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


Formed 1884

Turned Professional 1912

Became a Limited Company 1920

Previous names 1883-1885 = Belmont FC

Previous grounds Steele’s Fields = 1884-1887
Ravenshaw’s Old Prenton Park = 1887-191

Nickname “THE ROVERS” or “SUPERWHITES” or “TRANNY”

Motto “UBI FIDES IBI LUX ET ROBUR” = “WHERE THERE IS FAITH THERE IS LIGHT AND STRENGTH”

Club Colours
[Images courtesy of the wonderful Colours of Football website]
HOME :

AWAY :


Record Football League Win 13-4  v  Oldham Athletic  (Division 3 North)     26.12.1935

Record Defeat 1-9  v  Tottenham Hotspur  FA Cup Third Round replay   14.01.1953

Record Cup Win 13-0  v  Oswestry United  (FA Cup Second Preliminary Round)    10.10.1914

Record Fee Paid £450,000 to Aston Villa for Shaun TEALE (August 1995)

Record Fee Received £2.5 million from West Bromwich Albion for Jason KOUMAS (August 2002)

Record Appearances 637  –  Ray MATHIAS  (1967-1985)

Record League Appearances 595  –  Harold BELL  (1946-1964)

Record League goal-scorer 142  –  Ian MUIR  (19??-19??)

Record all-time goal-scorer 180  –  Ian MUIR  (19??-19??)

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)

Record goal-scorer in a League season 35  –  Bunny BELL   Division 3 North   (1933-1934)   (42 games)

Most goals scored in a League match 9  –  Bunny BELL  v  Oldham Athletic   Division 3 North    26.12.1935

Record Home Attendance 24,424  v  Stoke City   (FA Cup Fourth Round)     05.02.1972

Record total of goals in a League season 111  –   Division Division 3 North   (1930-1931)   (42 games)

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)

Most Capped Player while at club 30  –  John ALDRIDGE  (Republic of Ireland)

Youngest Player Iain HUME  –  16 years and 167 days  v   Swindon Town  (Away)   (Division 1)  15.04.2000

Oldest Player Ian GOODISON  –  41 years and 271 days  v  Bradford City  (Home)   (League One)  03.05.2014

 

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


Division Three North Champions  (Third Tier) 1937-1938

Division Four Runners-up  (Fourth Tier) 1988-1989

League Cup Finalists 2000

Football League Trophy Winners 1990

Football League Trophy Finalists 1991, 2021

 

Managers


Bert COOKE August 1912 – 30 April 1935

Jack CARR 28 May 1935 – November 1936

Jim KNOWLES November 1936 – January 1939

Bill RIDDING January 1939 – May 1945

Ernie BLACKBURN September 1946 – 13 December 1955

Noel KELLY 13 December 1955 – September 1957

Peter FARRELL 5 October 1957 – 12 December 1960

Walter GALBRAITH 7 January 1961 – 25 November 1961

Dave RUSSELL 15 December 1961 – 23 December 1969

Jackie WRIGHT 23 December 1969 – 9 April 1972

Ron YEATS 10 April 1972 – 4 April 1975

John KING 13 April 1975 – 30 September 1980

Bryan HAMILTON 1 October 1980 – 7 February 1985

Frank WORTHINGTON 9 July 1985 – 11 February 1987

Ronnie MOORE 11 February 1987 – 13 April 1987

John KING 13 April 1987 – 12 April 1986

John ALDRIDGE 12 April 1986 – 17 March 2001

Ray MATHIAS/Kevin SHEEDY (Caretaker) 18 March 2001 – 20 May 2001

Dave WATSON 20 May 2001 – 1 August 2002

Ray MATHIAS 1 August 2002 – 29 September 2003

John McMAHON (Caretaker) 29 September 2003 – 12 October 2003

Brian LITTLE 12 October 2003 – 9 June 2006

Ronnie MOORE 9 June 2006 – 5 June 2009

John BARNES 14 June 2009 – 9 October 2009

Les PARRY 9 October 2009 – 4 March 2012

Ronnie MOORE 5 March 2012 – 17 February 2014

John McMAHON (Caretaker) 17 February 2014 – 27 May 2014

Rob EDWARDS 27 May 2014 – 13 October 2014

Micky ADAMS 16 October 2014 – 19 April 2015

Alan ROGERS (Caretaker) 19 April 2015 – 5 May 2015

Gary BRABIN 5 May 2015 – 18 September 2016

Paul CARDEN (Interim manager) 19 September 2016 – 7 October 2016

Micky MELLON 7 October 2016 – 6 July 2020

Mike JACKSON 18 July 2020 – 31 October 2020

Ian DAWES/Andy PARKINSON (Caretaker) 31 October 2020 – 21 November 2020

Keith HILL 21 November 2020 – 

 

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

Elected to Division Three North (Third Tier) 1921

Division Three North (Third Tier) 1921-1938

Division Two  (Second Tier) 1938-1939

Division Three North (Third Tier) 1946-1958

Division Three (Third Tier) 1958-1961

Division Four  (Fourth Tier) 1961-1967

Division Three (Third Tier) 1967-1975

Division Four  (Fourth Tier) 1975-1976

Division Three (Third Tier) 1976-1979

Division Four  (Fourth Tier) 1979-1989

Division Three (Third Tier) 1989-1991

Division Two  (Second Tier) 1991-1992

Division One  (Second Tier) 1991-2001

Division Two  (Third Tier) 2001-2004

League One  (Third Tier) 2004-2014

League Two  (Fourth Tier) 2014-2015

National League  (Fifth Tier) 2015-2018

League Two  (Fourth Tier) 2018-2019

League One  (Third Tier) 2019-2020

League Two  (Fourth Tier) 2020-2021