Local interest in the Rovers was high, following their Fourth Division Championship success of the previous season, and hopes were high that the team could consolidate its newly won position in the Third Division. In the event, the Rovers could be reasonably happy with their final League placing of 11th with 46 points from their completed programme.

The new season opened with a narrow defeat down at Torquay in sweltering temperatures, but the Rovers soon atoned with an unbeaten run of four games, which included a pleasing, if controversial, win at Rotherham United. The home goalkeeper had been injured in a clash with a Rovers player, and the Rovers scored the only goal of the game in his absence. Reading put an end to the run at Elm Park, but the Rovers returned with an even longer run of good results which maintained their lofty League position.

Attendances at Belle Vue were excellent at this time, with the game against Luton Town attracting over 17,000, most of whom enjoyed a Rovers victory by two goals to nil. The next two games were lost, but the return of favourite Laurie Sheffield provided fresh impetus to the side and the following two games, at Walsall and at home to Bristol Rovers, were won.

The period between Boxing Day and mid-February devastated many hopes that the Rovers had nurtured of a second successive promotion. Just one win in 11 games, including nine defeats, sent them cart wheeling down the Third Division and suddenly they were looking over their shoulders at the clubs beneath them.

Four successive draws commencing on the last day of February, 1970, put a stop to the rot, but the home win over Gillingham still remained only the second such victory in 16 games. Similar results were required in larger numbers over the last two months of the season if the Rovers were not to make a rapid return to the Fourth Division. The firmer grounds seemed to suit the Rovers' style better, and the transformation in their form was amazing.

Only three of the last 14 games were lost, including just one of the last eight home fixtures, three of which were played and won during the first week in April. The last game, at Bury, was drawn in mid-April, with the season ending early to give the England team time to prepare for the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.

The FA Cup saw the Rovers eliminate Crewe Alexandra in a first round replay at Gresty Road, before Chester beat them in another replay, following a draw at Sealand Road. The Rovers beat Grimsby Town by two goals to nil at Blundell Park in the first round of the League Cup, but lost at Blackburn in round two.