Rotherham United Hit The Jackpot With £0 Derby County Transfer

Rotherham United in 2011 were a team with plenty of ambition, despite being in the midst of a six-year stay in League Two.

The Millers were set to move into the AESSEAL New York Stadium, their new 12,000-capacity ground, in July 2012, an upgrade from their former home at Millmoor, and it was also at that time that Steve Evans would become the club’s new manager.

However, their hopes of becoming a club ready to apply their trade outside the fourth tier were put into motion a few seasons prior, and in June 2011, they announced the free signing of 22-year-old Ben Pringle from Championship side Derby County.

Pringle made 15 second-tier appearances in the 2010/11 season for the Rams, but was told he was free to leave the club at the end of the campaign.

In his first interview at Rotherham, the midfielder cited the club as an “up-and-coming” side, one that had ambitions to improve its standing.

And it wouldn’t be long before they did, with Ben Pringle once again becoming a Championship player with the Millers – he was at the heard of the South Yorkshire club’s success.

Ben Pringle’s promotion success with Rotherham United

It took Ben Pringle a season to become fully acclimatised at Rotherham United, enduring a period in the middle of the 2011/12 season where he went 19 games without making a league appearance – 16 of which he wasn’t even involved in the side.

However, he netted from the bench on his return against Barnet and found himself starting the final 13 league games of the season, scoring a further two and assisting twice as the Millers finished 10th.

It was the 2012/13 season, however, that Pringle and Rotherham as a team began to take flight up the EFL.

Under the management of Steve Evans and at their new ground, the Millers would achieve promotion out of League Two at the sixth time of asking. Pringle was a regular in that side, making 41 league appearances and contributing with seven goals and nine assists.

Rotherham would then become the first side to complete back-to-back promotions from League Two to the Championship twice, following a win in the League One play-off final the following season in a penalty shootout win over Leyton Orient.

Pringle would register an impressive 13 assists during the league season, and a further three in their play-off semi-final win over Preston North End. In the play-off final, the wide midfielder scored a pressure penalty with his side already behind in the shootout – one which they’d go on to win.

Ben Pringle was at the heart of Rotherham United success – it was the peak of his career

With that play-off win, Ben Pringle was once again a Championship player and was set to make his first second-tier appearances since his time at Derby just three years ago.

Pringle was once again a key cog in Steve Evans’ wheel, playing 40 times in his Championship return, scoring three and assisting seven. Rotherham managed to stay up in the 2014/15 campaign, but only just, finishing 21st, five points clear of Millwall.

However, the then-25-year-old wasn’t interested in continuing his time in the Championship with Rotherham, turning down a new three-year deal from the club at the end of the season.

Instead, he opted to join Fulham, who themselves were struggling to adapt to life in the Championship following 13 straight seasons in the Premier League, but it would never work out at Craven Cottage for the left-footed dynamo, and it didn’t work out for him either at Preston North End.

He would soon drop down the leagues during his time at PNE with loan spells away from the club, and he eventually dropped into non-league a few years ago with Altrincham – the memories of his time at Rotherham though would never be forgotten.

Despite clear disappointment at the rejection of a new deal, many Millers fans will hold Pringle in high regard due to the role he played in helping the side back to the Championship.

In the end, the midfielder made 168 Rotherham appearances over four seasons, contributing to 56 goals across his time at the New York Stadium.

And given he cost them absolutely nothing, he’ll go down as one of the bigger steals in the club’s history.