Melchester Rovers

Melchester Rovers are a fictional football team with whom Roy Race spent most of his illustrious career in the British comic strip Roy of the Rovers, which first appeared in Tiger at its inception in 1954.

History

Early years

According to the comic strip's continuity, Melchester Rovers were founded in 1885 winning at least three League Championships and a number of FA Cups during the pre-war years of their existence. In 1954, however, the first Roy of the Rovers strip appeared, telling the story of the club and its star striker Roy Race (whose grandfather, Billy Race, had played for the club in the early part of the 20th Century). Melchester finally became League Champions in 1958, and won the FA Cup the following season, by which time Race was captain.

1960s

It was in the 1960s, however, that Rovers became a footballing force to be reckoned with. The decade brought three league titles, two FA Cups, two European Cups, one European Cup Winners' Cup and one Intercontinental Cup. It wasn't a decade without its problems, though, and in an example of the topsy-turvy nature of the history that would follow, Rovers only narrowly avoided relegation at the end of 1967, the same year they won the Cup Winners' Cup.