Roy of the Rovers (comic) Argentine international of the same name. The 1980s saw a slew of popular strips run in the comic, including The Apprentices (1983–84), a short-lived strip detailing the exploits of Melchester's apprentice professionals (effectively acting as the Melchester Rovers story in the comic as Roy was managing Walford for much of its run)—and Harker's War (1985), a strip that took an unconventional angle by showing a former policeman's one-man war on football hooliganism. The mid-1980s also saw reprints of Nipper, a popular strip originally appearing in "Score 'n' Roar" and "Scorcher and Score", that featured Nipper Lawrence, a plucky working class
Roy of the Rovers as "a hot rocking heavy metal rap", which failed to chart in the UK Top 40. The confectionery company McCowans produced a pineapple-flavoured "Roy of the Rovers" chew bar in the 1990s. On 29 February 2008 it was announced that Titan Books had acquired worldwide book publishing rights to a range of Egmont's comic strips, including Roy of the Rovers. The first of their compilations of Roy's playing days, "The Best of Roy of the Rovers: The 1980s" was released in May 2008 and included the "Relegation" and "Who Shot Roy" story arcs. "The Bumper Book of Roy of the