In the 2018-19 season, Tranmere’s first back in the Football League, Rovers immediately mounted a challenge for back-to-back promotions, and they eventually secured this feat by defeating Newport County 1-0 at Wembley.
Tranmere currently sit in mid-table mediocrity in League Two, with another season in the fourth tier imminent, with their poor form seeing their points gap between themselves and the play-offs extending rather than lessening.
The squad is a far cry from that play-off winning squad, with many different names involved in Micky Mellon’s starting eleven.
We take a look at Rovers’ starting eleven on that mesmerising day at Wembley, as Tranmere prepare to meet Newport this weekend.
GK – Scott Davies (Retired)
A stalwart in the Rovers side, Scott Davies was the starting goalkeeper in the play-off final.
Davies signed for Tranmere in 2015 following a departure from Fleetwood Town, and slotted straight in as he arrived in Rovers’ first season of National League football.
He started in the play-off final heartbreak two years earlier to Forest Green Rovers, but his side made amends a year later after reclaiming their Football League status following victory against Boreham Wood, and the year later against Newport.
Davies stayed on after they play-off final and stared in the League One campaign, with him the stalwart in between the sticks as Rovers agonisingly sunk back to League Two
Davies announced his retirement from professional football last year.
RB – Jake Caprice (Exeter City)
With 44 appearances at right-back for Tranmere during the 2018-19, Jake Caprice currently plies his trade down south with Devonshire-based Exeter City.
Caprice was an ever-present for Rovers after his arrival that summer from Leyton Orient, playing a pivotal part in the promotion to League One.
The right-back by trade stayed for one year in that heart aching relegation campaign, and this, like many, was Caprice’s final season as a Tranmere player, as he switched over to Exeter City.
He’s achieved a further promotion with his current outfit, but his minutes of late for the Grecians have been limited.
RCB – Sid Nelson (Welling United – on loan from Woking)
Sid Nelson, who’d barely featured throughout the season, was presented with an opportunity of a lifetime as he was placed in Micky Mellon‘s starting eleven for the play-off final at Wembley.
After spending the first part of the season at Swindon Town, Nelson arrived at promotion chasing Tranmere to help galvanise the side further.
With one promotion under his belt already, after guiding Millwall back to the Championship in 2016-17, Nelson used his previous experiences to inject stability on the biggest occasion.
Nelson stayed at the Wirral-based side for two more seasons, but was used sporadically as stock plummeted after leaving Northampton Town.
He now plays on loan at Welling United in the 6th-tier of English Football, on loan from National League outfit Woking.
LCB – Manny Monthe (Walsall)
He signed for Tranmere the season before from Forest Green, and he was part of the Vegans side that beat Rovers at Wembley in 2017.
He played the full 90 minutes, keeping the left side of Newport relatively quiet and was able to thwart all pressure with relative ease.
Monthe stayed on at Tranmere, being part of the League One campaign, in which Rovers were relegated on points-per-game; and the year after as Tranmere just missed out on promotion.
He’s now at Walsall, and is a regular starter for the Saddlers.
LB – Liam Ridehalgh (Bradford City)
Ridehalgh played a key part in Tranmere’s venture to Wembley, as he began the full ninety minutes against Newport, unlike the previous year.
Joining Tranmere in 2014, he was unable to save the sinking ship as Rovers dropped to the pit of non-league football.
Ridehalgh made an instant impact, slotting in well into Micky Mellon’s tactics and was part of both Tranmere promotion winning campaigns.
He’s now at Bradford City after signing for the Bantams in 2021, and is now a regular part of Mark Hughes’ team.
CDM – Ollie Banks (Chesterfield)
Ollie Banks was a back-bone of that Rovers side, and he is currently engrossed in another intensifying promotion battle at Chesterfield.
He arrived at Tranmere initially on loan for the first park of the 2017-18 season, which meant he missed out on Rovers’ National League winning campaign, but he made his move permanent in the summer of 2018 as he proved a key tick to Mellon’s midfield.
Banks was another of the players to suffer the agony of relegation the season after and then the failure to bounce straight back up in 2021.
After two successful years at Barrow, Banks returned closer to home as he was snapped up by Chesterfield, and another promotion campaign involving the midfielder is on the cards.
RM – Kieron Morris (Tranmere Rovers)
The only remaining player from that play-off final who’s still at Prenton Park, Kieron Morris has been a stalwart out wide for Tranmere, mainly operating as a right hand player.
Morris arrived on the Wirral peninsula halfway through the 2018-19 season, drawing the curtain on his five-and-a-half year stint at Walsall, and he instantly earned himself a place in the starting eleven.
The tricky wide man has entered his fifth season and his fourth full one as a Rovers player, and he’s notched up sixteen goals from the wing. Despite him not being clinical, he’s still managed to bring fresh impetus in a gaping hole which was out wide.
He’s currently out injured, but a return to the side isn’t too far away.
CM – Jay Harris (Warrington Town)
A solid and estate centre midfielder, Harris’ fourth and final season came in the 2018-19 promotion winning campaign.
After many successful years at Wrexham, he made the switch just down the road from the Racecourse to Prenton Park, where he spent four glittering years.
He played many climactic moments during his seasons, including two promotions, but his final year came after the promotion to League One.
Harris joined Macclesfield, returned to Wrexham and now he plays in the 7th-tier of English football, playing for Northern Premier League outfit Warrington Town.
LM – Connor Jennings (Hartlepool United)
A hero in his time on the Wirral, with many iconic moments, Connor Jennings was an attacking player who knew where the net was.
He joined Rovers from Macclesfield Town in 2017, and he notched up 8 goals as Tranmere re-claimed their Football League status; the year after, he scored 9 – including the winner at Wembley to send Tranmere up.
He left the Super White Army after a gleaming three years, putting pen to paper at Stockport County. Jennings is a recent arrival at Hartlepool United after leaving boyhood club Stockport, and he has started slowly, scoring one in eight thus far.
ST – James Norwood (Barnsley)
Norwood was brought to the club by Gary Brabin as part of the rebuild, although he never shone as much until the promotion winning campaign.
Along with strike partners Andy Cook and Connor Jennings, Norwood thrived, netting 23 times including the goal against Boreham Wood, where his flicked header fell through the grasps of the Wood keeper, Grant Smith, as Tranmere ended a three year exile from the Football League.
The next season, he shone further for Rovers in another promotion winning campaign. Norwood finished the 2018–19 season as the joint top goal scorer in English football with 32 goals in all competitions, along with Manchester City’s record goal scorer, Sergio Aguero, as Tranmere won promotion to League One.
Norwood moved onto Ipswich Town, failing to make a huge impact and after three seasons with the Tractor Boys, he moved to Yorkshire with Barnsley, were he has still failed to make an impact at Oakwell.
