The club have spent the majority of their history in the Football League's third tier, though their most recent success came in the early 2000s when they found themselves competing in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. They have also enjoyed recent success including reaching the play off finals at Wembley Stadium in May 2010.

As of the 2008–09 season Rotherhm United relocated to the Don Valley Stadium in nearby Sheffield. The stadium has a total capacity of 25,000 making it one of the largest grounds in League 2. Apart from Brighton it is the only league stadium to have a running track around the pitch.

In January 2010 the club announced that their new stadium would be built on the former Guest And Chrimes Foundry site in the town centre.  The stadium is planned to open within the next two years with an initial capacity of 12,000, later expansion to 16,000 being possible. Preparation work on the site began in February 2010 to make way for the foundations to be put in place and for the old Guest and Chrimes factory to be knocked down to make way for the Stadium. n the 13th April 2010 the first drawings were shown and showed the stadium will single tiered bowl on three sides with a two tier mainstand. The councourse will also be at the back of the stands in a similar fashion to MK Dons stadium:mk.