Roy of the Rovers and eventual relegation to Division One. Rocky, meanwhile, was playing for fierce local rivals Melborough, after a bitter falling-out with his father over a car accident in Italy in which his mother, Penny, had been killed. Roy, who had quit football as a result, was blamed by some (including his son) for the accident, even though he had no memory of it, and the precise circumstances surrounding the event were never resolved. Roy was persuaded to rejoin Melchester as manager and part-owner, backed by the unscrupulous Vinter brothers, and he arrived just in time to save the club from relegation.
Roy of the Rovers (comic) teenaged orphan playing for Blackport Rovers. An older Nipper had previously shown up in the "RotR" strip itself, appearing in the England team that Roy Race selected during his one-match tenure as national coach. The strip also appeared in the short-lived monthly comic. There were some storylines that stretched reality in the 1980s, including The Wheelchair Wonder (1982–83), as a First Division teenage wonderkid managed to play again after a road accident despite needing to use of a wheelchair most of the time, while Project 917 (1985–86) featured robot Rob Smith as a prolific goalscorer for Westhampton City. Meanwhile, Kevin