Rotherham became the first side in the English Football League to be relegated this season after a 1-0 loss at home to fellow strugglers Plymouth Argyle.
Bali Mumba’s goal lit up a poor first half as the Millers’ two-year stay in the Championship came to an end with five games still to play.
Rotherham keeper Viktor Johansson kept his side in it with a number of good saves while Plymouth substitute Ben Waine hit the post late on as the Pilgrims ended a six-game winless run.
Argyle – who sacked head coach Ian Foster on Monday after eight losses in 11 games – eased their own relegation fears with the win.
It moves them up to 19th in the Championship, four points from safety, and means the Millers return to League One with an unassailable 19-point gap to 21st-place Birmingham City with only 15 points left to play for.
Re-live Rotherham’s loss at home to Plymouth
Interim Argyle boss Neil Dewsnip made four changes to his side, with all four dropping out being January signings by Foster as Dan Scarr and Callum Wright returned having barely featured under the former head coach.
In a first half that was low on quality, Argyle had the better of the chances – Wright twice went close after four Argyle players also threatened during a 10th-minute goalmouth scramble.
Mumba brought the game to life with a lovely touch to control Morgan Whittaker’s precise cross-field pass from the right before blasting past Viktor Johansson to give the Pilgrims a lead they just about deserved.
Argyle’s confidence began to grow after the goal and Wright forced a smart save from Johansson with a low far-post header in first-half stoppage time.
The Millers had to be grateful to their Swedish keeper as time and again he saved them – he tipped Whittaker’s powerful low effort around the post before stopping a Jordan Houghton shot.
Rotherham had their best chances midway through the second half as first Cohen Bramall hit the side netting having found himself unmarked at the back post from a corner before Sebastian Revan saw Michael Cooper produce his only save of the night soon after.
Johansson again came to the rescue moments later after Cameron Humphreys had got a toe on an Adam Randell cross.
He then saved a Dan Scarr header from a corner that saw Waine head against the post from the follow up before the New Zealand striker missed a gilt-edged chance when he capitalised on Sebastian Revan’s poor back-pass, but Johansson was off his line quickly to save with his foot as the Millers were relegated with a whimper.
Four wins and 26 losses in nightmare Millers season
Rotherham have endured a dismal campaign, with just four wins and are guaranteed to finish bottom of the table.
They have failed to win a single match away from home all season and have not won a league match on their travels since November 2022.
Previous boss Matt Taylor was sacked in November when they were four points adrift of safety but replacement Leam Richardson could not turn their fortunes around and has won only two of his 21 league games in charge.
The South Yorkshire side dropped into the bottom three on 23 September and did not climb out of the relegation zone thereafter.
Taylor, who had replaced long-serving Paul Warne in October 2022, kept the club in the second tier last season to end a run of six successive seasons where the club was either promoted to or relegated from the Championship.
This season was always likely to be a struggle for them and Taylor was sacked on 13 November, two days after a 5-0 reverse at Watford.
By the time Richardson was appointed on 11 December they had slipped to the foot of the division, a position they would remain in for the rest of the campaign.
Richardson will now hope he is capable of doing what Warne managed after their three previous relegations and lead them straight back up – having led Wigan Athletic to the League One title in 2022.
Rotherham United head coach Leam Richardson told BBC Radio Sheffield:
“We weren’t good enough tonight, I thought the game was very stop start.
“They shaded it in both boxes, which is the most disappointing thing, and I made my views clear at half-time.
“This club’s experienced it a few times, they’ve always come back stronger, I feel for the fans at the minute because they’ve had a really rough season.
“Myself and [assistant] Rob Kelly came in at the back end of the year and it was there for all to see – we’ve run around the country with 64% availability of the squad in the Championship and we’ve not really been able to get to work a lot with facilities, but that’s by the by, it’s something we need to improve on and need to address.
“But on the basis of right here, right now, with the emotion of results and the inevitable relegation, it’s a tough one to take.”
Plymouth Argyle first team coach Kevin Nancekivell told BBC Radio Devon:
“It’s been a tough week, a traumatic week for everybody at the football club, so to come and get three points is massive for us.
“It’s only three points, we’ve still got a lot of work to do, but we’ll enjoy tonight and then look forward to QPR on Tuesday.
“The boys that haven’t played were desperate and ready to go, so we were just trying something to see if we could get three points, which thankfully worked.
“I thought everybody contributed fantastically well. We’re a tight group, it’s a squad game and everyone’s going to have to play their part in the next five games.”
Line-ups
Rotherham
Formation 3-5-2
1Johansson
22Odoffin24Humphreys21Peltier
28Revan18Rathbone12Rinomhota8Clucas3Bramall
14Wyke29Nombe
1Johansson22Odoffin24Humphreys21PeltierSubstituted forAppiahat 83’minutes28Revan18RathboneSubstituted forRibeiro Diasat 56’minutes12RinomhotaSubstituted forLindsayat 56’minutes8Clucas3BramallSubstituted forFergusonat 78’minutes14WykeSubstituted forEavesat 56’minutes29NombeSubstitutes7Ribeiro Dias9Eaves16Lindsay17Ferguson26Phillips30Appiah38Seriki42Hatton
Plymouth
Formation 3-4-2-1
1Cooper
26Phillips6Scarr17Gibson
8Edwards20Randell4Houghton2Mumba
10Whittaker11Wright
9Hardie
1Cooper26Phillips6Scarr17Gibson8Edwards20Randell4Houghton2MumbaSubstituted forGallowayat 87’minutes10WhittakerSubstituted forBunduat 87’minutes11WrightSubstituted forForshawat 62’minutes9HardieSubstituted forWaineat 76’minutesSubstitutes3Sousa5Pleguezuelo14Miller15Bundu21Hazard22Galloway23Waine27Forshaw29Sorinola
Referee:Oliver Langford
Attendance:9,863
Live Text
Match ends, Rotherham United 0, Plymouth Argyle 1.
Second Half ends, Rotherham United 0, Plymouth Argyle 1.
Sam Clucas (Rotherham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Adam Forshaw (Plymouth Argyle).
Dan Scarr (Plymouth Argyle) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Tom Eaves (Rotherham United).
Corner, Plymouth Argyle. Conceded by Viktor Johansson.
Attempt saved. Ben Waine (Plymouth Argyle) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Foul by Mustapha Bundu (Plymouth Argyle).
Sebastian Revan (Rotherham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Corner, Plymouth Argyle. Conceded by Tom Eaves.
Ben Waine (Plymouth Argyle) hits the right post with a header from very close range following a corner.
Attempt saved. Dan Scarr (Plymouth Argyle) header from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Adam Randell with a cross.
Corner, Plymouth Argyle. Conceded by Sebastian Revan.
Substitution, Plymouth Argyle. Brendan Galloway replaces Bali Mumba.
Substitution, Plymouth Argyle. Mustapha Bundu replaces Morgan Whittaker.
Offside, Rotherham United. Sam Nombe is caught offside.
Attempt saved. Ben Waine (Plymouth Argyle) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Bali Mumba.
Foul by Adam Randell (Plymouth Argyle).
Jamie Lindsay (Rotherham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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