The mid-seventies saw the Rovers firmly entrenched in the old Fourth Division, but hopes were high that Stan Anderson could bring success to Belle Vue in his second full season in charge. Whilst there was much to enjoy during the campaign, a final League placing of eighth was ultimately disappointing, as was the departure of crowd favourite Peter Kitchen, who left at the end of the season.

The season commenced on a blisteringly hot afternoon at Southport, where new signing Joe Laidlaw marked his first appearance for the club with a goal that helped the Rovers gain a draw at Haig Avenue. The first home game proved to be an unqualified disaster, however, with Torquay United putting four goals past the Rovers without reply. The next away fixture, at Brentford, produced a further point before the team tasted victory for the first time in the nex thome fixture against Newport County.

The end of September saw the loan signing of Tony Woodcock from Nottingham Forest. This largely untried striker quickly became a firm favourite with the Rovers supporters, although there was never really a chance of the Rovers making the deal a permanent one. He scored on debut at home to Darlington and, whilst results did not improve markedly, he was well worth his place in the side. November opened with a heavy defeat at Halifax Town, but that only served to herald the start of an excellent spell for the club.

Only two of the next 20 games were lost, these being a home defeat by Southend United (0-3) and an away loss at Aldershot by a goal to nil. There was obviously a lot to enthuse over elsewhere, with twin away successes at Torquay and Exeter, as well as a big win over Brentford in mid-February. The six-week period between February/mid-March yielded six consecutive victories, thus pushing the Rovers to within a point of a top four position.

A heavy defeat at Watford, who were undefeated at home thus far, came as a tremendous blow to the Rovers' promotion hopes as the season reached its climax. A youngster by the name of Glynn Snodin made his debut as a playing substitute in the following week's fixture at Bradford City,bu a further defeat at Valley Parade left those high hopes hanging by a thread.

Workington came to Belle Vue and were thrashed 6-3, with Peter Kitchen netting a hat-trick, before the Rovers enjoyed a narrow win over Watford, who had beaten them so comprehensively less than four weeks earlier. The last three games failed to produce a point and the Rovers missed out on a top-four place by a margin of just seven points.

The cup competitions saw mixed fortunes for the Rovers, as Shrewsbury knocked them out of the FA Cup in a first round replay at Gay Meadow, whilst the League Cup provided a glamour tie with Derby County at Belle Vue. This followed three meetings with Lincoln City in the first round, where the Rovers eventually won through via a penalty shoot-out at neutral Nottingham Forest. Derby were a goal down in the resultant second round game, but two second half goals saw them through before a 'gate' of 15,000.

Leading scorers: Kitchen 23, O'Callaghan 15