Unreliable History
It all started for Tranmere in the Sainty’s Cocoa House – a place that was made entirely out of chocolate derivatives. The members of Belmont and Lyndhurst Wanderers cricket clubs discussed what they should do when the season finished and “Football” was the answer. And so Belmont AFC were formed in 1884 and on 16th Sept 1885 became Tranmere Rovers. Within four years, the club almost ceased to be when the players all left to join another club (probably one that had more chocolate), but they soldiered on through those early years. In fact, in 1923-24, the side went the first nine games of the season unbeaten and later that season they blooded a youngster called Dixie Dean too. In stark contrast, the 1938-39 campaign saw the club lose 31 out of 42 games, gaining only one point away from home and finishing 14 points below the next highest club. They managed a big match score in 1935 though, when they trounced Oldham Athletic 13-4 in a game that equalled the top League score in Division Three North, as Bunny Bell grabbed 9 of the goals.
The Second World War came as a relief to the club. The ground was commandeered and used as a place to produce black smoke to fool German bombers. Unfortunately, they didn’t fool them or, if they did, they missed the chip shops and hit the ground instead !! Their defence of the realm was helped by tank traps being placed on the pitch (something that could have been useful in the modern game to stop marauding forwards), but after the conflict, these were used as foundations for new terracing at the ground. It was a rocky re-start for Rovers, but they stood their ground and got some reward in FA Cup ties. Into the Fifties they took four goes to beat Blyth Spartans in 1951-52 in the second round and then Harold Atkinson hit Ashington for 6 in the same competition, but it took until 2000 to reach their furthest in the FA Cup, getting to the quarter-final thanks to a substitution mix-up, which the referee didn’t spot when he sent a Tranmere player off against Sunderland !! They had gone one better semi-final of the League Cup six years before, when they took Aston Villa to penalties before losing out. In 2000, they had got to face Leicester City in the League Cup final, losing out to the Foxes. In 1959, the team recorded the highest Division 3 win of 9-0 over Accrington Stanley and Jim Fryatt scored the quickest goal in Football League history in four seconds for Bradford Park Avenue when they played Tranmere. And that was in the days before betting on football matches – strange as the player is was at one time a croupier in a Las Vegas casino !! Times were hard at Prenton Park in the 70’s and in 1977-78, the team was unchanged for the first 28 matches of that season, with only five games featuring different personnel from those 11 after that during the campaign. This reflected the fact that Harold Bell made 401 consecutive matches in a record breaking run without his place being challenged. Even when John Aldridge joined to score 170 league goals for the club in the twilight of his career, he had to pick himself when player-manager due to lack of competition for his place in the forward line. Now playing their football in Division Two after relegation in 2001, Tranny are the third team on Merseyside (even though they are on the Wirral), although at times in the Cup they looked like moving up one rung at least. Famous Players : – Bunny Bell, John Aldridge, Alf “Rabbit” Warren, Ian Muir, Tom “Pongo” Waring, Famous Fans : – Half Man Half Biscuit (Post Punk musical combo), Glenda Jackson (Politician), Patricia Routledge (Actress – “Keeping Up Appearances“), Ray Stubbs (BBC Sport presenter), Trevor Ward (Granada TV presenter – “Reportage”), Warrior (“Gladiators”), Elton Welsby (Football presenter – Granada TV).
Famous Players : – Bunny Bell, John Aldridge, Alf “Rabbit” Warren, Ian Muir, Tom “Pongo” Waring, Steve McNulty, Eddie “Stinker” Wallburton, Famous Fans : – . |
Club Records
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Formed | 1884 |
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Turned Professional | 1912 |
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Became a Limited Company | 1920 |
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Previous names | 1883-1885 = Belmont FC |
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Previous grounds | Steele’s Fields = 1884-1887 Ravenshaw’s Old Prenton Park = 1887-191 |
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Nickname | “THE ROVERS” or “SUPERWHITES” or “TRANNY” |
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Motto | “UBI FIDES IBI LUX ET ROBUR” = “WHERE THERE IS FAITH THERE IS LIGHT AND STRENGTH” |
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Club Colours [Images courtesy of the wonderful Colours of Football website] |
HOME : ![]() AWAY : |
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Record Football League Win | 13-4 v Oldham Athletic (Division 3 North) 26.12.1935 |
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Record Defeat | 1-9 v Tottenham Hotspur FA Cup Third Round replay 14.01.1953 |
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Record Cup Win | 13-0 v Oswestry United (FA Cup Second Preliminary Round) 10.10.1914 |
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Record Fee Paid | £450,000 to Aston Villa for Shaun TEALE (August 1995) |
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Record Fee Received | £2.5 million from West Bromwich Albion for Jason KOUMAS (August 2002) |
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Record Appearances | 637 – Ray MATHIAS (1967-1985) |
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Record League Appearances | 595 – Harold BELL (1946-1964) |
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Record League goal-scorer | 142 – Ian MUIR (19??-19??) |
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Record all-time goal-scorer | 180 – Ian MUIR (19??-19??) |
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Record goal-scorer in a season | 40 – Bunny BELL Division 3 North (1934-1935) (42 games) 40 – John ALDRIDGE Division 4 (1991-1992) (46 games) |
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Record goal-scorer in a League season | 35 – Bunny BELL Division 3 North (1933-1934) (42 games) |
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Most goals scored in a League match | 9 – Bunny BELL v Oldham Athletic Division 3 North 26.12.1935 |
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Record Home Attendance | 24,424 v Stoke City (FA Cup Fourth Round) 05.02.1972 |
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Record total of goals in a League season | 111 – Division Division 3 North (1930-1931) (42 games) |
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Record League points total | 2 points for a win : 60 – Division 4 (1964-1965) (46 games) 3 points for a win : 80 – Division 4 (1988-1989) (46 games) 3 points for a win : 80 – Division 3 (1989-1990) (46 games) 3 points for a win : 80 – League Two (2002-2003) (46 games) |
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Most Capped Player while at club | 30 – John ALDRIDGE (Republic of Ireland) |
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Youngest Player | Iain HUME – 16 years and 167 days v Swindon Town (Away) (Division 1) 15.04.2000 |
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Oldest Player | Ian GOODISON – 41 years and 271 days v Bradford City (Home) (League One) 03.05.2014 |
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Stadium details
Address : Prenton Park, Prenton Road West, Birkenhead, Wirral CH42 9PY
Telephone : 03330 144452
Ticket Office : 03330 144452 (Option 1/2)
Capacity : 16,567
Away Allocation : Approx. 2,500
Pitch size : 102.4m x 64.9m (112 yards x 71 yards)
Official website : tranmererovers.co.uk
Directions
There are good directions to Prenton Park on the Tranmere Rovers website and more information on the Away Days website.
Honours
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Division Three North Champions (Third Tier) | 1937-1938 |
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Division Four Runners-up (Fourth Tier) | 1988-1989 |
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League Cup Finalists | 2000 |
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Football League Trophy Winners | 1990 |
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Football League Trophy Finalists | 1991, 2021 |
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Managers
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Bert COOKE | August 1912 – 30 April 1935 |
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Jack CARR | 28 May 1935 – November 1936 |
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Jim KNOWLES | November 1936 – January 1939 |
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Bill RIDDING | January 1939 – May 1945 |
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Ernie BLACKBURN | September 1946 – 13 December 1955 |
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Noel KELLY | 13 December 1955 – September 1957 |
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Peter FARRELL | 5 October 1957 – 12 December 1960 |
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Walter GALBRAITH | 7 January 1961 – 25 November 1961 |
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Dave RUSSELL | 15 December 1961 – 23 December 1969 |
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Jackie WRIGHT | 23 December 1969 – 9 April 1972 |
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Ron YEATS | 10 April 1972 – 4 April 1975 |
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John KING | 13 April 1975 – 30 September 1980 |
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Bryan HAMILTON | 1 October 1980 – 7 February 1985 |
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Frank WORTHINGTON | 9 July 1985 – 11 February 1987 |
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Ronnie MOORE | 11 February 1987 – 13 April 1987 |
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John KING | 13 April 1987 – 12 April 1986 |
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John ALDRIDGE | 12 April 1986 – 17 March 2001 |
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Ray MATHIAS/Kevin SHEEDY (Caretaker) | 18 March 2001 – 20 May 2001 |
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Dave WATSON | 20 May 2001 – 1 August 2002 |
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Ray MATHIAS | 1 August 2002 – 29 September 2003 |
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John McMAHON (Caretaker) | 29 September 2003 – 12 October 2003 |
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Brian LITTLE | 12 October 2003 – 9 June 2006 |
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Ronnie MOORE | 9 June 2006 – 5 June 2009 |
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John BARNES | 14 June 2009 – 9 October 2009 |
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Les PARRY | 9 October 2009 – 4 March 2012 |
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Ronnie MOORE | 5 March 2012 – 17 February 2014 |
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John McMAHON (Caretaker) | 17 February 2014 – 27 May 2014 |
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Rob EDWARDS | 27 May 2014 – 13 October 2014 |
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Micky ADAMS | 16 October 2014 – 19 April 2015 |
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Alan ROGERS (Caretaker) | 19 April 2015 – 5 May 2015 |
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Gary BRABIN | 5 May 2015 – 18 September 2016 |
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Paul CARDEN (Interim manager) | 19 September 2016 – 7 October 2016 |
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Micky MELLON | 7 October 2016 – 6 July 2020 |
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Mike JACKSON | 18 July 2020 – 31 October 2020 |
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Ian DAWES/Andy PARKINSON (Caretaker) | 31 October 2020 – 21 November 2020 |
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Keith HILL | 21 November 2020 – |
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League Record
The Football League structure has historically been as follows …
1888-1892 | 1892-1920 | 1920-1921 | 1921-1958 | 1958-1992 | 1992-2004 | 2004 to date | |
First tier | Football League | Division One | Division One | Division One | Division One | Premiership | Premier League |
Second tier | Division Two | Division Two | Division Two | Division Two | Division One | Championship | |
Third tier | Division Three | Division Three (North) and (South) |
Division Three | Division Two | League One | ||
Fourth tier | Division Four | Division Three | League Two | ||||
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Elected to Division Three North (Third Tier) | 1921 |
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Division Three North (Third Tier) | 1921-1938 |
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Division Two (Second Tier) | 1938-1939 |
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Division Three North (Third Tier) | 1946-1958 |
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Division Three (Third Tier) | 1958-1961 |
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Division Four (Fourth Tier) | 1961-1967 |
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Division Three (Third Tier) | 1967-1975 |
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Division Four (Fourth Tier) | 1975-1976 |
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Division Three (Third Tier) | 1976-1979 |
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Division Four (Fourth Tier) | 1979-1989 |
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Division Three (Third Tier) | 1989-1991 |
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Division Two (Second Tier) | 1991-1992 |
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Division One (Second Tier) | 1991-2001 |
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Division Two (Third Tier) | 2001-2004 |
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League One (Third Tier) | 2004-2014 |
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League Two (Fourth Tier) | 2014-2015 |
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National League (Fifth Tier) | 2015-2018 |
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League Two (Fourth Tier) | 2018-2019 |
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League One (Third Tier) | 2019-2020 |
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League Two (Fourth Tier) | 2020-2021 |
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