JOHNNY KING 1975-1980 & 1987-1996
Football League Fourth Division fourth place promotion: 1975–76
Football League Fourth Division runner-up: 1988–89
Football League Trophy winner: 1990
Football League Trophy runner-up: 1991
Football League Third Division play-off winner: 1991
Liverpool Senior Cup: 1992, 1995
John Allen King (born 15 April 1938) is an English former football player and manager. He is widely regarded as being the most successful manager in the history of Tranmere Rovers, and he had a stand at Prenton Park named in his honour in 2002. He played at wing half, and made 411 league appearances in a 14-year career in the Football League. He began his career at Everton, playing for the club in the top-flight between 1957 and 1960. He then moved on to Tranmere Rovers via Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic. In 20014 The Tranmere Supporters Trust unvailed a statue in his honour between the Cowshed and the main stand.
DAVE RUSSELL 1961-1969
He then took over as manager of Tranmere Rovers, at the time two divisions lower than Bury, replacing Walter Galbraith who had been in charge for less than a year. After near misses and disappointments along the way, he finally steered Rovers back to the Third Division at the conclusion of 1966–67 season. In 1969, Russell became the club’s general manager to allow his long-time coach, Jackie Wright, to take over the managerial reins, having guided the team to 167 wins and 130 defeats over a 379 game and eight year stint as manager. In 1978 Russell left the club for the final time. Since then, one of the hospitality suites at Tranmere’s ground Prenton Park has been named after Russell.
JOHN ALDRIDGE Player: 1991 – 1997 & Manager:1996-2001
John William Aldridge is a former Republic of Ireland international footballer and football manager. A return to Merseyside on 11 July 1991 with Tranmere Rovers was Aldridge’s next step. He repaid the bargain price of £250,000 as he scored a club-record 40 goals in his first season at Prenton park- scoring his 40th goal against former club Oxford United. Aldridge made his debut for Rovers aged 32 on the 17 August 1991 scoring both the goals in the 2-0 victory over Brighton and Hove Albion at the Goldstone Ground. He eventually amassed a total of 294 appearances for the Birkenhead club scoring 174 goals, a goal every 1.7 games, including 22 goals from just 25 League Cup ties. His goals also helped them reach their highest position ever in the league – top-six finishes in the second tier in 1993, 1994 and 1995 – which delivered playoff victories each time, but all of them ended in semi-final defeats. This meant that Tranmere could not make it to the Premier League, and Aldridge missed out on the chance of a return to the top flight. At Tranmere, Aldridge also came close to the chance of winning another major trophy – something which would have been unthinkable at the club just a couple of years earlier – as they took Aston Villa to a penalty shoot-out in the 1993-94 League Cup semi-finals before bowing out to the eventual competition winners. Coincidentally, Villa had tried to sign Aldridge 18 months before turning their attention to Dean sanders (the player who had replaced him at Oxford a few years earlier) instead. During his career in England alone he played 739 games, scoring 411 times, an incredible goal every 1.8 games. In 1996, he became player-manager of Tranmere, finally giving up playing and concentrating on the management side two years later. In 889 career appearances, he scored a record 476 goals, a tally not matched by any goalscorer in post-war English football to this day. Tranmere were involved in some memorable runs and giant-killing acts in cup competitions, including reaching the 2000 Football League Cup Final(which they lost to Leicester City) and consecutive FA Cup quarter-finals in 2000 and 2001. However, they were relegated into English football’s third tier in 2001, where they have since remained. Aldridge resigned in March 2001 just before Rovers went down, and has yet to return to management. In 2006 he gained media celebrity in Ireland by appearing in RTE’s Charity You’re a star competition. Despite not having a natural singing voice, John won the competition and in the process raised money for his nominated charity Temple Street Children’s Hospital.
Ray Mathias 2001 -2003
After retiring from playing, Mathias joined the coaching staff at Wigan Athletic and spent three years in charge of the Latics from 1986–89. The highlight of this spell was leading Wigan to the FA Cup quarter-finals in 1987. He later returned to Tranmere as a coach but then returned to Wigan as manager for the 1998–99 season; despite leading the club to victory in the Football League Trophy final at Wembley and the Second Division play-offs he lost his job shortly afterwards. After once again becoming part of the managerial set-up at Tranmere and spells as caretaker manager, he was finally handed the reins on a permanent basis in 2002 but sacked a year later. Mathias then had an unsuccessful caretaker spell at Chester City in 2004 and briefly worked as assistant manager at Bury in 2005. In October 2006 he was appointed as assistant manager to Paul Ince at League Two strugglers Macclesfield Town. The pair were able to guide the Silkmen to an unlikely survival before moving to Milton Keynes Dons where they achieved more success, winning the League Two championship and the Football League Trophy. They subsequently moved on to top-flight team Blackburn Rovers in June 2008. On 18 December 2008 Matthias was relieved of his duties along with Archie Knox following the sacking of Paul Ince and the subsequent arrival of Sam Allardyce as the new Rovers manager. On 4 February 2011 Ray joined Stockport County as Technical Advisor to Peter Ward and Alan Lord. On 9 March 2011 Ray was appointed manager of Stockport County until the end of the season, with Peter Ward and Alan Lord stepping back to coaching roles. Mathias then became the first manager in Stockport County history to relegate the club from the Football League. On 25 May 2011 Ray was given the Manager’s job at Stockport County on a full-time basis “After a lengthy process during which we interviewed a number of high caliber applicants for the role” according to Chief Exec Graham Shaw. However, he was dismissed from the position in favour of Dietmar Hamann on 5 July 2011, and subsequently left the club.
Warwick Rimmer 1987-2014
Although he was never a manager he has contribute a lot to the club as a member of the staff.Playing career
Born in Birkenhead, Rimmer signed a youth contract with Bolton Wanderers at the age of fifteen. He began his professional career four years later in 1960, making a total of 469 league appearances for Bolton,. Rimmer later became club captain, and lifted the trophy for Bolton when they won the 1972–73 Third Division Championship. Rimmer also played for Crewe Alexandra between 1974 and 1979, making 128 league appearances.Coaching career Rimmer managed Crewe Alexandra between 1978 and 1979. After retiring as a player, Rimmer became the coach of the Sierra Leone national side. Rimmer also founded the Youth Section of Tranmere Rovers in 1987. The young players that Rimmer has nurtured have earned Tranmere Rovers an estimated £14 million.
On 25th July 2014 Tranmere Rovers anounced they are to celebrate the incredible contribution to the Club made by Warwick Rimmer by renaming one of the executive lounges in his honour. The Warwick Rimmer Vice Presidents’ Suite will be officially retitled at Friday’s home game against Bolton Wanderers, Warwick’s former club, while Warwick will also be given the title of Vice President of Tranmere Rovers Football Club. A legend for his on the pitch contribution at Burnden Park – the former home of Wanderers – Warwick is equally renowned for his achievements in player recruitment with the youth department at Prenton Park. After finishing his playing career with more than 500 appearances for Bolton, Warwick became commercial manager at Tranmere Rovers in 1983 before becoming youth development officer four years later. Since then, his ability to identify talented young footballers and develop their skills has led to the Club receiving more than £15 million in transfer fees. Players to be recruited and trained by Warwick include Jason Koumas, Iain Hume, Alan Mahon, Kenny Irons, Steve Simonsen, Alan Rogers, Shaun Garnett, Aaron Cresswell, Gary Jones, John McGreal, Danny Coyne, Ged Brannan, Clint Hill, Tony Thomas and many, many more. In fact, since Warwick established the Club’s youth department in the late 1980s, more than five thousand first team appearances have been made by players who progressed through the system. Chairman Peter Johnson said: “Warwick’s achievements at Tranmere Rovers have been fantastic. “He has given the Club a reputation for producing excellent young footballers, with many going on to play at the top level of English football. “He is a great friend and someone who is well respected and liked not only at Tranmere Rovers and Bolton Wanderers, but throughout football. “Tranmere Rovers is very grateful for the incredible contribution Warwick has made at the Club and is fully deserving of the title of Vice President.” Warwick will be joined at Friday night’s game by family and friends together with a number of players involved with him throughout his carer.
Micky Mellon 9th October 2016 – 6th July 2020
HONORS: Vanarama National League Play-off Final Runners up 2017
Vanarama National League Play-off Final Winners 2018
SkyBet League 2 Play-Off Final Winners 2019.
Michael Joseph Mellon (born 18 March 1972) is a Scottish former professional footballer.
2001: Mellon moved up a division to join Tranmere Rovers, who were then playing in Division One, for a fee of £300,000. He spent two seasons at Prenton Park, followed by another two with Burnley, whom he joined for £350,000 gaining promotion finishing second to Preston North End. He returned to Tranmere Rovers in March 2001 initially on loan, and then on a free transfer. He was released in May 2004.
Manager: Micky Mellon left Shrewsbury Town on 6 October 2016, after winning only two of the opening eleven games of the 2016–17 season, and was appointed manager of Tranmere Rovers in the National League. On 12 May 2018 Mellon led Tranmere back into the English Football League with victory over Boreham Wood in the National League play-off final. On 25 May 2019, Tranmere made it back-to-back promotions, winning the League Two playoff at Wembley, 1–0, over Newport County, thus securing their spot in League One for the 2019–20 season. By March 2020, the team were within the relegation zone, but with a game in hand on their nearest rivals and on a run of three successive victories. The cancellation of fixtures due to the COVID-19 pandemic meant that the season could not be completed, and a vote was taken by League One clubs on 9 June to resolve promotion and relegation issues on a points per game (PPG) basis. This meant that Tranmere would be relegated to League Two for the 2020/21 season.
Tranmere Rovers Official Supporters Club Ireland Branch 