After spending time as manager at Oldham Athletic and Tranmere, Moore returned to the Millers as boss again in 2009. He was tasked with leading the club through a difficult period playing outside of Rotherham at the Don Valley Stadium.
Despite this, Moore enjoyed a successive first season back at the club. He guided Rotherham to a play-off place by finishing 5th in League Two. Rotherham beat Aldershot Town 3-0 on aggregate to advance to the Play-Off Final. But their big day at Wembley ended in disappointment as they were beaten 3-2 by Dagenham & Redbridge.
In the next season Rotherham were again around the play-off places, but Moore left the club by mutual consent in March 2011 after losing 5-0 to Chesterfield. Moore still looks back fondly at his second reign as manager and he has no regrets about returning to the club:
“The pride I had leading my team out at Wembley in a Playoff Final is something I will remember for the rest of my life. So will the pain of not giving our great supporters the promotion we all craved for.
“I never had any regrets about returning to the club I love. I’m not making excuses but being based at Don Valley did not help our course. It always felt like we were playing away. I still don’t think I should have been sacked because we were just outside the playoffs with everything to play for.”
Current Rotherham United manager Paul Warne was a mainstay in the famous side under Ronnie Moore that achieved successive promotions. Warne took an unconventional route into management by starting off as a fitness coach.
It has not been an easy transition for him at all. Yet as time has gone on he has really took to the role. While he has been manager, Warne has been able to guide Rotherham out of a treacherous period on and off the pitch to make them a team that others look on enviously.
The 46-year-old helped Rotherham to promotion via the play-offs in 2017/18 after a great League One campaign. Unfortunately the Millers were relegated the season after but since then they have recovered well and they sit joint-top of League One. Moore has seen a lot of Rotherham this campaign and he believes they have enough to go up:
“Warney has done a great job since he took over. I like the look of us at the moment. The team has plenty of pace, height and they are organised at set plays for and against. I think we will finish in the top two this season.
“It takes time to become a good manager. Paul was thrown in at the deep end to start with and I really think he has grown into the role now. Maybe one day he can go on to manage at the top level, but they better put my statue up before his!”
Should Rotherham United go up this year, much has been said about whether they are capable of faring better in the Championship this time around.
Warne and his players earned the admiration of fans up and down the country for how they went about their business last season. In the end they fell just short due to a lack of investment and quality in the squad.
Rotherham lost some ***** players in the summer but they have recruited really well, which has helped them become one of the standout teams in League One.