IT WAS the icing on the cake after a turbulent decade; the day Rotherham United effectively became homeless, because of a petty, stubborn and bitter dispute with a former chairman of the club.

The Millers, a club who had entered administration twice in two years and were docked points with alarming regularity, announced their move away from Millmoor, their home since 1907, two years ago.

But to truly understand what drove Rotherham away from their home of over a century, away from their entire history and even away from their own town (the club’s offices remain in Rotherham, they play their home games at Sheffield’s Don Valley Stadium and train at Doncaster Rovers’ Keepmoat Stadium), we must go all the way back to 1987.

Don Valley Stadium – Rotherham’s ‘temporary home’ in Sheffield

A year in which The Simpsons first appeared on The Tracy Ullman Show, Margaret Thatcher was still British Prime Minister and Kylie Minogue released her first song, ‘The Loco-Motion’, was to prove to be equally momentous in the history of Rotherham United.

Ken Booth, a local scrap dealer, took over the club aged 65 in 1987. They were in administration then, too, but the success of Booth’s empire – which eventually turned over £170m – kept them in business. Booth oversaw two successive promotions, with Ronnie Moore in charge, but their relegation in 2005 – coupled with the collapse of ITV Digital – hit the club hard.

The club lost £1million in 2003, while their overdraft – backed by Booth – leapt from around £700,000, to £1.6m – and then to £2.6m. The chairman, now in his 80s, was fed up of abuse from fans of the club he was keeping alive from his own pocked, and decided to cut his losses. On New Years’ Eve 2004 a consortium of Millers fans signed a deal to take over the club, with Booth selling the club for just £1 and writing off the club’s now-£3m overdraft.

But Booth still regained his perks – including ownership of the stadium, adjoining nightclub and training ground, forcing Rotherham to pay him £200,000 a year ‘rent’, as well as retaining an extensive package of benefits including free match tickets, advertising at the ground and even the club’s allocation of FA Cup Final tickets.

“This was for tickets nobody else was taking up and they used them to reward employees,” said Peter Ruchniewicz, the solicitor in charge of the consortium.

“I’m not critical of the Booths. Yes, they kept the ground, but they wrote off the overdraft. We wanted to make the club sustainable, but the economics were hopeless.”

Millmoor – still  with Booth’s cranes in the background, and sponsorship boards on the stand

Relations between the latest Rotherham chief executive, Paul Douglas, and the Booth family failed to improve, and when the two parties failed to reach an agreement in 2008 regarding the lease of the ground they decided to sever all ties.

“Talks between ourselves and the landlords have broken down and we will leave Millmoor by the end of this month,” Millers chief executive Paul Douglas said at the time.

“We have been unable to agree terms to allow us to stay at Millmoor, despite our best intentions. Our initial hope was to buy the ground on a freehold or long leasehold, so that we could get the necessary investment to complete the work at Millmoor.

“We then wanted to have a short-term lease so we could move into a community stadium. Don Valley is a temporary move and obviously we wanted to stay in Rotherham, but everything we do has to be right for the football club.

“And because of this we are now redoubling our focus on a community stadium in Rotherham.”

The progress on that new stadium, designed to take Rotherham ‘home’, is slow – and all Millers fans are left with now is memories. Memories of the first ever League Cup Final, which was staged at Millmoor; a famous win over Arsenal in that competition; a 6-0 thrashing of Chelsea in the 80s; 25,000 crowds for games against local rivals Sheffield United in the 1950s.

Liverpool lost 1-0 on both their last two visits to Millmoor – but will never return again. There is a great sadness when a club loses part of its soul, loses its entire history for an equivalent sum of money earned by an average Premier League footballer in no time at all.

Memories of Millmoor

The Millmoor Lane stand, erected in 1929, was the first of its type in Britain and followed American practice, but many Rotherham fans were dismayed when the old wooden main stand was demolished and seating was installed in the famous Tivoli End.

They said it destroyed the atmosphere at the ground. But having to currently put up with the athletics-minded Don Valley Stadium, it may have been a case of better the devil you know for those long-suffering Millers supporters.

Rise and Fall of Rotherham United – Timeline
1870 – Formed, as Thornhill United
1905 – Became Rotherham County
1907 – Moved to Millmoor
1925 – Merged with Rotherham Town, to become Rotherham United
2001 – Promoted to Championship, second successive promotion
2005 – Relegated from Championship
2006 – Club enters administration, incurring ten-point deduction
2008 – Enters administration for a second time
2008 – Rotherham move to Don Valley.