Melchester Rovers - The Full Wiki The Full Wiki More info on Melchester Rovers Wikis Note: Many of our articles have direct quotes from sources you can cite, within the Wikipedia article! This article doesn't yet, but we're working on it! See more info or our list of citable articles . Related top topics From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Melchester Rovers Away colours Melchester Rovers are a fictional football team with whom Roy Race spent most of his illustrious career in the British comic strip Roy of the Rovers , which first appeared in Tiger at its inception in 1954. Contents Advertisements Early years According to the comic strip's continuity, Melchester Rovers were founded in 1885 winning at least three League Championships and a number of FA Cups during the pre-war years of their existence. In 1954, however, the first Roy of the Rovers strip appeared, telling the story of the club and its star striker Roy Race (whose grandfather, Billy Race, had played for the club in the early part of the 20th Century). Melchester finally became League Champions in 1958, and won the FA Cup the following season, by which time Race was captain.

1960s It was in the 1960s, however, that Rovers became a footballing force to be bargained with. The decade brought three league titles, two FA Cups , two European Cups , one European Cup Winners' Cup and one Intercontinental Cup . It wasn't a decade without its problems, though, and in an example of the topsy-turvy nature of the history that would follow, Rovers only narrowly avoided relegation at the end of 1967, the same year they won the Cup Winners' Cup. 1970s In 1972, Rovers achieved their first - and currently only - League and Cup " Double ", and later that year, long-serving team manager Ben Galloway was promoted upstairs to General Manager, with former Rovers winger Tony Storme taking over team affairs. His tenure began well, with a third European Cup win in 1973, and Rovers began the next season with an all-new, modern strip and a strong sense of optimism. Poor results and a spate of injuries, however, meant a demoralising first half of the season, with many of the team believing the new kit was "jinxed".

Happily, this was overcome, and despite a disappointing league season, achieved their first domestic cup double, winning the League Cup in addition to another FA Cup. In 1975, though, a humiliating defeat in the 3rd Round of the Cup to non-league minnows Sleeford Town led to the disappearance of manager Tony Storme. Roy Race took over as player-manager, and kept the post when Storme came out of hiding some months later and made his retirement official. Race's Melchester won a trophy at their first attempt, the 1975 Cup Winners' Cup. The first title under Roy came two years later, in 1977, the season in which a supermarket chain offered a (then) staggering £30,000 to the first player in England to score 50 League and Cup goals. The competition went down to the last day of the season, and was won by Mervyn Wallace, despite many fans' belief that Race himself had got the last touch on what would have been his 50th goal.

Controversy reigned in 1978, when it was rumoured that Race was due to accept a £1million offer to take over as team manager of Middle-Eastern state Basran. Rovers' form slumped, and Ben Galloway temporarily took back over as manager. However, once the rumours were quashed, Roy was reinstated and Rovers pulled themselves out of the relegation zone, the 1978-79 season ending in style with a UEFA Cup win. 1980s The 1980s were full of drama with many events of a "soap opera" style, the sort that would eventually inspire series like Sky One 's Dream Team . Melchester were League Champions in 1979-80 but were relegated to Division Two by one goal just one year later. The 1981-82 season saw a potential tragedy when Roy was shot by a jealous actor, Elton Blake, who was due to play him in a TV series about the club. Rovers set a new league goal-scoring record - 14-0 against Keysborough - an event that saw Roy recover from his coma when the commentary was played in the hospital.

Sir Alf Ramsey managed the club during this period and helped Rovers to set a new league record of 34 games undefeated and comfortably win the Second Division. Roy recovered to start the 1982-83 season where Mel Park becomes Britain's first all-seater stadium. However, in April 1983 Roy sensationally quit Melchester after a row with Rovers chairman Sam Barlow and signed for Walford Rovers. Blackie Gray was appointed new player-manager, but his reign was short-lived, as Roy returned in December 1983 and led an injury-ravaged Rovers to an unlikely FA Cup win over Walford. They followed up this dramatic FA Cup win with an equally dramatic European Cup-Winners' Cup victory on penalties against Real Santana of Spain in 1985 (Rovers would not reappear in Europe for another five years due to English clubs being banned). The following season was an eventful one, as Roy shook up the team by signing retired players turned TV pundits Bob Wilson and Emlyn Hughes , as well as two members of pop group Spandau Ballet !

Rovers won the Milk Cup , beating Tynecaster 3-0 and set a new league record of 12 consecutive games without conceding a goal, but in the close season, the club faced its biggest tragedy ever when a terrorist bomb in Basran killed eight team members - Noel Baxter, Vic Guthrie, Steve Naylor, Carl Hunt, Neville Jones, Kenny Logan, Jimmy Slade and Trevor Cassidy. Roy dedicated Rovers' 2-1 Littlewoods Cup Final win over Stambridge City in 1987 to those players. 1987-88 saw the club become League Champions once again, but they were fighting relegation in 1988-89 during a season that saw them play most of their home matches at Wembley Stadium after massive local subsidence during a match led to Mel Park being closed for major reconstruction. Rovers avoided relegation with a 3-1 win over Melboro' in the season's final match. 1990s Rovers started the decade well by winning the 1990 FA Cup Final, 2-1 against Weston Villa.

They were League Champions in 1991-92 while Roy set a new league goal-scoring record, notching up his 436th goal to win a charity bet with former record-holder and now TV pundit "Chippy" Croker (an obvious analogue for Jimmy Greaves ). 1992-93 saw a season of turmoil when Roy resigned as manager live on Sky TV. He returned before the end of the season, but on the way to scout a promising youth player, crashed his helicopter and was left in a coma and badly injured. He recovered in time for the 1993-94 season, but learned that his left foot had been amputated. Recovering, he left England to become manager of Italian side AC Monza. With his departure, Rovers' fortunes became bleaker, occasional moments of brilliance from players such as Roy's son "Rocky" Race and the Nigerian Paul "Del" Ntende shining among the troubles, which included now-manager Blackie Gray resigning after receiving death threats, and the club only narrowly avoiding relegation in the 1993/94 season, with Rocky scoring a last-minute goal to save them.

However, soon after that match a Melchester Director was found guilty of attempting to bribe the opposition to throw the game. They won the FA Cup in 1995 but, after the death of Rocky's mother Penny in a car crash in Italy, Rocky quit Rovers to join fierce local rivals Melborough. 1995-96 was a complete disaster for Rovers as more top players left after a bribery scandal shamed the club, and they were relegated at the end of the season into Division One. In 1996-97, Roy Race Sr. returned to manage the club, and arrived in time to save the Rovers from an impending second successive relegation. In 1997-98, Rovers finished the season fourth in Division One but won in the play-offs to gain promotion back to the Premier League. Following Rocky's transfer back to the club, they won the 1999 FA Cup in extra time, and the turnaround was complete in 1999-2000, when they won the Premier League title on the last day of the season, their first top-flight title in eight years and their most recent to date.

The following season, Race was finally able to buy out the club's owners, the Vitner brothers, and the club began to look forward to the new millennium, with a planned move to an exciting new stadium under the ownership of their greatest hero. Colours and kits The various kits worn by Melchester over the years Melchester Rovers' colours have always involved some combination of red and yellow, although as with real life professional teams, their precise shirt designs have varied considerably over the years. When the comic was first introduced, the club played in plain red shirts with yellow sleeves, and navy blue shorts. This strip persisted for many years, until a dramatic new look was introduced in 1973. This involved an all-red strip, with a yellow vertical stripe running down one side of the shirt, one on the other side of the shorts, and a yellow "T"-shape on the socks. In addition, the shirts uniquely featured the players' numbers on one sleeve. This kit was worn until 1981, when Rovers were relegated to the Second Division, and switched back to a more conventional, symmetrical design.

This shirt featured yellow bands across the chest, waist and sleeves, and would remain until 1986, when following the drastic rebuilding of the team a fresh new kit was introduced, this time all-red with a narrow yellow stripe running down each side. Then in 1991, a competition was held for Roy of the Rovers readers to design a new kit for the team. The winning entry was a simple and classic combination of yellow and red stripes with red shorts. Variations on this kit (sometimes using more yellow than red) would continue to be used until the end of the weekly comic, and for the duration of the subsequent monthly one. However, when ROTR strips returned in Match of the Day Magazine in 1997, a new kit had been introduced. Unusually, this kit was predominantly yellow, with a large red star motif across the chest and back. This strip did not last long, however, as the following season another strip appeared. This was again all-red, with yellow trim, and a predominant yellow "V" shape across the front and back of the shirt. This was the last kit that Melchester have been seen to play in.

Away strips were not seen very often in the ROTR comic, but three main designs were used, particularly in the 1980s - a plain blue shirt with white shorts and red socks, a yellow shirt with a red stripe running down its side with yellow shorts with a red line running down its other side and an all-white kit that also sometimes employed red socks. After 1992, Rovers away kits would generally be all-white with some combination of yellow and red trim, and in the Match of the Day strips the same design as the home kit, in white and red, was used. As in real football, shirt sponsorship logos were non existent prior to the 1980s, and when eventually introduced to the strip, their use was intermittent. The first genuine commercial logo, that of Gola appeared on the new kit in 1981 but disappeared the subsequent year. The 1986 kit first appeared with Nike branding, but again this would be removed after one season. The shirts were blank for a while, but in the last couple of years saw the comic's publishers Panini and Fleetway used.

When the striped kit was introduced in 1992, meanwhile, it featured Sega as the sponsors. This deal only lasted for a season, however, and for the last season portrayed by the weekly comic TSB appeared on the shirts. This deal carried over to the monthly comic, after which for a short time the shirts were again sponsorless, before a deal with Subbuteo saw that brand appear for the final few issues. The predominantly yellow kit introduced in Match of the Day magazine saw MotD itself as the sponsor, only to be replaced by McDonald's after only two episodes. This latter instance marked perhaps the first time Melchester's shirts made use of appropriate corporate colours! Honours Note that all records are fictional, and only date as far as 2000, the last completed season of the comic strip. 1967, 1971, 1975, 1985 Opponents and rivalries Although throughout Roy Race's playing career there was never a definitive list published of who the other teams in the First Division were, the majority of sides Rovers played against were familiar names who they opposed regularly in later years.

These included: Blackport, Burndean, Carford City, Castlemere, Danefield, Deans Park, Eastoke, Gatesfield, Holverton, Kelburn, Kingsbay, Melborough, North Vale, Oldfield, Portdean, Redstoke, Stambridge City, Tynecaster, Walford Rovers (who Roy managed in 1983) and Weston Villa (also known as Western Villa). There were also several lower league sides who Rovers met in cup football and their occasional stints outside the top-flight, as well as foreign teams in European matches. For much of the story's history, Rovers' traditional local rivals were Melborough (sometimes shortened to Melboro). For decades, Melchester held the upper hand over their cross-city neighbours, but in later years Melborough became a major force and were in a higher division than Rovers in the late 1990s. Melborough often had outspoken managers, most notably Andy Jackson and Ralph Gordon (who made an ill-fated and unpopular switch to Rovers in 1992), to help intensify the rivalries.

The monthly comic (1993-95) changed the sides Rovers played, basing them on real-life clubs (Toxteth being Liverpool; Prestwich North End replacing Manchester United etc). The comic featured Melchester City as ambitious Football League newcomers who believed they could ultimately compete with Rovers. However, they did not reappear in any future Roy of the Rovers storylines, and nor did the other sides Rovers faced in this period. Notable players The Melchester squad of 1986/87, including Blackie Gray and Roy Race, second and third from the left respectively in the front row Roy Race (1996 - ) Other clubs Due to the popularity of the Roy of the Rovers strip, a number of amateur football clubs have chosen to name themselves after Melchester Rovers in recent years. Examples include a team in New York City composed of Americans and British citizens living in New York, and a club playing out of Rozelle, Sydney, Australia comprising British, Irish and Australian players. It is also a popular name for fantasy football teams.

There is a successful football team in San Francisco, CA, USA called Melchester Rovers , founded in 1997, composed largely of Irish and American citizens. In Dunedin, New Zealand, there are over 25 junior and senior teams making up a club called Melchester Rovers . See also Tiger (comic) Notes ^ Up until 1992, the top division of English football was the Football League First Division ; since then, it has been the FA Premier League . References melchester rovers : definition of melchester rovers and synonyms of melchester rovers (English) History Early years According to the comic strip's continuity, Melchester Rovers were founded in 1885 winning at least three League Championships and a number of FA Cups during the pre-war years of their existence. In 1954, however, the first Roy of the Rovers strip appeared, telling the story of the club and its star striker Roy Race (whose grandfather, Billy Race, had played for the club in the early part of the 20th Century). Melchester finally became League Champions in 1958, and won the FA Cup the following season, by which time Race was captain.

1960s It was in the 1960s, however, that Rovers became a footballing force to be reckoned with. The decade brought three league titles, two FA Cups , two European Cups , one European Cup Winners' Cup and one Intercontinental Cup . It wasn't a decade without its problems, though, and in an example of the topsy-turvy nature of the history that would follow, Rovers only narrowly avoided relegation at the end of 1967, the same year they won the Cup Winners' Cup. 1970s In 1972, Rovers achieved their first – and currently only – League and Cup " Double ", and later that year, long-serving team manager Ben Galloway was promoted upstairs to General Manager, with former Rovers winger Tony Storme taking over team affairs. His tenure began well, with a third European Cup win in 1973, and Rovers began the next season with an all-new, modern strip and a strong sense of optimism. Poor results and a spate of injuries, however, meant a demoralising first half of the season, with many of the team believing the new kit was "jinxed".

Happily, this was overcome, and despite a disappointing league season, achieved their first domestic cup double, winning the League Cup in addition to another FA Cup. In 1975, though, a humiliating defeat in the 3rd Round of the Cup to non-league minnows Sleeford Town led to the disappearance of manager Tony Storme. Roy Race took over as player-manager, and kept the post when Storme came out of hiding some months later and made his retirement official. Race's Melchester won a trophy at their first attempt, the 1975 Cup Winners' Cup. The first title under Roy came two years later, in 1977, the season in which a supermarket chain offered a (then) staggering £30,000 to the first player in England to score 50 League and Cup goals. The competition went down to the last day of the season, and was won by Mervyn Wallace, despite many fans' belief that Race himself had got the last touch on what would have been his 50th goal.

Controversy reigned in 1978, when it was rumoured that Race was due to accept a £1million offer to take over as team manager of Middle-Eastern state Basran. Rovers' form slumped, and Ben Galloway temporarily took back over as manager. However, once the rumours were quashed, Roy was reinstated and Rovers pulled themselves out of the relegation zone, the 1978–79 season ending in style with a UEFA Cup win. 1980s Martin Kemp (left) and Steve Norman of pop group Spandau Ballet played for Rovers in the 1980s. The 1980s were full of drama with many events of a "soap opera" style, the sort that would eventually inspire series like Sky One 's Dream Team . Melchester were League Champions in 1979–80 but were relegated to Division Two by one goal just one year later. The 1981–82 season saw a potential tragedy when Roy was shot by a jealous actor, Elton Blake, who was due to play him in a TV series about the club.

Rovers set a new league goal-scoring record – 14–0 against Keysborough – an event that saw Roy recover from his coma when the commentary was played in the hospital. Sir Alf Ramsey managed the club during this period and helped Rovers to set a new league record of 34 games undefeated and comfortably win the Second Division. Roy recovered to start the 1982–83 season where Mel Park becomes Britain's first all-seater stadium. However, in April 1983 Roy sensationally quit Melchester after a row with Rovers chairman Sam Barlow and signed for Walford Rovers. Blackie Gray was appointed new player-manager, but his reign was short-lived, as Roy returned in December 1983 and led an injury-ravaged Rovers to an unlikely FA Cup win over Walford. They followed up this dramatic FA Cup win with an equally dramatic European Cup-Winners' Cup victory on penalties against Real Santana of Spain in 1985 (Rovers would not reappear in Europe for another five years due to English clubs being banned).

The following season was an eventful one, as Roy shook up the team by signing retired players turned TV pundits Bob Wilson and Emlyn Hughes , as well as two members of pop group Spandau Ballet . Rovers won the Milk Cup , beating Tynecaster 3–0 and set a new league record of 12 consecutive games without conceding a goal, but in the close season, the club faced its biggest tragedy ever when a terrorist bomb in Basran killed eight team members – Noel Baxter, Vic Guthrie, Steve Naylor, Carl Hunt, Neville Jones, Kenny Logan, Jimmy Slade and Trevor Cassidy. Roy dedicated Rovers' 2–1 League Cup Final win over Stambridge City in 1987 to those players. 1987–88 saw the club become League Champions once again, but they were fighting relegation in 1988–89 during a season that saw them play most of their home matches at Wembley Stadium after massive local subsidence during a match led to Mel Park being closed for major reconstruction. Rovers avoided relegation with a 3–1 win over Melboro' in the season's final match.

1990s Rovers started the decade well by winning the 1990 FA Cup Final, 2–1 against Weston Villa. They were League Champions in 1991–92 while Roy set a new league goal-scoring record, notching up his 436th goal to win a charity bet with former record-holder and now TV pundit "Chippy" Croker (an obvious analogue for Jimmy Greaves ). 1992–93 saw a season of turmoil when Roy resigned as manager live on Sky TV. He returned before the end of the season, but on the way to scout a promising youth player, crashed his helicopter and was left in a coma and badly injured. He recovered in time for the 1993–94 season, but learned that his left foot had been amputated. Recovering, he left England to become manager of Italian side AC Monza.

With his departure, Rovers' fortunes became bleaker, occasional moments of brilliance from players such as Roy's son "Rocky" Race and the Nigerian Paul "Del" Ntende shining among the troubles, which included now-manager Blackie Gray resigning after receiving death threats, and the club only narrowly avoiding relegation in the 1993/94 season, with Rocky scoring a last-minute goal to save them. However, soon after that match a Melchester Director was found guilty of attempting to bribe the opposition to throw the game. They won the FA Cup in 1995 but, after the death of Rocky's mother Penny in a car crash in Italy, Rocky quit Rovers to join fierce local rivals Melborough. 1995–96 was a complete disaster for Rovers as more top players left after a bribery scandal shamed the club, and they were relegated at the end of the season into Division One. In 1996–97, Roy Race Sr. returned to manage the club, and arrived in time to save the Rovers from an impending second successive relegation.

In 1997–98, Rovers finished the season fourth in Division One but won in the play-offs to gain promotion back to the Premier League. Following Rocky's transfer back to the club, they won the 1999 FA Cup in extra time, and the turnaround was complete in 1999–2000, when they won the Premier League title on the last day of the season, their first top-flight title in eight years and their most recent to date. The following season, Race was finally able to buy out the club's owners, the Vitner brothers, and the club began to look forward to the new millennium, with a planned move to an exciting new stadium under the ownership of their greatest hero. Colours and kits The various kits worn by Melchester over the years Melchester Rovers' colours have always involved some combination of red and yellow, although as with real life professional teams, their precise shirt designs have varied considerably over the years. When the comic was first introduced, the club played in plain red shirts with yellow sleeves, and navy blue shorts. This strip persisted for many years, until a dramatic new look was introduced in 1973.

This involved an all-red strip, with a yellow vertical stripe running down one side of the shirt, one on the other side of the shorts, and a yellow "T"-shape on the socks. In addition, the shirts uniquely featured the players' numbers on one sleeve. This kit was worn until 1981, when Rovers were relegated to the Second Division, and switched back to a more conventional, symmetrical design. This shirt featured yellow bands across the chest, waist and sleeves, and would remain until 1986, when following the drastic rebuilding of the team a fresh new kit was introduced, this time all-red with a narrow yellow stripe running down each side. Then in 1991, a competition was held for Roy of the Rovers readers to design a new kit for the team. The winning entry was a simple and classic combination of yellow and red stripes with red shorts. Variations on this kit (sometimes using more yellow than red) would continue to be used until the end of the weekly comic, and for the duration of the subsequent monthly one. However, when ROTR strips returned in Match of the Day Magazine in 1997, a new kit had been introduced.

Unusually, this kit was predominantly yellow, with a large red star motif across the chest and back. This strip did not last long, however, as the following season another strip appeared. This was again all-red, with yellow trim, and a predominant yellow "V" shape across the front and back of the shirt. This was the last kit that Melchester have been seen to play in. Away strips were not seen very often in the ROTR comic, but three main designs were used, particularly in the 1980s – a plain blue shirt with white shorts and red socks, a yellow shirt with a red stripe running down its side with yellow shorts with a red line running down its other side and an all-white kit that also sometimes employed red socks. After 1992, Rovers away kits would generally be all-white with some combination of yellow and red trim, and in the Match of the Day strips the same design as the home kit, in white and red, was used. As in real football, shirt sponsorship logos were non existent prior to the 1980s, and when eventually introduced to the strip, their use was intermittent.

The first genuine commercial logo, that of Gola appeared on the new kit in 1981 but disappeared the subsequent year. The 1986 kit first appeared with Nike branding, but again this would be removed after one season. The shirts were blank for a while, but in the last couple of years saw the comic's publishers Panini and Fleetway used. When the striped kit was introduced in 1992, meanwhile, it featured Sega as the sponsors. This deal only lasted for a season, however, and for the last season portrayed by the weekly comic TSB appeared on the shirts. This deal carried over to the monthly comic, after which for a short time the shirts were again sponsorless, before a deal with Subbuteo saw that brand appear for the final few issues. The predominantly yellow kit introduced in Match of the Day magazine saw MotD itself as the sponsor, only to be replaced by McDonald's after only two episodes. This latter instance marked perhaps the first time Melchester's shirts made use of appropriate corporate colours! Honours Note that all records are fictional, and only date as far as 2000, the last completed season of the comic strip.

1967, 1971, 1975, 1985 Opponents and rivalries Although throughout Roy Race's playing career there was never a definitive list published of who the other teams in the First Division were, the majority of sides Rovers played against were familiar names who they opposed regularly in later years. These included: Blackport, Burndean, Carford City, Castlemere, Danefield, Deans Park, Eastoke, Gatesfield, Holverton, Kelburn, Kingsbay, Melborough, North Vale, Oldfield, Portdean, Redstoke, Stambridge City, Tynecaster, Walford Rovers (who Roy managed in 1983) and Weston Villa (also known as Western Villa). There were also several lower league sides who Rovers met in cup football and their occasional stints outside the top-flight, as well as foreign teams in European matches. For much of the story's history, Rovers' traditional local rivals were Melborough (sometimes shortened to Melboro).

For decades, Melchester held the upper hand over their cross-city neighbours, but in later years Melborough became a major force and were in a higher division than Rovers in the late 1990s. Melborough often had outspoken managers, most notably Andy Jackson and Ralph Gordon (who made an ill-fated and unpopular switch to Rovers in 1992), to help intensify the rivalries. The monthly comic (1993–95) changed the sides Rovers played, basing them on real-life clubs (Toxteth being Liverpool; Prestwich North End replacing Manchester United etc.). The comic featured Melchester City as ambitious Football League newcomers who believed they could ultimately compete with Rovers. However, they did not reappear in any future Roy of the Rovers storylines, and nor did the other sides Rovers faced in this period. Notable players On this day: Roy of the Rovers, 21 January 1978 — GREAT NEWS FOR ALL READERS! About A blog about the IPC/Fleetway comics published between the mid-1970s and the mid-1980s, and related personal ruminations.

2000AD, Action, Battle, Buster, Cheeky, Cor!!, Gary Lineker’s Hot-Shot, Jackpot, Jet, Jinty, Knockout, Krazy, Lindy, Misty, Monster Fun, Nipper, Oink!, Penny, Pixie, Princess, Roy of the Rovers, Sally, Sandie, School Fun, Scorcher, Score ‘n’ Roar, Shiver and Shake, Starlord, Tammy, Thunder, Tornado, Whizzer and Chips, Whoopee!, Wildcat, Wow!: ALL TITLES ™ REBELLION PUBLISHING LTD, COPYRIGHT © REBELLION PUBLISHING LTD, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Reproduced by kind permission. Exclusions to this list can be found listed at Cover art: David Sque On this day: Roy of the Rovers, 21 January 1978 January 21, 2016 ‘Roy Race, player-manager of Melchester Rovers, had taken over the England squad for a friendly match against Holland while the England manager was recovering from a car-crash.

Roy began by discarding most of the original squad of players … a controversial move that was about to be put to the supreme test.’ In an age before we had access to the tiniest of details about what was going on at our favourite professional football clubs, I used to take the fortunes of Roy Race and Melchester Rovers very seriously. Consistency within the Melchester universe was important and was generally well-observed – Rovers usually played a roster of the same teams each season (such as Blackport Rovers, Carford City, Kingsbay, Portdean, Walford Rovers and local rivals Melborough) – but every now and then there was a weird cross-dimensional shift into our own universe. Alf Ramsey stood in as caretaker manager while Roy was recovering from being shot, and Geoff Boycott became club chairman in the mid-1980s. Veteran real-life players Bob Wilson and Emlyn Hughes joined the team at the same time as Spandau Ballet popsters Martin Kemp and Steve Norman, and there was further canon-busting confusion whenever a sporting celebrity appeared on the back page of Roy of the Rovers with his or her arm around a life-size cardboard cut-out of Roy.

This issue of Roy of the Rovers presented another of these awkward situations as Roy sat temporarily in the England manager’s hot seat and dropped the entire squad (which in the real world had just failed to qualify for the World Cup Finals) with the exception of Birmingham’s Trevor Francis (coincidentally, or not, a columnist for sister comic Tiger) and Arsenal’s Malcolm Macdonald, replacing them with eight Melchester players and three other comic characters: Johnny Dexter (star of Roy of the Rovers’ The Hard Man strip), and Nipper Lawrence and Mike Bateson (from Tiger’s Nipper). Readers’ credibility limits snapped when this all-new England beat eventual actual World Cup finalists The Netherlands 4-1. Despite this achievement, Roy didn’t play for England again until June 1981. Back in the real world, Scotland did qualify for the 1978 World Cup Finals and were recognised with a back-page pin-up of goalie Alan Rough.

Simon’s Secret: Fred Baker (writer) Mike’s Mini Men: Ian Vosper (writer) Mike’s Mini Men: Ian Vosper (writer) Roy of the Rovers: Tom Tully (writer), David Sque (artist) Roy of the Rovers: Tom Tully (writer), David Sque (artist) Tommy’s Troubles: Fred Baker (writer), Ramiro Bujeiro (artist) The Hard Man: Barrie Tomlinson (writer), Doug Moxted (artist) The Safest Hands in Soccer: Gil Page (writer), Osvaldo Torta (artist) The Football: James Bleach? (artist) Smith and Son: Paul Gettens (writer) Melchester Rovers - Managers Melchester Rovers - Managers Ben Galloway (up to 1973) Tony Storme (1973–1975) Sir Alf Ramsey (1982 – caretaker ) Roy Race (1982–1983) Read more about this topic: Melchester Rovers Other articles related to "managers, manager": El Paso Independent School District - School Board (Board of Trustees) ...

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As such, successful managers almost invariably had the "gift of the gab", though it wasn't unheard of to see managers paired with wrestlers who had no trouble cutting their own promos ... In this case, the manager's role was often mainly to help their clients cheat in matches ... Managerial Grid Model - The Model ... In this style, managers have low concern for both people and production ... Managers use this style to preserve job and job seniority, protecting themselves by avoiding getting into trouble ... The main concern for the manager is not to be held responsible for any mistakes, which results in less innovative decisions ... 1999) Target markets can include end user companies, procurement managers, company bosses, contracting companies and external sales agents ... design engineers, architects, project managers and operations managers, plus those in target markets ... Famous quotes containing the word managers: “We also have to make sure our children know the history of women. Tell them the rotten truth: It wasnt always possible for women to become doctors or managers or insurance people.

Let them be armed with a true picture of the way we want it to be.” Terms related to melchester rovers: Related Phrases roy race : definition of roy race and synonyms of roy race (English) Fictional biography Roy Race Roy Race was born in 1954 and was brought up surrounded by football. His fathers medals and trophies twinkled like stars on the sideboard and Mel Park, as Roy recalled "Stood like heaven at the end of the street." Not that young Roy needed any encouragement. Football was in his blood. He was naturally gifted, making up for his lack of muscle with the subtle touches that had been the only weapons missing from his fathers armoury. At the age of 12, he was playing for Melchester Boys under-14s, a year later he signed schoolboy forms for the only club he ever wanted to play for. At sixteen, Roy made his first appearance for Melchester Rovers. This was no ordinary debut. An injury to Rovers regular striker meant that the young apprentice was drafted into the side for the 1970 European Cup final. It was a dream, a fantasy, a fairy tale.

Roy twisted and turned his big Spanish marker, leading the line like a man twice his age. With 10 minutes left, and the game goalless, he broke free on the edge of the area and let fly with the shot that made his name: The Rocket. It screamed into the net. Rovers were Champions of Europe and had a new hero. Roy Race would go onto have one of the longest and most celebrated careers in World football.within two seasons he was made captain, and together with his best friend and striking partner Blackie Gray won practically every trophy there is. Sadly injury always meant that Race was never able to appear in the World Cup finals or European Championships and failed to give Race the chance to lead England to glory. In 1976 Race married Rovers club Secretary Penny and a year later they gave birth to twins, Roy and Melinda, a further daughter was born in 1982 called Diana. Roy Race became player manager of Melchester Rovers in 1978 leading Rovers to League Championship success in his first season, however an alarming drop in form and injuries resulted in Rovers getting relegated following the 1980-81 season.

At the end of 1981 Roy was shot and seriously wounded by a lone gunman. A man by the name of Elton Blake was arrested for attempted murder and once Race had recovered from his coma he was able to lead Rovers to promotion and further success. In 1983, following a heated argument with Rovers directors Race left Melchester Rovers for ambitious Walford Rovers. The spat only lasted a short time and Race was able to return to his beloved Melchester Rovers. Tragedy struck the Rovers in the summer of 1986 when a terrorist bomb in Basran killed eight team members – Noel Baxter, Vic Guthrie, Steve Naylor, Carl Hunt, Neville Jones, Kenny Logan, Jimmy Slade and Trevor Cassidy. Roy survived the attack and went on to build a new Rovers team who went on to win the 1987 Littlewoods Cup Final against Stambridge City, Race who scored both Rovers goals dedicated the win to those players. The following season saw Rovers narrowly miss out on the double after winning the league, Rovers lost in the FA Cup final.

The 1988-1989 saw Mel Park suffer an 'earthquake' and subsides forcing Rovers play their 'home' games at Wembley Stadium. The disruption to the season saw Rovers struggle and end up in a relegation battle. The last game of the season saw Rovers needing to beat local rivals Melboro to avoid relegation. A Race inspired 3-1 victory kept the Rovers up. The 1989-1990 season saw calls for Race to step aside and let a younger striker take over, Rovers signed Andy MacLaren for a British transfer record from Celtic. However Race continued to score goals and led Rovers to a FA Cup win against Weston Villa. Race rejected an offer of an $8 million five-year contract to become manager of the USA international team. 1991-92 saw Rovers become League champions, with Race setting a new league goal-scoring record, notching up his 436th goal to seal the title. The summer of 1992 saw Race appointed as player-manager of the England 'B' team and they went on to win a four-nation tournament against USA, France and Segovia.

The 1992-1993 season saw the dawn of the Premier League era, and also saw Race resign as manager live on Sky TV. Race continued to play under controversial new manager Ralph Gordon who after a string of poor results saw Gordon resign and Race reinstated as player-manager. On the 23rd March 1993, Race, on a scouting trip to watch a potential new signing, crashed his helicopter and was critically injured ending up in a coma. Race came out of his coma in September 1993 and learnt that his left foot has been amputated ending his playing career. Race recovered and left hospital to become manager of Italian side AC Monza. 1995 saw a further tragedy shatter the Race family as Penny Race is killed in a car crash. The true circumstances of the crash remain a mystery to this day. Following her death Race quit Monza and football. 1997 saw Race return as manager of Rovers just in time to save the Rovers from relegation to Division Two. The 1997-98 saw Race bring in his graduate daughter Melinda to help generate funds and keep Race's financial backers the Vinter brothers off his back.

Melchester Rovers finish the season fourth in Division One but win the Wembley play off final to gain promotion back to the Premiership. 1999 saw Rovers beat a Castlemere team managed by Johnny Dexter to win the FA Cup following extra time. Roy 'Rocky' Race Roy "Rocky" Chester Race was born on 15 May 1977. He played for Mel Lane football team until he was 11, and it was not long before he began to show the same prodigious skills as his father and grandfather. He signed schoolboy forms for Melchester Rovers as soon as he was old enough. Then in 1992 he signed as a pro. He continued to show tremendous promise in the youth team and at the start of the 1993-94 season was promoted to the first team, wearing the number 9 shirt made famous by his father Rocky made his league debut against Felixstowe Town, unfortunately the fairy tale did not have the familiar ending. Rocky had trouble adapting to the demands of the Premiership: "It was like the script was there, but I didn't know the lines," he said. His debut was hard, fast and fierce.

On his last legs Rocky missed an open goal, then angry with himself, he made a wild tackle and got booked. He was substituted shortly after. Then before the next game his father announced that he would be going to Italy to manage Serie A side AC Monza. A 40,000 sell out crowd gathered at Mel Park to say farewell to Roy Race and following a dreadful tackle Rovers striker Andy MacLaren was injured and Rocky replaced him. Anxious to make a good impression, and struggling to live up to his famous father Rocky allowed himself to be wound up by his marker resulting in the pair getting set off. Ashamed of himself Rocky sensationally quit Rovers the next day. Rocky would return to the club and scored his first Rovers goal in the FA Cup against non league Brockwell Wednesday. Rocky would go on to form a fearsome partnership with Paul Ntende and helped Rovers in their fight against relegation. Rocky would go on to score the goal that kept Rovers in the Premiership in the last game of the season.

The 1994-95 season saw Mervyn Wallace replace Blackie Gray as Rovers manager and despite struggling in the league Rovers would go on to win the FA Cup beating Prestwich North End in the final. Rocky score in every round including an extra time winner in the semi final. Despite being underdogs, Rovers won the game 3-0 with goals from Ntende, Malandro and Rocky. The 1995-96 season was not a good season for Rovers. Under pressure following allegations of match fixing Rovers struggled for form. News had come in from Italy that Rocky's mother had been killed in a car accident added to the stress Rocky was under and resulted in him lashing out at opposition striker Matt Croker. Following his latest sending off Rocky was transfer listed and Rovers arch rivals Melboro were the club that Rocky chose to join. With Rocky and numerous other star players leaving the club, Rovers were relegated. Honours All of the records are fictional, and only date as far as 2000, the last completed season of the comic strip.

Domestic When Roy Race managed England « England Memories January 12, 2016 This month in 1978 Wembley was packed as an England side featuring Trevor Francis and Malcolm Macdonald thrashed the Netherlands 5-1. Remember it? Well unless you read the comic Roy of the Rovers then the answer would be no. In a break from our usual nostalgic recollections of how England fared in real-life, we delve into the world of fiction and look back at when the legendary Roy Race was in charge of his country for one match… Between 1954 and 1993 millions of football fans enjoyed following the fortunes of star footballer Roy Race in his Roy of the Rovers storyline (originally in Tiger, later graduating to his own comic). Although the vast majority of his adventures concerned his club Melchester Rovers – and briefly Walford Rovers – there would occasionally be a chance to follow Roy in action for England. The most memorable such instance came in January 1978, Roy taking temporary charge of the national team after the manager was injured in a car crash. As at Melchester, he was to be player-manager.

The 13-man squad Roy picked would have been familiar to regular comic readers, given that eight of the players selected came from Melchester Rovers and featured regularly in Roy of the Rovers. Johnny Dexter was lead character in The Hard Man in Roy of the Rovers while Nipper Lawrence and Mike Bateson were from the Nipper storyline which appeared in sister title Tiger and Scorcher. At least Roy stopped short of calling up the eternally 12-year-old Billy Dane of Billy’s Boots fame! And there were two other players selected who were of particular interest… When two worlds collide The vast majority of the time, Roy existed in a clearly fictional world which comprised of make-believe people and teams. But there were occasions when this wasn’t totally the case and in his England squad were Birmingham City forward Trevor Francis and Arsenal striker Malcolm ‘Supermac’ Macdonald – the latter having not played for England since 1976. Other real-life stars such as Kevin Keegan were nowhere to be seen. But there was a good reason why Francis and Macdonald were named in the side – they each had a column in Tiger and Scorcher.

If you took their selections literally then everyone was now living in the same universe, in which Arsenal co-existed alongside Melchester Rovers and where Trevor Francis could appear with Roy Race. Sir Alf Ramsey becomes caretaker manager of Melchester Rovers in 1982. And the willingness to mix the two worlds would continue in the coming years. Sir Alf Ramsey took over as Melchester Rovers caretaker manager in 1982 after Roy was shot; Bobby Robson featured in the storyline as he considered whether to select Roy for his England squad in the mid-1980s; cricketer Geoffrey Boycott became Melchester chairman during the same period and then came the infamous decision to have Spandau Ballet’s Martin Kemp and Steve Norman in the Melchester side along with the retired duo of Emlyn Hughes and Bob Wilson (the latter having last played professionally 11 years earlier!). It didn’t sit comfortably with loyal fans of the comic, including Frank Skinner . Later there would be characters – albeit under different names – who couldn’t have been more obviously based on Jimmy Greaves and Paul Gascoigne.

It all made a mockery of the small print that all characters appearing in the storylines were fictional and any resemblance to real people was coincidental. Meanwhile, Mr Squeaky Clean met Mr Squeaky Clean as Roy and Gary Lineker struck up a friendship that led to them releasing a single together . But going back to 1978, was the average schoolboy reader bothered about having real stars joining the storyline regulars to play for England? Probably not. They no doubt just wished that things could work the other way round and Roy could play for England in real-life! Roy becomes the national hero The choice of the Netherlands as England’s opponents was probably not coincidental. They had won acclaim in real-life with their run to the 1974 World Cup final and in 1977 had looked a class above in winning 2-0 at Wembley in a friendly. This would effectively be a rematch, although unlike with England the Dutch side would be totally fictional – as Roy was reunited with an old “chum” in Dutch captain Johan Seegrun. Soon ‘Supermac’ would break the deadlock as England gloriously went on to win 5-1.

Fans depicted watching the match at Wembley or on TV were shown looking delighted with the result, including one armchair viewer who – having earlier been castigated by his wife for criticising Roy’s decision to pick himself – was declaring the new manager had done the country proud. The night really had been ‘Roy of the Rovers stuff’. Malcolm Macdonald sends England on their way to a 5-1 win. Club over country for Roy There then followed a tug of love as Roy considered whether to become full-time manager of England or remain at Melchester. Club would ultimately win over country in the battle for Roy’s heart. He later played a couple of times for England under Bobby Robson in the mid-1980s. That proved to be the end of his full international career, although he would spend the summer of 1992 leading the England B team to success in a mini-tournament as player-manager. It has to be said that, given how prolific and skilled Roy was, he made a surprisingly low number of appearances in an England shirt during his 39-year playing career (during which he aged remarkably well!). There are probably three reasons for this.

Firstly, the title of the storyline was Roy of the Rovers and therefore his club endeavours were always intended as the main focus. Secondly, constantly switching between what Roy did for Melchester and England would have disrupted the flow of the story. And thirdly, a fair proportion of readers were not English. Whereas everybody would get behind Roy when he donned the Rovers shirt, those from other parts of the UK or overseas may have not felt the same desire to see him firing them in for England. Roy Race teams up with Gary Lineker in 1989. Roy’s playing career ended with a helicopter crash in 1993, the underlying reason being falling sales of his weekly comic. Revivals of the storyline – with son Rocky now playing up front for Rovers – in a new monthly Roy of the Rovers comic and the magazines Shoot! and in Match of the Day all proved fairly short-lived, with the last official new storylines appearing on the shelves as far back as 2001. But those who have missed their regular ROTR fix can enjoy regular adventures at at ‘Storky Knight’s’ website containing fresh storylines, including some set in past seasons.

Looking at the site, the newest story sees Melchester managed by Johan Seegrun – the Dutch captain during that 5-1 defeat by Roy Race’s England in 1978. In a hectic era when he got married, became a father to twins, suffered the most unlikely of relegations and was almost killed after being shot, Racey’s time in charge of his country stood out as another memorable moment for Roy of the Rovers. Share this: Roy of the Rovers « England Memories January 12, 2016 This month in 1978 Wembley was packed as an England side featuring Trevor Francis and Malcolm Macdonald thrashed the Netherlands 5-1. Remember it? Well unless you read the comic Roy of the Rovers then the answer would be no.

In a break from our usual nostalgic recollections of how England fared in real-life, we delve into the world of fiction and look back at when the legendary Roy Race was in charge of his country for one match… Between 1954 and 1993 millions of football fans enjoyed following the fortunes of star footballer Roy Race in his Roy of the Rovers storyline (originally in Tiger, later graduating to his own comic). Although the vast majority of his adventures concerned his club Melchester Rovers – and briefly Walford Rovers – there would occasionally be a chance to follow Roy in action for England. The most memorable such instance came in January 1978, Roy taking temporary charge of the national team after the manager was injured in a car crash. As at Melchester, he was to be player-manager. The 13-man squad Roy picked would have been familiar to regular comic readers, given that eight of the players selected came from Melchester Rovers and featured regularly in Roy of the Rovers. Johnny Dexter was lead character in The Hard Man in Roy of the Rovers while Nipper Lawrence and Mike Bateson were from the Nipper storyline which appeared in sister title Tiger and Scorcher.

At least Roy stopped short of calling up the eternally 12-year-old Billy Dane of Billy’s Boots fame! And there were two other players selected who were of particular interest… When two worlds collide The vast majority of the time, Roy existed in a clearly fictional world which comprised of make-believe people and teams. But there were occasions when this wasn’t totally the case and in his England squad were Birmingham City forward Trevor Francis and Arsenal striker Malcolm ‘Supermac’ Macdonald – the latter having not played for England since 1976. Other real-life stars such as Kevin Keegan were nowhere to be seen. But there was a good reason why Francis and Macdonald were named in the side – they each had a column in Tiger and Scorcher. If you took their selections literally then everyone was now living in the same universe, in which Arsenal co-existed alongside Melchester Rovers and where Trevor Francis could appear with Roy Race. Sir Alf Ramsey becomes caretaker manager of Melchester Rovers in 1982. And the willingness to mix the two worlds would continue in the coming years.

Sir Alf Ramsey took over as Melchester Rovers caretaker manager in 1982 after Roy was shot; Bobby Robson featured in the storyline as he considered whether to select Roy for his England squad in the mid-1980s; cricketer Geoffrey Boycott became Melchester chairman during the same period and then came the infamous decision to have Spandau Ballet’s Martin Kemp and Steve Norman in the Melchester side along with the retired duo of Emlyn Hughes and Bob Wilson (the latter having last played professionally 11 years earlier!). It didn’t sit comfortably with loyal fans of the comic, including Frank Skinner . Later there would be characters – albeit under different names – who couldn’t have been more obviously based on Jimmy Greaves and Paul Gascoigne. It all made a mockery of the small print that all characters appearing in the storylines were fictional and any resemblance to real people was coincidental. Meanwhile, Mr Squeaky Clean met Mr Squeaky Clean as Roy and Gary Lineker struck up a friendship that led to them releasing a single together . But going back to 1978, was the average schoolboy reader bothered about having real stars joining the storyline regulars to play for England? Probably not.

They no doubt just wished that things could work the other way round and Roy could play for England in real-life! Roy becomes the national hero The choice of the Netherlands as England’s opponents was probably not coincidental. They had won acclaim in real-life with their run to the 1974 World Cup final and in 1977 had looked a class above in winning 2-0 at Wembley in a friendly. This would effectively be a rematch, although unlike with England the Dutch side would be totally fictional – as Roy was reunited with an old “chum” in Dutch captain Johan Seegrun. Soon ‘Supermac’ would break the deadlock as England gloriously went on to win 5-1. Fans depicted watching the match at Wembley or on TV were shown looking delighted with the result, including one armchair viewer who – having earlier been castigated by his wife for criticising Roy’s decision to pick himself – was declaring the new manager had done the country proud. The night really had been ‘Roy of the Rovers stuff’. Malcolm Macdonald sends England on their way to a 5-1 win.

Club over country for Roy There then followed a tug of love as Roy considered whether to become full-time manager of England or remain at Melchester. Club would ultimately win over country in the battle for Roy’s heart. He later played a couple of times for England under Bobby Robson in the mid-1980s. That proved to be the end of his full international career, although he would spend the summer of 1992 leading the England B team to success in a mini-tournament as player-manager. It has to be said that, given how prolific and skilled Roy was, he made a surprisingly low number of appearances in an England shirt during his 39-year playing career (during which he aged remarkably well!). There are probably three reasons for this. Firstly, the title of the storyline was Roy of the Rovers and therefore his club endeavours were always intended as the main focus. Secondly, constantly switching between what Roy did for Melchester and England would have disrupted the flow of the story. And thirdly, a fair proportion of readers were not English.

Whereas everybody would get behind Roy when he donned the Rovers shirt, those from other parts of the UK or overseas may have not felt the same desire to see him firing them in for England. Roy Race teams up with Gary Lineker in 1989. Roy’s playing career ended with a helicopter crash in 1993, the underlying reason being falling sales of his weekly comic. Revivals of the storyline – with son Rocky now playing up front for Rovers – in a new monthly Roy of the Rovers comic and the magazines Shoot! and in Match of the Day all proved fairly short-lived, with the last official new storylines appearing on the shelves as far back as 2001. But those who have missed their regular ROTR fix can enjoy regular adventures at at ‘Storky Knight’s’ website containing fresh storylines, including some set in past seasons. Looking at the site, the newest story sees Melchester managed by Johan Seegrun – the Dutch captain during that 5-1 defeat by Roy Race’s England in 1978.

In a hectic era when he got married, became a father to twins, suffered the most unlikely of relegations and was almost killed after being shot, Racey’s time in charge of his country stood out as another memorable moment for Roy of the Rovers.

Question: Who became manager of Melchester Rovers in 1978?
Answer: Roy Race