Tranmere Rovers were pushing for Championship football just over 15 years ago, missing the playoffs by a single position.
But since then it’s been tough to find moments to celebrate. Steady regression and a few years in the firth tier confirm what has been a rough decade for Rovers.
After their relegation from League 1 in the 2019/20 season, and now lingering with the threat of relegation to the Conference League yet again, just what has gone wrong for Tranmere.
Finances
No team is operating on Manchester City style money in the lower leagues, but investment for Tranmere is low.
As of Late June 2025, the club is still up for sale, a consortium including US rapper ASAP Rocky were rumoured to be keen on a take over, but it’s gone quiet since the end of last season.
There was an increase in budget for the playing squad last year, but that was met with cash operating losses of £700,000.
A statement by Chairman Mark Palios at the end of last season stated that the squad budget was the largest it had ever been under his leadership, but it wasn’t all plain-sailing.
He said: “A key aspect that we will be looking at closely is why we had so many players out injured for prolonged periods of time.”
“For context, almost 20% of our entire wage bill was spent on players who were out injured during the season.”
According to Capology, this year Tranmere are paying £3,788,400 in wages, that would mean £757,680 worth of wages were not used on the pitch if the same happened again in terms of injuries.
If that was the case their wage spend on usable players would go from 11th to 17th in the league.
Spending hasn’t meant better results for Tranmere, which is a major concern with a club that frequently operates at a loss.
Form
Obviously, this is the most important factor into how they’re doing.
Ten games into this season it’s not been the start they’d hoped for. Their issues haven’t been losing games, they’ve only lost three all season. It’s draws. Two wins, five draws and three losses for a return of 11 points isn’t an inspiring return, especially when they’d only lost one in their first five.
This almost mirrors the start from last season. In their first 10 games they got the same set of results, two wins, five draws and three losses. They went unbeaten in their first four games before not picking up a win in their next six.
Turnover
Since their relegation from League 1, Tranmere have had five different coaches in six years, with none of them managing to reach two years at the club. In fairness, they have only had three managers since 2021 including former manager Micky Mellon (who was released after relegation from League 1), Nigel Adkins and Andy Crosby.
Players aren’t like in the top leagues where they spend years at the same club, but it is important to try and keep hold of talent or sell them for a profit.
Since their relegation to League 2, Tranmere have averaged 23.3 players coming in per window. However, since the 21/22 season the signings per window have reduced every year.
In contrast they average 24.5 departures a season.
This means with incomings and outgoings, Tranmere can create two brand new starting line-ups per season plus a substitute for each.
When players and managers don’t seem to stick, it is hard to build consistency at a club. By the time a squad has bonded they’ve been thrown out for a new lot under a new manager.
A takeover that’s stalling, a new team every year and poor starts have contributed to what has been a frustrating few years as a Tranmere fan.
But not all hope is lost if this takeover gets across the line, with plans for a new stadium being discussed.
This season has a lot riding on it. If Tranmere can survive, a brighter future may be ahead.
