Roy of the Rovers realistic level. By the time the strip ended in March 1995 Melchester were in dire straits, on the verge of bankruptcy, and their long-term future far from certain. When the strip returned in "Match of the Day" magazine in May 1997, much of the monthly comic's new continuity was ignored, although the basic thread of the club having struggled against relegation and being severely in debt was continued. It was revealed in the first strip that in the intervening years, while Rovers had managed to survive the threat of bankruptcy, a bribery scandal had caused a mass exodus of players
Roy of the Rovers (comic) of the Rovers and Hot Shot", but reverted to its original title shortly afterwards. The comic was relaunched as a monthly in September 1993, but finally closed in March 1995, after a further 19 issues. On 19 March 2012 The Royal Mail launched a special stamp collection to celebrate Britain's rich comic book history. As well as "Roy of the Rovers", the collection also featured "The Beano", "The Dandy", "Eagle", "The Topper", "Bunty", "Buster", "Valiant", "Twinkle" and "2000 AD". The magazine's circulation for the six months ending June 1981 was 122,118. A readership survey carried out in 1982 revealed that