Tony Stewart drops new Rotherham United takeover update | OneFootball

Rotherham United suffered relegation to League Two amid links to a potential takeover

Rotherham United endured a difficult campaign in League One as they suffered relegation to League Two.

The Millers were hoping to improve on their 13th place finish in the previous season after they were unable to fight for promotion straight back to the Championship.

But instead they struggled for consistent results, and dropped to 23rd in the table, ending up 11 points clear of safety.

Lee Clark oversaw just one win from his nine matches in charge of the club, and he has since jumped ship to Hartlepool after only arriving as head coach in March.

Supporters have been left frustrated by the collapse of Rotherham, who were competing in the second tier as recently as 2024.

The team have suffered relegation in five of the last 10 seasons, as they now prepare for life in the fourth division of English football.

Rotherham takeover update from Tony Stewart

Rotherham owner and chairman Tony Stewart has provided an update on the ownership situation at the club amid speculation of a takeover, claiming that a change is unlikely to occur during this off-season.

He admitted there are three prospective bidders knocking on his door, but that he doesn’t want to just hand over ownership to anybody, as he wants to ensure the long-term stability of the team.

“I can’t see, this season, anything happening,” said Stewart, via the BBC.

“Over the last 10 years, I’ve had Americans, I’ve had Chinese, even now there’s three knocking on the door.

“What I’ve got to make sure is, I live in Rotherham, and I’m not going to hand it over to someone at any stage that I feel that’s going to have house bricks coming through my window, that’s irresponsibility.”

When asked what he would say to fans who would say ‘thanks, Tony, but it’s time to sell’, he responded: “I don’t have anybody saying that to me.”

The Rotherham owner urged supporters to back the club by buying season tickets this summer, claiming that the more revenue they can generate from ticket sales, the better equipped they will be to spend in the transfer market under the new financial rules.

“I think I’ve always got critics, but at the end of the day they’ve got me until they decide to move,” he added.

“And what they’ve got to hold their breath a little bit, let’s get into this season and see what we’ve done.

“But it’s two-way this, and I need people to buy season tickets because there will be a new rule that the more season tickets you can spend, the better striker you can get.

“That’s happening, that’s around the corner.

“So the bigger crowds we can get at Rotherham, it’s the better we can spend because there will be a limit on spending.”

Stewart went on to suggest that he would sell the club if the right proposal came forward that he felt would progress the team.

A Swiss-based consortium were linked with a takeover of Rotherham earlier this year, but so far no progress has been made towards an agreement with the current owner.

The club will now be preparing for life in League Two next season, where they will be hoping to gain promotion straight back to the third tier at the first attempt.

Stewart has been in charge of the Millers for 18 years, taking over in 2008, and he has overseen many highs and lows in that time.

But this season proved a real low point, with the team set to compete in the fourth tier for the first time since 2013.

Rotherham supporters need to be careful what they wish for

Stewart has earned a lot of criticism for his running of the team of late, and this season was a particular low point for his ownership.

But when other clubs in the EFL have changed hands over the years for the worse, Rotherham supporters need to be careful what they wish for to a certain extent.

Stewart is right to wait for what he feels is the right next owner of the team to emerge instead of simply cashing in at the first opportunity.

But the chairman now needs to back this up by investing in the team and ensuring they compete for promotion next year, otherwise the pressure on him to sell will only ramp up.