Rotherham United have been relegated to League Two after a 3-0 defeat to Wigan Athletic.
The Millers will play in the fourth tier of English football for the first time since 2012-13 next season, while Wigan are now eight points above the relegation zone with just three games of their campaign remaining.
Latics Dominate at the Brick Community Stadium
Wigan took a step closer to securing their League One status for next season with the win.
The hosts at the Brick Community Stadium were comfortable for most of the evening, with goals from Jason Kerr, Joe Taylor and Callum Wright securing Wigan’s third straight win.
Gary Caldwell’s side opened the scoring in the 14th minute as captain Kerr headed home from close range, sending his side into the half-time interval 1-0 ahead.
The hosts came out firing in the second half, with star man Taylor converting an incredible through-ball from Matt Smith to make it 2-0 after 59 minutes.
The Latics got their third just three minutes later thanks to a bit of luck, with Wright’s shot taking a big deflection to lob Millers keeper Ted Cann.
Millers’ Dismal Run Leads to Relegation
Rotherham’s relegation from League One comes after a dismal run of form.
Since beating Lincoln on 8 November the Millers have won just three of 27 league matches.
That victory over the Imps came in the middle of a nine-match unbeaten run in the league which suggested Matt Hamshaw, who had taken over from Steve Evans in March last year, could get the team competing for a play-off place.
However, a 3-0 home capitulation to struggling Blackpool on 10 December was the first of seven successive defeats that sent them tumbling into the bottom four.
Successive wins over Northampton and Exeter City did see them climb out of the relegation zone on goal difference on 31 January.
Clark’s Arrival Couldn’t Save Rotherham
That was as good as it got though and Hamshaw was sacked on 18 March after a 5-0 thrashing at Peterborough left them six points adrift of safety.
The club surprisingly turned to former Huddersfield and Birmingham boss Lee Clark to try to keep them in the division.
Clark had not managed in England since a spell in non-league with Blyth Spartans in 2019 and his most recent job had been in Sudan four years ago.
After a defeat and a draw in his first two games, they travelled to bottom side Port Vale in desperate need of a victory but fell to a 1-0 defeat.
Worse was to come last Saturday when they were beaten 3-1 at home by local rivals Barnsley in what Clark called “a disgrace and not acceptable” performance.
A Return to League Two
Relegation comes just two years after they went down from the Championship and means they will now play in the fourth tier for the first time since Steve Evans led them to promotion from League Two in 2012-13.
- Rotherham relegated to League Two after loss to Wigan.
- Lee Clark’s side will play in the fourth tier for first time since 2012-13.
- Wigan secured a 3-0 victory at the Brick Community Stadium.
In the 13 years since they won promotion to League One, they won four promotions to the Championship and were relegated from the second tier four times, and have never spent more than two successive seasons in the same league.