Roy of the Rovers

Roy of the Rovers is a British comic strip about the life and times of a fictional footballer named Roy Race, who played for Melchester Rovers. The strip first appeared in the Tiger in 1954, before giving its name to a weekly (and later monthly) comic magazine, published by IPC and Fleetway from 1976 until 1995, in which it was the main feature.

The weekly strip ran until 1993, following Roy's playing career until its conclusion after he lost his left foot in a helicopter crash. When the monthly comic was launched later that year the focus switched to Roy's son Rocky, who also played for Melchester. This publication was short-lived, and folded after only 19 issues. The adventures of the Race family were subsequently featured in the monthly Match of the Day football magazine, in which father and son were reunited as manager and player respectively. These strips began in 1997 and continued until the magazine's closure in May 2001.

Roy of the Rovers (comic)

The Roy of the Rovers comic was launched as a weekly on 25 September 1976, named after the established comic strip of the same name that first appeared as weekly feature in the Tiger on 11 September 1954. The title ran for 853 issues, until 20 March 1993 (industrial action prevented publication of 3 issues in December 1978 and a further 5 in May and June 1980), and included other football strips and features. In February 1989, the comic merged with the similarly themed Hot Shot, and was known for a brief time as Roy of the Rovers and Hot Shot, but reverted to its original title shortly afterwards.

The comic was relaunched as a monthly in September 1993, but finally closed in March 1995, after a further 19 issues.

On 19 March 2012 The Royal Mail launched a special stamp collection to celebrate Britain's rich comic book history. As well as Roy of the Rovers, the collection also featured The Beano, The Dandy, Eagle, The Topper, Bunty, Buster, Valiant, Twinkle and 2000 AD.

The Rovers

The Rovers may refer to:

The Irish Rovers

The Irish Rovers is a group of Irish musicians, half of whom now live in Canada. The Canadian Irish folk group created in 1963 and named after the traditional song "The Irish Rover" is best known for their international television series, contributing to the popularization of Irish Music in North America, and for the songs "The Unicorn," "Wasn't That A Party," "The Orange and the Green," "Whiskey on a Sunday," "Lily The Pink," and "The Black Velvet Band."

The primary voices heard in the group's early songs were Will Millar (tenor), Jimmy Ferguson (baritone), George Millar and Joe Millar, and in the last twenty years, also John Reynolds and Ian Millar. Wilcil McDowell's accordion has been a signature sound of the band throughout their more than 50 years.

Flute/whistle player Geoffrey Kelly was born in Dumfries, Scotland.

In the 1980s, the group briefly renamed itself The Rovers. During this period, their "Wasn't That a Party" led to crossover success in the country rock genre.

The Rovers (album)

The Rovers is a 1980 album by the music group The Irish Rovers. It was their first album after they rebranded themselves as The Rovers, dropping "Irish" from the group name, and includes their crossover country hit "Wasn't That a Party".

Track listing

U.S. release

The album was released in the United States as "Wasn't That a Party." It had the same songs as "The Rovers," but a different cover.

Chart performance

External links