The Rovers Return

May 14, 1995. Where were you?

I’ll tell you where I was.

As an eight-year-old lad, just making my first forays into becoming a Rovers fan, I was sat on my Dad’s settee in Oswaldtwistle.

There, with my Dad, I was watching Rovers take on Liverpool at Anfield in the final game of the Premier League season – the third season in the league’s history.

Rovers, at that point, were two points clear of Manchester United at the top of the league. United, champions for two seasons running, were playing West Ham United at Upton Park, knowing only a win would suffice.

Throughout a frantic hour-and-a-half, my Dad was up and down, constantly flicking between the two channels to monitor the situation at both grounds. This was in the days of Sky before remote controls, so he probably got a fair bit of exercise.

Rovers took the lead through Alan Shearer. Stuart Ripley tearing down the right and playing it along the ground towards the centre spot, where Shearer slotted the ball through John Scales’s legs to put us ahead. Read more »

This season marks the inaugral Rovers Return awards. So far, I’ve come up with the following awards, although more could be announced:

Please feel free to suggest potential winners/nominees of these awards and suggestions for other awards.

Player of the Season

Pretty self-explanatory.

Young Player of the Year

Awarded to the best player this year, under the age of 24.

Emerging Player of the Year

Awarded to a youth player, either bought in or from within our ranks, who has caught the eye. Again, under-24s.

Most Improved Player

Awarded to any player who has seen a significant improvement in their performances, be that over the course of this season or improving on last season.

Goal of the Season

In no way connected to the Rovers’ own competition, and will include all goals scored this season!

Steady Eddie Unsung Hero of the Year

Awarded to a consistent performer who receives little praise in the media.

Performance of the Year

Awarded to the greatest individual performance in a single match.

Amusingly enough, Rovers’s 2-1 defeat that ended with us winning the title at Anfield is Liverpool’s 23rd greatest Premier League game, apparently …

Got to cheer myself up after a disappointing result today.

One for the nostalgia buffs, and anyone wanting to remember one of Rovers’ very infrequent successful European nights.

From the Daily Mail:

For all the records Lionel Messi is breaking, for all the plaudits that are being thrown his way, there is one man who remains out of his reach: Mike Newell.

The former Blackburn Rovers No 10 still holds the record for the fastest Champions League hat-trick – scored in nine minutes in a 4-1 win against Rosenborg at Ewood Park in 1995 – and Newell admits there was a moment on Tuesday when he feared his place in history was under threat from Barcelona striker Messi. Read more »

I was grafting away today when I came across this page that appears in tomorrow’s Hull Daily Mail:

Read more »

Tommy Briggs heads a goal against Charlton, December 14th 1957.

In my mind, there is probably no better name for a northern footballer than Tommy Briggs.

A true Rovers great and yet one that few Rovers fans will have heard of.

Briggs holds the record for the most amount of goals scored in one game, when he scored seven for Rovers in an 8-2 victory over Bristol Rovers 55 years ago today in the 1954/55  season…

From givemefootball.com:

Blackburn Rovers’ Tommy Briggs scores seven goals – six in a row in 57 minutes – in an 8-3 thrashing of Bristol Rovers, who lead twice in the game! 

Blackburn’s penalty-taker Bobby Langton gave Tommy a hand to become the best-ever Second Division individual scorer when he steps aside to let him take a spot-kick when he is on six. 

Formerly with Grimsby Town, Birmingham City and Coventry City, Bobby played 194 games and scored 140 goals for Rovers before returning to Grimsby Town in 1958. Read more »

My ticket collection from the 2001/02 Worthington Cup run.

Bobatron, this one’s for you. Admittedly, I should have looked this up before you mentioned it…

Rovers have been included in the running for best League Cup moment, a competition celebrating 50 years of the competition, for beating Spurs 2-1 in the 2001/02 final.

Vote here.

For anyone who doesn’t remember, or doesn’t know, in 2001/02 Rovers were struggling. We’d just been promoted back to the Premiership after a two-year absence and were embroiled in a bit of a relegation battle.

The Worthington Cup, as the League Cup, now the Carling Cup, was then known, provided us with a welcome distraction from the difficulties of league football, and, ultimately, gave us the boost we needed to mount a late surge into the top half of the table, where we eventually finished 10th.

It was a great cup run, one I was lucky enough to go to every match of, starting with Oldham Athletic, where fewer than 10,000 saw Matt Jansen and Darren Dunning (remember him? He now plays for Gainsborough Trinity) score in a 2-0 win, with Marcus Bent sent off in the last minute.

Middlesbrough followed, as did another crowd of just fewer than 10,000. This one went to extra time as Craig Hignett, the former Boro midfielder, put Rovers ahead, only for Nemeth to equalise. Craig Short rescued us from the brink of penalties with a winner in the 113th minute. Read more »

The teamsheet from Rovers' shock defeat to Workington Reds in the League Cup, 1964/65.

From Cumbria’s News And Star:

Workington Reds fans can vote to make their side’s 5-1 thumping of Blackburn Rovers the most memorable League Cup moment of all time.

To celebrate its 50 years, the Football League Cup, known as the Carling Cup, has listed its top 50 moments and is calling on fans to vote for their favourite.

Reds’ victory over Division One side Blackburn at Ewood Park during the 1964/65 season has been ranked as one of the top moments.

That day, a crowd of 11,800 saw Reds net five of the best with Kit Nappier and Barry Lowes both bagging a brace. Dave Carr added the fifth to complete the rout.

During the mid-sixties Workington developed a proud record in the League Cup, twice reaching the quarter-final stage.

The headline Red-faced Rovers the next day said it all. Workington went on to face eventual winners Chelsea, drew 2-2 at home and then lost 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in the replay where a certain debutant – Peter Osgood – scored both goals.

Chairman Humphrey Dobie said: “It is a great honour to be named among some great sporting moments.

“I can vaguely remember the game and we did really well that day.

“That was in a time for Workington when we played some of the top teams around.

“We played Manchester United, Fulham with the likes of Jimmy Hill and Chelsea too.

“We did really well to draw 2-2 with them at home but they thumped us at their place in the replay.

“I hope the fans come out in force and vote for us because it is fantastic to be mentioned in this way.”

Had an email from Stuart Glendinning of Tru Supporter. You may or may not remember me posting about this venture before here and here.

Dear Rovers fans

Just to let you know that we will be filming Rovers fans again this Saturday.  We’ll be at The Fox and Hounds from about 11.30 filming fans there before the Portsmouth game and we’ll be at The Aqueduct after the game.

For those of you that have already been filmed – it would be great to see you again as I need to get some written stories.  If you can spare me 5 or 10 mins that would be greatly appreciated – I’ll do the writing I just need to capture a story or two that we didn’t talk about on film.  Incidentally the videos are looking good – the passion for Rovers shines through.

Naturally we are keen to film more fans on Saturday.  There are some on this distribution list that couldn’t make it last time – hopefully we can see you on Saturday.
Also maybe you’d be kind enough to mention to some friends or relatives that support Rovers that they should come along. We have already captured some great memories but it is undoubtedly the case that the more that participate, the more stories, the more interesting the website. Read more »