
| Position | 17 | 20 | 20 | 15 | 13 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 15 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 |

#### Matches

Win  Draw  Loss  Postponed
The 2020–21 season fixtures were released on 21 August.

#### Play-offs
### FA Cup

The draw for the first round was made on Monday 26, October. The second round draw was revealed on Monday, 9 November by Danny Cowley. The third round draw was made on 30 November, with Premier League and EFL Championship clubs all entering the competition.
Win  Draw  Loss  Postponed

### EFL Cup

Win  Draw  Loss  Postponed
The first round draw was made on 18 August, live on Sky Sports, by Paul Merson.

### EFL Trophy

Win  Draw  Loss  Postponed
The regional group stage draw was confirmed on 18 August. The second round draw was made by Matt Murray on 20 November, at St Andrew's. The third round was made on 10 December 2020 by Jon Parkin. The draw for the semi-final was announced on 5 February.
| Pos | Div | Teamvte | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | L2 | Port Vale | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 8 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 2 | L2 | Tranmere Rovers | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 6 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 3 | L1 | Wigan Athletic | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 4 | |
| 4 | ACA | Liverpool U21 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 13 | −8 | 0 | |

## Squad statistics

    Source:
    Numbers in parentheses denote appearances as substitute.
    Players with squad numbers struck through and marked † left the club during the playing season.
    Players with names in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Newport County.
    Players listed with no appearances have been in the matchday squad but only as unused substitutes.
    Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward