2020–21 Rotherham United F.C. season
# 2020–21 Rotherham United F.C. season

The 2020–21 season is Rotherham United's 96th season in their existence and the first back in the Championship following promotion last season. The club also participated in the FA Cup and the EFL Cup.

## Key events

The delayed season started for Rotherham on 5 September 2021, with a defeat on penalties in the EFL cup to League 2 side Salford City.

On 15 September, manager Paul Warne and his assistant Richie Barker signed new contracts, keeping them at the club until the summer of 2023.

Rotherham suffered long-term injuries to four key players in the five weeks between 7 October and 12 November. Chiedozie Ogbene required knee surgery, and was ruled out until at least January; Clark Robertson suffered a broken foot, which ruled him out until the end of the winter; Shaun MacDonald broke his leg in the game against Stoke City on 31 October, and was out until the new year; and Kieran Sadlier suffered an ankle injury in the game against Preston the following Saturday, keeping him side-lined for three months.

In the run-up to Christmas, the club were hit by an outbreak of COVID-19, causing the postponements of the planned games against Derby County and Middlesbrough. They returned to competition on 29 December against Barnsley, under perceived threat of a points deduction if they did not complete the fixture, despite having an "obliterated" squad, and only being able to name six substitutes.

The first scheduled game of 2021, at home against Cardiff City, was called off an hour before kick-off due to snow, adding to the fixture congestion the club would face later in the season. A week later, Rotherham exited the FA Cup at the first attempt, after a close game with Everton went to extra time, due to FA Cup ties needing to be resolved in a single match this season.

A waterlogged pitch on 2 February caused the game against Derby County, postponed from December, to be postponed again. This time it was able to take place the following day. Nine days later, a frozen pitch led to the postponement of the fixture against QPR.

On 3 March 2021, the club beat Sheffield Wednesday 2–1 at Hillsborough Stadium, despite having Michael Smith sent off (a decision which was later overturned), claiming a first-ever league double over their South Yorkshire rivals.

On 5 March 2021, Rotherham announced a second COVID-19 outbreak at the club, causing the postponement of games against Brentford and Luton Town, the latter of which had already been moved once due to Luton's appearance in the FA Cup fourth round. On 9 March, further positive COVID-19 tests were announced, and the game against Coventry City was postponed. At this stage, with the Luton and Coventry games yet to be rescheduled, the club had only one free midweek slot left in the calendar.

By 8 April 2021, the club faced a run-in which entailed playing ten games in 28 days, including four in nine days between 10 April and 18 April.

A 1–0 defeat to Brentford in the rearranged game on 27 April 2021 saw Rotherham set an EFL record of 19 single-goal defeats in a season.

Going into the final game of the season, Rotherham sat two points from safety, needing to win and hope Derby County did not. They led at Cardiff City from the eighth minute of the game, but conceded an equaliser two minutes from the end of normal time.

## Squad statistics

### Player statistics

    As of 8 May 2021.

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 | | Viktor Johansson | 21 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | GK | | Jamal Blackman | 27+1 | 0 | 25+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 31 | GK | | Josh Vickers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | | Billy Jones | 3+4 | 0 | 3+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | | Joe Mattock | 13+2 | 0 | 12+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | | Richard Wood | 29+3 | 2 | 27+3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| 15 | DF | | Clark Robertson | 11+5 | 0 | 11+5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | | Trevor Clarke | 1+9 | 0 | 1+8 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | DF | | Wes Harding | 43+5 | 0 | 41+5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 20 | DF | | Michael Ihiekwe | 44 | 2 | 42 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | | Angus MacDonald | 37+3 | 1 | 36+3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| 22 | DF | | Matthew Olosunde | 23+10 | 1 | 22+10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | | Curtis Tilt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | DF | | Ryan Giles | 12+11 | 2 | 12+11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | DF | | Jake Hull | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | MF | | Shaun MacDonald | 16+4 | 0 | 15+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | MF | | Lewis Wing | 18+2 | 2 | 18+2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | | Ben Wiles | 37+8 | 2 | 36+8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | | Chiedozie Ogbene | 7+5 | 0 | 6+5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | | Mickel Miller | 6+3 | 0 | 6+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 16 | MF | | Jamie Lindsay | 30+7 | 3 | 28+7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | | Kieran Sadlier | 6+10 | 1 | 5+10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | | Matt Crooks | 35+7 | 7 | 34+6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| 26 | MF | | Daniel Barlaser | 30+4 | 3 | 29+4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | | Florian Jozefzoon | 9+16 | 0 | 9+15 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | | Kyle Vassell | 6+8 | 0 | 6+6 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | | George Hirst | 4+28 | 0 | 4+27 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | | Freddie Ladapo | 24+19 | 9 | 23+19 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | FW | | Michael Smith | 36+10 | 10 | 34+10 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 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: ||||||||||||||||
| Players played for the club this season who were permanently transferred out before the end of the season: ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | DF | | Adam Thompson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goalscorers

    As of 8 May 2021.

| Place | Position | Number | Name | Total | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Other |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | FW | 24 | Michael Smith | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | FW | 10 | Freddie Ladapo | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | MF | 25 | Matt Crooks | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | MF | 16 | Jamie Lindsay | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| = | MF | 26 | Daniel Barlaser | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | 5 | Lewis Wing | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| = | DF | 6 | Richard Wood | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| = | MF | 8 | Ben Wiles | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| = | DF | 20 | Michael Ihiekwe | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| = | DF | 30 | Ryan Giles | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | 17 | Kieran Sadlier | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| = | DF | 21 | Angus MacDonald | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| = | DF | 22 | Matthew Olosunde | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |

## Pre-season friendlies

Due to the COVID-19 situation meaning fans could not attend games at the time, a full pre-season schedule was not published by the club. The club were involved in a friendly game on 18 August 2020 against Gainsborough Trinity, which ended with a 6–0 victory. The club also played unadvertised games against Hull City and Doncaster Rovers.

## Competitions

### Championship

**League table**

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 19 | Bristol City | 46 | 15 | 6 | 25 | 46 | 68 | −22 | 51 | |
| 20 | Huddersfield Town | 46 | 12 | 13 | 21 | 50 | 71 | −21 | 49 | |
| 21 | Derby County | 46 | 11 | 11 | 24 | 36 | 58 | −22 | 44 | |
| 22 | Wycombe Wanderers (R) | 46 | 11 | 10 | 25 | 39 | 69 | −30 | 43 | Relegation to EFL League One |
| 23 | Rotherham United (R) | 46 | 11 | 9 | 26 | 44 | 60 | −16 | 42 | Relegation to EFL League One |
| 24 | Sheffield Wednesday (R) | 46 | 12 | 11 | 23 | 40 | 61 | −21 | 41 | Relegation to EFL League One |

* ↑ Sheffield Wednesday received a 12 point deduction for breaching the League's Profitability and Sustainability Rules. This was later reduced to 6 points by an Independent League Arbitration panel.

**Results 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: 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 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | H | H | A | A | H | A | A |
| Result | W | L | D | D | L | D | L | W | L | L | W | L | L | D | L | L | L | W | L | L | W | D | W | L | W | W | L | L | L | L | L | W | L | W | L | L | D | W | L | L | L | L | L | D | D | D |
| Position | 7 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 23 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 23 |

**Matches**

The 2020–21 season fixtures were released on 21 August.

### FA Cup

The third round draw was made on 30 November, with Premier League and EFL Championship clubs all entering the competition.

### EFL Cup

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

## Transfers

### Transfers in

| Date | Pos. | Name | From | Fee |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 5 July 2020 | CF | Mickel Miller | Hamilton Academical | Free transfer |
| 11 August 2020 | LW | Kieran Sadlier | Doncaster Rovers | Free transfer |
| 15 August 2020 | CB | Angus MacDonald | Hull City | Free transfer |
| 20 August 2020 | CB | Wes Harding | Birmingham City | Undisclosed |
| 2 September 2020 | GK | Viktor Johansson | Leicester City | Free transfer |
| 2 October 2020 | CM | Daniel Barlaser | Newcastle United | Undisclosed |
| 6 November 2020 | GK | Josh Vickers | Free agent | Free transfer |

### Loans in

| Date from | Pos. | Name | From | Date until |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 24 August 2020 | GK | Jamal Blackman | Chelsea | End of season |
| 16 September 2020 | CF | George Hirst | Leicester City | End of season |
| 15 October 2020 | RW | Florian Jozefzoon | Derby County | End of season |
| 26 January 2021 | LWB | Ryan Giles | Wolverhampton Wanderers | End of season |
| 1 February 2021 | CM | Lewis Wing | Middlesbrough | End of season |

### Loans out

| Date from | Pos. | Name | To | Date until |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 4 August 2020 | CF | Joshua Kayode | Carlisle United | End of season |
| 15 September 2020 | CB | Jake Hull | Matlock Town | 28 October 2020 |
| 18 September 2020 | CB | Jake Cooper | Gateshead | 4 January 2021 |
| 15 October 2020 | CB | Curtis Tilt | Wigan Athletic | 4 January 2021 |
| 16 October 2020 | CF | Jamie Proctor | Newport County | 19 January 2021 |
| 14 January 2021 | CF | Mickel Miller | Northampton Town | End of season |
| 15 January 2021 | CF | Kyle Vassell | Fleetwood Town | End of season |
| 21 January 2021 | RB | Billy Jones | Crewe Alexandra | End of season |
| 30 January 2021 | CB | Curtis Tilt | Wigan Athletic | End of season |
| 1 February 2021 | CF | Jamie Proctor | Wigan Athletic | End of season |
| 5 March 2021 | CB | Jake Cooper | Hartlepool | End of season |

### Transfers out

| Date | Pos. | Name | To | Fee |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 July 2020 | LW | Julien Lamy | Free agent | Released |
| 1 July 2020 | GK | Laurence Bilboe | Free agent | Released |
| 21 July 2020 | CF | Jerry Yates | Blackpool | Undisclosed |
| 6 November 2020 | GK | Lewis Price | Free agent | Mutual consent |
| 30 January 2021 | CB | Adam Thompson | Leyton Orient | Mutual consent |

* ↑ Lamy subsequently joined Grimsby Town on 6 February 2021.
* ↑ Bilboe subsequently joined Oldham Athletic on 16 October 2020.
