Melchester Rovers promotion to the top flight in the 1940s. And they finished runners-up in 1949, losing the title to North Ham just in the last game of the season. In 1954, however, the first "Roy of the Rovers" strip appeared, telling the story of the club and its star striker Roy Race (whose grandfather, Billy Race, had played for the club in the early part of the 20th century). Melchester finally became League Champions in 1958, and won the FA Cup the following season, by which time Race was captain. It was in the 1960s, however, that Rovers became a footballing
Roy of the Rovers (comic) a short life due to being introduced in the dying years of the original weekly comic, and was unique among "Roy Of The Rovers" strips in that its fictional protagonists (a struggling Premier League side) were actually shown playing against real-life teams and players. Cheat (1992–93) saw Nick Leach continually cheat his way to the top, only to ultimately see his well-deserved comeuppance, while Future Ball (1992–93) gave an insight into how football may be in the future, played across the planets. The final new story to begin was Dream Keeper, which ran for just a few weeks in 1993.