Premier League champions in 1995, club are aiming to get back in top flight and bring back the good times to Ewood Park
Across 4,999 league games, Blackburn Rovers’ history forms two distinct chapters: before and after Jack Walker.
“It’s good to know people still remember a before,” chuckles club historian Mike Jackman.
“A lot of young people think football started in 1992.”
As the Lancashire club marks match day 5,000 away at Middlesbrough this weekend – only the seventh English professional club to reach the league milestone – the shadow of the team Jack built lingers.
Walker’s legacy is complicated; endearingly romantic given the stellar names, memories and trophies he delivered, but symbolic of a lost football era when a boyhood fan’s personal injection of £133 million built a stadium, training ground and a Premier League-winning team.
“You would need to be a sovereign state to do what we did now,” says Robert Coar, who is as close as you will find to Mr Blackburn. Coar first watched Rovers as a four-year-old in the 1950s, became a Rovers director in 1980 and later Walker’s chairman, negotiating the deals for Alan Shearer, Chris Sutton and Tim Sherwood.
Alan Shearer helped lead Blackburn to the 1994/95 Premier League title Credit: Getty Images
Coar recalls how ridicule for Walker’s ambitions surrendered to respect.
“I can remember driving along in that summer of 1991 and listening to Test Match Special. They were poo-pooing the idea that a second-tier club like Blackburn could get the likes of Gary Lineker, who was the kind of player we hoped to sign,” says Coar.
“It was just after Jack bought the club outright. There was a lot of that kind of background noise and stories around his ambitions. Don Mackay was the manager and had done a really good job, but Jack realised he needed a high-profile manager to take the club forward. The next thing is Jack was visiting Kenny Dalglish’s house and convincing him to join.”
Players who had previously rejected Rovers could not get to Ewood quick enough once Dalglish took charge and the 172 league games between 1991-95 which yielded promotion and Premier League success now define the modern Blackburn.
“The snowball gathered as it rolled down the hill,” says Coar, who remains a non-executive director at the club.
“Manchester United, Liverpool, Spurs and the rest of the big five had it all quite cosy then, so when someone came along and prodded them they had to take note. To be fair, there was no ill feeling when we had success. We sort of crept up on everyone.”
Serenity above chaos has been the more moderate aspiration since the VH Group, or Venky’s as they are better known, took over in 2010. They are engaged in an ongoing process of repairing the damage of their turbulent early years.
Owner Anuradha Desai has not attended Ewood fixtures since her husband was pelted by a snowball by protesting fans in 2013, with board members privately admitting the stains left by a curious and ultimately destructive relationship with agent Jerome Anderson needed years to disinfect.
The current ownership has had its problems since taking over Blackburn Credit: Getty Images/Richard Martin-Roberts
Fans would broadly welcome the Indian hierarchy to the stadium now, although Venky’s recent announcement of a 15 per cent wage-bill cut has aroused some fears of a return to another challenging period. The open explanation for the policy shift in tough economic times speaks to the renewed sense of unity and transparency.
“We had a turbulent time for various reasons, but, latterly, the Venkys have been really good owners,” says Coar.
“They have put money in and supported the club, realising mistakes were made early on. Now the whole town appreciates how, compared to other clubs in the Championship, we are lucky to have them. It is a proper football club.”
On the field, Blackburn seek to build on last season’s seventh-placed finish, manager Jon Dahl Tomasson – the former AC Milan striker – adding stardust on the touchline of which Walker would approve. The side have included an academy graduate for an extraordinary 641 consecutive league matches, testimony to Walker’s foresight when he made a dedicated youth development centre part of the Brockhall Training Village in 1997.
Jake Garrett has graduated from the academy to Blackburn’s first team Credit: Getty Images/Dave Howarth
Off it, Blackburn endeavour to be leaders again.
This week, Ewood Park became the first league stadium to amalgamate a purpose-built Community Wellbeing Hub, mental health its primary focus. It is a pioneering scheme they hope will be rolled out across the country, removing the stigma which may prevent people seeking help from more traditional health care agencies.
“Everton have a mental wellbeing hub near Goodison Park but this is the first with a mental wellbeing focus at a professional club stadium,” says Gary Robinson, chief executive of Blackburn Rovers Community Trust.
“We wanted to be a visible presence at Ewood Park. You can never overestimate the reach of a football club. We have the opportunity to shift perceptions on these important issues.
“We can’t solve societal problems, but the local authority or government or private business can turn to the local football or sports club because it has a reach people other agencies do not. When the relationship with the community is strong, the trust is there. Our owners have never needed any convincing to support the community.
“Five thousand games on, our commitment is as strong as it ever was.”
Ahead of their landmark fixture, Blackburn feel like they are back where they were in the football pyramid before Walker’s buy-out – under the radar beyond their Lancashire hotspot, aspiring towards a return to the top flight as they did under esteemed 1970s and 1980s managers such as Gordon Lee, Jim Smith, Howard Kendall and Mackay.
For those who have lived through the peaks and troughs, the current improvements are vast.
Rovers’ record goalscorer Simon Garner’s career overlapped the eras. Walker’s millions lived the dream, but it is cult hero Garner’s name which is still chanted at Ewood Park.
“You can’t compare now to before Jack. There were times in the Seventies and early Eighties we were not getting paid at the club, training on a public park and the manager, Bobby Saxton, was clearing the dog muck so we could play,” says Garner.
Simon Garner Blackburn Rovers legend and record goalscorer
Garner played 474 league games for Blackburn, scored 168 league goals and scored 192 in all competitions. Part of the side that got promoted to the Premier League in 1992 in his final season at the club @Rovers #Rovers pic.twitter.com/AjQYIqzwF1
— 80s&90sFootball ⚽ 🏴 🇺🇦 (@80s90sfootball) February 12, 2022
“There were tough times. The chairman then, Bill Fox, deserves a lot of credit for keeping the club together before Jack completely took over.
“Jack was putting money into the club before he became the owner. He helped bring players like Steve Archibald and Ossie Ardiles to the club.
“I remember Ossie stayed in my house in Blackburn, my three bedroom semi-detached. He was only a short fella so I put him in the kids’ room. It was quite funny to have everyone wake up and find a World Cup winner in the box room.
“But it really all changed when Kenny [Dalglish] came in. There was a serious intent to get into the Premier League and win trophies.”
As in 1991, a cash injection in 2023 would provide the impetus for another promotion push.
“They have some great young players and a great manager,” says Garner, whose 169 league goals remain the benchmark.
“They are a really good watch. It is just a shame they do not have enough to bring in that little more experience they need.”
Until then, there is no argument about which of the 5,000 games stands out.
“The Anfield game [in 1995] when the Premier League title was won is the pinnacle,” says club historian Jackman.
“But if you ask supporters of my generation, the greatest victory was a third division game between Rovers and Plymouth in 1975, both sides vying for promotion. We had around 18,000 fans at Ewood, went 2-0 down and won 5-2. It was phenomenal. It can’t compare with winning the Premier League, but that sticks in my memory.
“There was a lot to be proud of before the Premier League years and it is good to remember that. We’re proud to be one of the few clubs to have reached the 5,000 landmark.”
