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Blackburn Rovers FC
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Blackburn Rovers FC Information
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Blackburn Rovers FC History
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Blackburn Rovers is an English
Premier League football club based in the town of Blackburn,
Lancashire.
Blackburn Rovers was established in 1875, and in 1888 became a
founder member of the English Football League. In 1890 Rovers
moved to its permanent home at Ewood Park.
Until the formation of the Premier League in 1992, the majority
of Blackburn Rovers' success was pre-1930 when they won the
league and F.A. Cup on several occasions.
In the early 1990s Jack Walker, a local boy and life-long
supporter who made millions in the steel industry, invested
heavily in the club. He lured former Liverpool legend Kenny
Dalglish as manager and a number of shrewd player purchases
followed, most notably Alan Shearer. This lifted the club back
into the Premier League and after finishing runners-up to
Manchester United in 1993/1994, Rovers won the championship the
following year. A slump followed in the late 1990s, with
relegation to League Division One. The team returned to form in
2000 and secured promotion back into the Premier League and in
2002 won the League Cup, beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at the
Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Blackburn Rovers is still the
only team to win the F.A. Cup three years in succession, for
which they were awarded a special trophy in 1886, and is one of
only a handful of clubs to be a founder member of both the
Football League and the Premier League.
Early history
The club Blackburn Rovers was the idea of John Lewis and Arthur
Constantine during a seventeen-man meeting at the Leger Hotel,
Blackburn in November 1875. The make up of its inital members
was predominately wealthy well-connected individuals -- a fact
that would help it survive and rise beyond the large number of
other local teams around at the time.
The first match played by Blackburn Rovers took place in Church,
Lancashire on 18 December 1875 -- and was a 1-1 draw. Although
the make-up of the team was not recorded it is generally thought
to be: Thomas Greenwood (goal), Jack Baldwin, Fred Birtwhistle,
(full-backs), Arthur Thomas, J. T. Sycelmore (half-backs),
Walter Duckworth, John Lewis, Thomas Dean, Arthur Constantine,
Hary Greenwood, Richard Birtwhistle (forwards), in a 2-2-6
formation.
At this time, the club had no ground of its own, and no gate
receipts. Its only income was from members' subscriptions -- £2
8s 0d during the first season.
During the 1876-1877 season, Rovers finally gained a ground of
its own -- a piece of farmland at Oozehead. Although in reality
it was little more than a meadow with a pool in the middle that
had to be covered with planks and turf when playing. It did,
however, allow the club to begin to collect gate receipts: 6s 6d
during that season. Occasional games were also played at
Pleasington cricket ground.
Subsequently Blackburn Rovers rented the home of the East
Lancashire Cricket Club for their matches: Alexandra Meadows.
The inaugural game was played against Partick Thistle, the most
prestigious club Rovers had played until then. The result was a
2-1 win for Blackburn. |
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Blackburn Rovers FC Honours, Trophies & Awards
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Date |
Honour |
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1884,1885,1886,1890,1891,1928 |
F.A. Cup winners |
| 1882,1960 |
F.A. Cup runners-up |
| 2002 |
Worthington (League)
Cup winners |
| 1987 |
Full Members Cup
winners |
| 1994-95 |
Premier League
champions |
| 1993-94 |
Premier League runners-up |
| 1911-12, 1913-1914 |
League division 1
champions |
| 1938-39 |
League division 2
champions |
| 1957-58 |
League division 2
runners-up |
| 1974-75 |
League division 3
champions |
| 1979-80 |
League division 3
runners-up |
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