Popular Portsmouth pair suffer relegation agony - two years after League One title glory with Blues
The Pompey League One title-winning pair moved to Rotherham in the summer of 2024 - but have now been relegated to League Two
They were Fratton Park heroes who helped Pompey capture the League One title in the most dramatic of circumstances.
However, almost two years to the day since that iconic Barnsley game, Joe Rafferty and Sean Raggett have suffered relegation to League Two.
Rotherham’s 3-0 defeat at Wigan on Tuesday night sealed the Millers’ demise. Although, with one win in their last 14 games, the end had long been nigh.
It completes a hugely disappointing time at the South Yorkshire club for the popular ex-Pompey pair, who moved there in May 2024 following their departure in the aftermath of promotion from League One.
Rafferty featured in Tuesday evening’s decisive Wigan loss, with the right-back having made 44 appearances and scored three times this season.
However, Raggett was not involved. He was loaned out to Cambridge United on transfer deadline day in February after falling out of favour at the New York Stadium.
Sean Raggett struggles
Unfortunately for the 32-year-old, that move has also disappointed, with the centre-half so far totalling 50 minutes of first-team action, all from the bench, as Neil Harris’ third-placed side chase promotion from League Two.
Raggett is currently sidelined by an ankle injury sustained at the end of last month and has subsequently missed their last four matches, while hasn’t featured overall since March 14.
Indeed, The News/Sports Mail’s Pompey Player of the Season for 2021-22 has endured a torrid time with the Millers, primarily through long-term injury, restricting him to just 24 matches in two seasons.
In contrast, he made 239 appearances and scored 17 times during his five years at Pompey - more than any other player in the 21st Century.
Pompey fans upset over departures
Certainly many Blues supporters were unhappy when Raggett and Rafferty were released in May 2024 after establishing themselves as pivotal players in John Mousinho’s team which won the League One title.
And with the former Blues pair out of contract with Rotherham in the summer, they face an uncertain future.
Since inflicting a shock defeat on Lincoln in November, the Millers have won just three of their 27 league matches. However, a 3-0 loss at home to Blackpool in December signalled seven successive losses and a drop into the bottom four - where they have largely remained to this day.
Boss Matt Hamshaw was sacked in March, with former Huddersfield and Birmingham manager Lee Clark, who hadn’t managed for four years, challenged with keeping them in League One.
Now, just two years after competing in the Championship, the Millers will be in League Two next season - with or without Raggett and Rafferty.
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