Dave Cusack's first full season as the Rovers player/manager began in promising style as the Rovers lifted the Sheffield and Hallamshire Cup for the first time in ten seasons, but the League programme was ultimately disappointing with the team finishing in thirteenth place in the old Third Division.

The new season began in encouraging fashion with a number of early victories, but the sale of Jim Dobbin to Barnsley at the end of September upset both the balance and morale of the side, and it took a few weeks for the team to settle down again. A series of poor results pushed the Rovers down the table, and by November they were just about half way, and in dire need of a bit of inspiration. Remarkably, they went through the month unbeaten, but the club seemed to press the self destruct button yet again by selling top scorer Neil Woods to Glasgow Rangers for a club record fee plus two players. One of those players was Colin Miller, and this Canadian International midfielder soon found a niche alongside Neil Redfearn in the Rovers engine room.

The second half of the season commenced with a wonderful 3-0 home win over old rivals Rotherham United, with another new signing, Tommy Gaynor, scoring a quite brilliant goal at the Rossington End. However, this proved to be a rare victory, and the second half of the season proved to be a greatly disappointing affair. The Rovers remained unbeaten at home until February when Newport County became the first of a number of visiting clubs to plunder the points at Belle Vue, whilst the Rovers simply could not win away from home. Having said that, there were commendable performances at home to Wigan Athletic and away at Swindon, as well as the remarkable double over Bristol Rovers in the lat weeks of the season, but the genreral standard of play was somewhat lacklustre, and the end of the season was a merciful release, even though there were unpleasant scenes following the last game, at home to Middlesborough.

The Cup fixtures were, as usual, largely disappointing, with the FA Cup providing only little in the way of excitement. Non-League Whitby Town were beaten in a Belle Vue replay, before the Rovers lost comprehensively at Chester City in the next round. Rotherham United put them out of the Littlewoods Cup at the first hurdle, whilst the Freight Rover competition was the Rovers lost out in a group that also featured Middlesborough and Chesterfield.

Leading scorers: Redfearn 13, Russell, Clayton and Burke, 5.

Division Three
 1986/1987
 
P
W
D
L
F
A
Points
Bournemouth
46
29
10
7
76
40
97
Middlesborough
46
28
10
8
67
30
94
Swindon
46
25
12
9
77
47
87
Wigan
46
25
10
11
83
60
85
Gillingham
46
23
9
14
65
48
78
Bristol City
46
21
14
11
63
36
77
Notts County
46
21
13
12
77
56
76
Walsall
46
22
9
15
80
67
75
Blackpool
46
16
16
14
74
59
64
Mansfield Town
46
15
16
15
52
55
61
Brentford
46
15
15
16
64
66
60
Port Vale
46
15
12
19
76
70
57
DONCASTER ROVERS
46
14
15
17
56
62
57
Rotherham United
46
15
12
19
48
57
57
Chester City
46
13
17
16
61
59
56
Bury
46
14
13
19
54
60
55
Chesterfield
46
13
15
18
56
69
54
Fulham
46
12
17
17
59
77
53
Bristol Rovers
46
13
12
21
49
75
51
York City
46
12
13
21
55
79
49
Bolton Wanderers
46
10
15
21
46
58
45
Carlisle United
46
10
8
28
39
78
38
Darlington
46
7
16
23
45
77
37
Newport County
46
8
13
25
49
86
37