If there is one personality who dominates the history of Tranmere Rovers, it is John King, who is famed for leading the club to a series of promotions that took Rovers from the lower reaches of Division Four in 1986-87 to the verge of the Premier League in the early 1990s.

King's involvement with Tranmere Rovers began as a player in 1960 and he went on to captain the team, helping them win promotion in 1967 before leaving in 1968.

He returned as coach in 1973, was appointed manager in 1975 and in his first season in charge (1975-76) took Tranmere Rovers out of the Fourth Division by grabbing one of the last four promotion spots only Tranmere's third promotion ever.

Relegation in 1979 to Division Four signalled a period of decline for Tranmere Rovers and a season later King was sacked.

However, in 1987 he was brought back in a bid to turn things around and by 1989 Rovers were runners-up with a club record of 80 points.
The following season Tranmere Rovers narrowly missed out on consecutive promotions after losing out in the play-off finals to Notts County, but they did land the Leyland Daf Cup with a 2-1 victory over Bristol Rovers.

Promotion did arrive the following season, 1990-91, though, when Tranmere Rovers beat at Bolton Wanderers 1-0 in the play-off finals thanks to an extra-time goal from Chris Malkin, returning the Prenton Park side to football's second tier for the first time since 1938.

A decade in the second tier followed, during which time Tranmere Rovers made an important signing prolific Liverpool striker John Aldridge in the summer of 1991 who would go on and become player-manager in 1996.

During the 1990s Tranmere missed out on promotion three times after defeat in the play-off semi-finals, but, under Aldridge, Rovers managed some notable success in cup competitions.

Tranmere Rovers reached the League Cup semi-finals in 1993-94 and in 1999-2000 they were runners-up to Leicester City after losing 2-1. It was the first time the club had reached the final of a major trophy.

Aldridge's departure in 2001 was followed by relegation to Division Two and Rovers have remained in the third tier ever since, latterly in League One, coming close to promotion in 2005, when Tranmere Rovers were beaten in the play-off semi-finals by Hartlepool.

Rovers were established when two local cricket clubs merged in 1884 to form a football team and became founder members of the Football League Division Three North in 1921 a level Tranmere Rovers they occupied until 1938.