Millers fans' fury over clock name change

Here’s the Millmoor landmark known as the Derek Dalton Clock - but with a new name in place.

The timepiece hanging from the roof of the Railway End at the old ground used to read “In Memory of Derek Dalton,” but the late Rotherham superfan’s name has been replaced by that of the club’s late former chairman Ken Booth.

Supporters’ club chairman Brian Rowbotham said he was “disgusted” and believed Millers fans and Derek’s family would feel the same way.

“It’s ridiculous,” he said. “We’ve been trying to get the clock back for some time. All it would need is someone with a cherry-picker, but it’s about getting into the ground in the first place.

“They (the Booth family) have got a cheek to do that.”

United honoured Derek, a regular at Millmoor despite being paralysed by polio, after he died, aged 45, but the clock was not removed after the Millers moved out of their historic home in 2008.

Chief operating officer Paul Douglas said at the time that the club “recognise the sentimental value” of the clock and intended to collect it, adding: “I have sent a message to the Booths saying we wish to collect it. I don’t anticipate any problems.”

Almost eight years on, the clock is still in place at Millmoor.

But when ex-boss Ronnie Moore and his past clubmate and number two John Breckin dropped by their old stamping ground for a look around and John’s daughter Jessica snapped a photo of them, she captured the new look of the old clock.

Ronnie didn’t want to talk about the clock change but told the Advertiser he and John had dropped by for old times’ sake and found the old dressing room and the tunnel gone and bushes and trees growing in the stands.

The ground is no longer used by professional sides, but it’s understood members of the Booth family sometimes have a kickabout there.

Meanwhile, Derek Dalton’s memory is preserved by the Derek Dalton Trophy, which is awarded to the Millers’ most promising young player, and his name being used in the disabled seating at the New York Stadium.

Supporters still have hopes of retrieving the clock and finding it a new home.

The Booth family have not responded to a request for comment.