Who Do We Meet Next Season – B-C

Rotherham United will soon be starting their second successive year in the Championship – but who will we be playing . . .


Birmingham City

Birmingham City came into being in 1875 although they were originally called Small Heath Alliance. Thirteen years later they dropped the ‘Alliance’ from their name before becoming Birmingham City in 1943. Twenty years later they won their first major cup, beating rivals Aston Villa in the League Cup on aggregate, going on to win it again in 2011. 1991 and 1995 saw them win the Football League Trophy. City finished in seventeenth place in the Championship last season with fifty-three points.

The Millers and Birmingham have met forty-one times in all competitions, thirty-eight of those being in the League. March 2023 saw the pair meet at St Andrew’s which was a two-nil win for the Blues with both goals from Reda Khadra and Kevin Long coming in the first thirty-five minutes.


Ground – St Andrew’s
Nickname – Blues
Manager – John Eustace


Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn Rovers were established in 1875 becoming a founding member of the Football League thirteen years later. Rovers were also founder members of the Premier League in 1992. They have won the FA Cup six times and the Football League Cup once. Rovers finished just out of the play-offs last season in seventh place with sixty-nine points, the same as Sunderland but with a worse goal difference.

The Millers and Blackburn have met forty-two times in the league in the past the last time being at the New York Stadium in January 2023. A first minute goal from Hakeem Odoffin gave the Miller an early lead and second half goals from Ollie Rathbone, Shane Ferguson and Conor Washington made it a four-nil win for the hosts.

Ground – Ewood Park
Nickname – Rovers
Manager – John Dahl Tomasson

Bristol City

Founded in 1894 as Bristol South End they changed their name to Bristol City in 1897 when they were admitted to the Southern League. In 1900 they amalgamated with Bedminster and joined the Football League a year later with their first game being away at Blackpool which they lost. The end of the 1905/6 saw them win the Second Division title and 1909 saw them get to their only Cup Final losing to Derby at Stamford Bridge. The end of the 1910/11 season saw City relegated for the first time. City have won the Football League Trophy three times. Fifty-nine points in the Championship last season saw City in fourteenth position.


The Millers and Robins have met fifty-eight times in all competitions in the past with Rotherham winning twenty-four of those to City’s twenty-one. The pair last met at Ashton Gate in April 2023 when Tommy Conway gave the Robins a fifteen minute lead. A Jordan Hugill penalty in the second half saw the equaliser for the Millers but a goal in time added on from Andreas Weirmann saw City get all three points.

Ground – Ashton Gate
Nickname – The Robins
Manager – Nigel Pearson

Cardiff City

Formed in 1899 as Riverside AFC they joined the Cardiff & District League the following season changing their name in 1908 to Cardiff City. They raised enough capital to build their own stadium in 1910, Ninian Park turning professional the same year and joined the Southern Football League Second Division winning the title and promotion at the second time of trying. In 1927 Cardiff became the first non-English side to win the FA Cup (ironically on St George’s Day). A few ups and downs followed over the years and in 2000 Sam Hamman bought the club changed the colours and re-named them ‘Cardiff Celts’ which went down like the proverbial lead balloon and it was soon changed back to Cardiff City. Financial problems with owners coming and going saw Cardiff eventually move into the Cardiff City Stadium in 2009 while winning the 2012/13 Championship title seeing them in the Premier League for the first time. They were relegated but Neil Warnock was appointed in October 2016 and took them back to the English top tier for the 2018/19 season although they only last one season. 2020 saw Steve Morison appointed lead coach with the Cardiff U23 team but in October 2021, when Mick McCarthy was sacked, he temporary took over the first team but later got the job on a full time basis. Since then Mark Hudson had the job with the latest man in the hot seat being Sabri Lamouchi who took over in January 2023, leaving in May. City finished last season one place above the relegated three on forty-nine points. Earlier this month Cardiff appointed former  Fenerbahce boss Erol Bulut as their new manager.

Of the fifty-four league games that the Millers and Bluebirds have played against each other Rotherham have twenty-three wins to City’s seventeen. The pair last met at the New York Stadium in April 2023 which was a two-one win for the visitors – Kion Etete opened the scoring for City with Chieo Ogbene getting an equaliser for the Millers but a goal from Cedric Kipre with a few minutes of the match remaining sealed the win for the visitors.


Ground – Cardiff City Stadium
Nickname – The Bluebirds
Manager –  Erol Bulut


Coventry City

Formed as Singers F.C. in 1883 Coventry City took on their name fifteen years later joining the Football League in 1919. In 1992 they were an inaugural member of the Premier League spending thirty-four seasons there until relegated in 2001. After eleven years in the Championship they were relegated again to League One and 2017 saw them drop to League Two although they did win the EFL Trophy at Wembley. August 2005 saw them move from Highfield Road to the Ricoh Stadium and two years later they were close to going into administration and in 2013 they had to play their ‘home’ games at Northampton’s Sixfield Stadium returning to the Ricoh the following season. At the end of the 2017/18 season the Sky Blues were promoted back to League One via the play-offs but once again found themselves ground sharing, this time with Birmingham City. The Sky Blue’s were promoted as Champions of League One after the 2019/20 season was cut short due to Covid-19. Last season saw City get to the Championship play-off final losing out to Luton Town at Wembley.

The Millers and Coventry have played in thirty-four league games in the past the last one being a two-nil win for the Sky Blues at the New York Stadium, goals coming from Jamie Allen and Viktor Gyokeres.


Ground – Coventry Building Society Arena
Nickname – Sky Blues
Manager – Mark Robins