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MORECAMBE WORDS: John Coyle

FOOTBALL LEAGUE - HOME LEVEL SEASON DATE OPPONENT VENUE RESULT FOR AGST PENS SCORERS 4 2016 04/02/2017 Morecambe H D 1 1 Marquis FOOTBALL LEAGUE - AWAY LEVEL SEASON DATE OPPONENT VENUE RESULT FOR AGST PENS SCORERS 4 2016 10/09/2016 Morecambe A W 5 1 Butler, Marquis (2), Blair, Coppinger FOOTBALL CONFERENCE - HOME LEVEL SEASON DATE OPPONENT VENUE RESULT FOR AGST PENS SCORERS 5 1998 16/01/1999 Morecambe H W 2 1 Penney (2) 5 1999 08/04/2000 Morecambe H L 0 1 5 2000 02/09/2000 Morecambe H W 1 0 Barnard 5 2001 22/09/2001 Morecambe H D 3 3 Owen, Campbell (2) 5 2002 21/04/2003 Morecambe H D 1 1 Burton

FOOTBALL CONFERENCE - HOME LEVEL SEASON DATE OPPONENT VENUE RESULT FOR AGST PENS SCORERS 5 1998 22/09/1998 Morecambe A W 2 1 Kirkwood, Hume 5 1999 15/04/2000 Morecambe A L 1 2 Williams G

5 2000 18/04/2001 Morecambe A L 1 2 5 2001 27/04/2002 Morecambe A L 1 2 Paterson (pen) Whitman

5 2002 09/11/2002 Morecambe A L 0 3 CONFERENCE LEAGUE CUP - HOME ROUND SEASON DATE OPPONENT VENUE RESULT FOR AGST PENS SCORERS

SF 1998 08/04/1999 Morecambe H W 1 0 Watson CONFERENCE LEAGUE CUP - AWAY ROUND SEASON DATE OPPONENT VENUE RESULT FOR AGST PENS SCORERS

SF 1998 30/03/1999 Morecambe A W 2 1 Duerden (2)

Morecambe FC was formed in 1920 and competed in the Lancashire Combination until 1968 when they were founder members of the Northern Premier League.

In 1995 they were promoted to the Football Conference and three years later they found themselves in the same League as Rovers, who had been relegated from the Football League in 1997-98.

The first competitive meeting between the teams came at Morecambe’s Christie Park on September 22 1998. Rovers were third from bottom in the Conference table after an indifferent start, while Morecambe were unbeaten at home. After 17 minutes Glenn Kirkwood latched onto Dave Penney’s pass and lobbed the advancing goalkeeper to put Rovers 1-0 up. The score stayed the same until 82 minutes when Mark Hume doubled the advantage with a low drive. In stoppage time Mayers pulled a goal back for Morecambe, but Rovers held on to win 2-1.

The return match came at Belle Vue on January 16, 1999 and was again won 2-1 by Rovers. This time Morecambe took the lead via Lyons after nine minutes and held it until the 70th minute when skipper Dave Penney latched onto a pass from Ian Duerden to level the scores. Two minutes later Penney put Rovers 2-1 ahead and they held on to record their first double of the season. They made it a quadruple by beating Morecambe in both legs of the semi-finals of the Endsleigh Challenge Trophy.

Morecambe had won the trophy, which was the Conference’s League Cup, the previous season. Two Ian Duerden goals saw Rovers win 2-1 (again) at Christie Park and Andy Watson scored the only goal at Belle Vue as Rovers earned a 3-1 aggregate victory. They went on to win the trophy, beating Farnborough Town 4-0 on aggregate in the two-legged final. In 2002-03 Morecambe finished second in the Conference with Rovers in third, meaning that both clubs qualified for the first play-offs: the prize was a place in the Football League. Morecambe lost out to Dagenham & Redbridge in the semi-final and Rovers then beat the Daggers in a dramatic final at Stoke to secure a return to the League after five seasons.

Morecambe were promoted to the Football League in 2007 but they had to wait until 16th September 2016 before they met Rovers again. The match, played at Morecambe’s new home, the Globe Arena, was James Coppinger’s 500th senior appearance for Rovers and he capped a 5-1 away win with a superb goal. The return game at the Keepmoat Stadium produced a 1-1 draw, John Marquis equalising for Rovers after Peter Murphy put the Shrimps in front. Both teams will be looking forward to the prospect of a first Keepmoat Stadium victory in the history of this fixture.