From Millmoor To New York

Rotherham United 1-3 Cheltenham Town (FA Cup Round One)

I drove all the way to Liverpool on Wednesday for their Academy match with Hertha Berlin, almost 4 hours it took me due to traffic on the M6, I arrived with only ten minutes to kick off, to be told they didn’t have any accreditation for me, so back in the car I went, fortunately it took just under two hours to get home and I was back in time for the second half of Spurs v Man City.

Lessons learned I’ve got a ticket for todays FA Cup match with Rotherham and Cheltenham to be on the safe side, last night saw Alfreton thumped at Notts County 5-1 whilst Huddersfield were sent packing at Tamworth for a giant killing upset, a Tom Tonks deflected throw-in the difference, if only the Huddy coaching staff read my blog, they might have known what to expect from the Lambs attack.

I’ve not been to Rotherham since Rotherham played at Millmoor… It’s not the sort of place you visit frequently, and United haven’t played there since 2008, but weirdly enough, despite the new ground opening in 2012, Millmoor still stands, apparently owned by the scrap metal merchants next door, it’s not used for anything these days but I’ve decided if I get in town early enough, I’ll take a walk around the old place as the New York Stadium is only a short walk away.

So after a Saturday morning dog walk around Holme Pierrepoint I head off at twelve, leaving Nottingham I’m up the M1 and off at Junction 33 within an hour, turning right onto the A630 which drives you past the clubs new home standing impressively with red letter branding on my right, but instead of turning right towards the AESSEAL New York Stadium I turn left and pull up on a side street so I can walk down to Millmoor where you can see the old style metal floodlights in the distance.

The Venue

It’s eery, I’m on Coronation Bridge overlooking the back of the old Millmoor Stadium, a place which first hosted football in the 1890’s, which was completely abandoned in 2015.

It’s all fenced off but it feels it still has so much to give, a proper English lower league home, I’m walking down the side of the stadium down a single sloping track called Millmoor Lane, a huge brick wall on my right, I can imagine a few fights down here back in the day, I walk to the end of the Twitchell where you can smell burning metal from the scrap yard, looking up at the floodlights under the dimming sky, the terrace doors have all been boarded up.

At the end of the road you can see the new stadium in the distance, it’s very industrial as I walk towards the ground by the side of the train tracks, no one around here, no cars, just me, I’m under the fly over where you can see the new stadium in front and across the way, old one behind peering over the industrial units and scrap yards, eventually I’m onto Main Street where the smell of burgers, onions and sound of disco music from the fanzone loudens, more modern, down the New York Way it’s certainly a home to be proud of the new place, grey cladded with white cantilevers, on entry it’s mobile scan and into the concourse nice and wide and spacious, a Yorkshire brew and a pukka pie ordered, meat and potato wrapped in plastic, before I walk up to my seat a row off the back of the stand, it’s steep in here, quirky with good acoustics, the stand opposite has corporate boxes in the centre, left and right have sloping roofs, all bowl like and attached to the stand I’m in 12,000 at full capacity. Apparently the foundations were laid with the view to potentially adding more tiers in later years, I doubt they’ll need them today? Under three thousand in attendance and two of the stands are hardly in use.

The Game

It seems we are all congregated in the stand where I’m sat, it’s cosy as it fills with locals ahead of a match against lower division opposition who themselves have brought a couple of hundred (they’ve all come in a horse box one fan says), Rotherham are fourteenth in League One but I’m told they have a top six budget, Cheltenham are sixteenth in League Two, today might provide a decent distraction, but I’m not envisaging a classic.

Rotherham kick off in red and white, their opponents in jade green, it’s a finicky start with lots of free kicks, not much quality as both sides go long, the hosts like to get it down the sides, the visitors happy to have men behind the ball, it’s far from thrilling is the opening as I listen into the conversations of those around me, educated football fans are Rotherham fans, whilst I notice their score board is perhaps the best in the business. Pre-game it screened Stoke City’s win over Derby in the early kick off, and it has the scores from the other games in England running across the bottom. On 37 as folk start to wander off for their half time pints, Cheltenham win a rare corner, as all expect it to be pumped into the box the ball is passed to the edge of the area by Young, Colwill takes aim, his shot deflects in.

That goal lifts Rotherham into action who instantly reply, Mallick Wilks runs into the box unattended and shoots low, 1-1, suddenly the game has sprung to life, one bloke who’s just been for a piss has missed both goals.

The Score

On the stroke of half time a right wing cross by Thomas is headed brilliantly home by Colwill who gets his and Cheltenham’s second of the game. ‘Nowt we can do about that one’ a fella says besides me. ‘Good Goal’.

At the break I’m hoping not for a Rotherham resurgence as I really don’t fancy extra time and penalties today, the FA Cup these days is all to be decided in one sitting, so I’m relieved when Ethon Archer dances through the Millers defence on 58 to add a third.

That goal dents any hope of Rotherham getting back into the game, they never really got going and played at a canter, whilst Cheltenham weren’t exactly firing guns blazing to cause an upset, they were simply more clinical, there’s been four shots on target in the whole game, all four have gone in.

Late on there’s frustration from the home support that the football is aimless and agonising to watch, the biggest cheer of the game comes when folk burst into laughter that the home side man of the match is crowned as goalkeeper Cameron Dawson, he’s not saved a shot yet, but there’s been nobody outfield worthy either, as an old boy asks to get past me, he says “I’m leaving early before I slit my wrists”.

The Stars

Rotherham don’t play with any panache, perhaps all their ability is being saved for league action, but they do have good players, left back Cohen Bramall is one I know from his days playing for Market Drayton, I last saw him in action when I was coaching Rainworth Miners Welfare, he’s quick and direct, but fans say he can be frustrating.

Another player with a non-league background is right sided midfielder Jack Holmes who apparently played well in a pre-season friendly for Stamford against Rotherham, so well that Steve Evans signed him, he looks good, direct, hard working, whilst the stand out player ability-wise was perhaps Cameron Humphreys, now 26 he’s a centre half who began life at Manchester City’s academy, you can tell, easy on the eye and composed on the ball, although lacks a bit of height for the hustle and bustle of League One.

For Cheltenham, blonde haired midfielder Jordan Thomas caught my eye the most, he had a lovely right foot and is a big lad who could get around the pitch and battle, their star man was Joel Colwill who did little bar score two goals, Ethon Archer though who got the third, was a real nuisance on the left of attack and always tried to make something positive happen, he scored a very good goal too.

The Verdict

It won’t be a huge loss to Rotherham, not reaching round two, but more worrying was the way they played, fans walking out of the stadium saying that’s the worst they’ve been this season.

Rotherham are one of those sides that regularly yo-yo’s between levels two and three of the English game, they aren’t quite good enough for the Championship, but are often too good for League One, perhaps this is the year that they are perfectly at home in League One?

As for Cheltenham? They'll be alright as they are in League Two, safe from danger, away from promotion, but a good cup draw will at least boost their coiffeurs some more.

The Teams

Rotherham United: Cameron Dawson, Joe Rafferty (Alex MacDonald 70), Cameron Humphreys, Zak Jules, Cohen Bramall, Hakeem Odoffin, Christ Tiehi (Sam Nombe 46), Joe Powell (Liam Kelly 69), Jack Holmes (Joseph Hungbo 70), Jordan Hugill, Mallick Wilks (Ben Hatton 74).

Cheltenham Town: Joe Day, Lewis Payne, Sam Stubbs, Scott Bennett, Tom Bradbury, Liam Kinsella, Luke Young, Jordan Thomas (Arkell Jude-Boyd 69), Joel Colwill (Tom Pett 87), Ethon Archer, George Miller (Matt Taylor 87).

3:00pm Kick Off. Saturday 2nd November 2024, New York Stadium, Rotherham (att 2,770).