The 2005/06 campaign kicked off with renewed hope for the future, but once again these hopes were to disappear in yet another campaign of struggle of both on and off the field. Mick Harford was sacked after a run of 17 games without a win, to be replaced by Alan Knill who won his first game in charge - the teams first victory in 18 games. Even with a new manager in charge, the Millers hovered above the relegation zone throughout the majority of the season. It went down to the final game of the season against MK Dons and was a winner-take-all relegation showdown. A scoreless draw, combined with a Hartlepool United draw with Port Vale, kept Rotherham up and consigned both MK Dons and Hartlepool to the drop.

Early in 2006 it was announced that the club faced an uncertain future unless a funding gap in the region of £140,000 per month could be plugged. The problem was compounded as Rotherham had already sold their ground to Ken Booth in return for clearing £3m of debt and had no tangible assets, so administration was not a viable option. This led to the launch of a "Save The Millers" campaign, aiming to raise the £1m needed to complete the season. It was also estimated that another £1m was required to complete work on the new stand. South Yorkshire neighbours Sheffield United offered their support by paying the wages of Stephen Quinn and Jonathan Forte during their loan spells at Millmoor, and also donated profits from the beam-back of the Sheffield derby. Many local clubs also held collections.

An eleventh hour intervention by local businessman Dennis Coleman and Dino Maccio injected new investment along with a new business plan into the club and averted a possible dissolution of the club However, even with the new takeover, the new board didn't have enough financial backing to prevent the club from entering a Company Voluntary Arrangement - a form of administration, for which the club was docked 10 points at the start of the following season.

Rotherham United began their second successive year in League One with a 10-point deficit as a result of the CVA which saved the club from liquidation. At one point during the close season, the team had only seven full-time professionals on the books but Knill made a number of signings during this period to bolster the squad. It took the Millers until mid-October (14 games) to get off the bottom of the table. However, a run of 18 league games without a win towards the end of the season saw the dismissal of Alan Knill. Mark Robins replaced him, however, the ten points deficit proved too much to overcome and relegation to League 2 was confirmed with 3 games remaining.

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