Published Thursday 13 March 2025 at 9:00
As this edition of The Shuttle goes to print, Blackburn Rovers are sixth in the Championship – dare we say, the play-offs are in sight…
And while there’s excitement on the pitch, there’s lots to celebrate off it too.
For 2025 is a busy year for the mighty ‘Blue and White Army.’
Incredibly, May will mark 30 years since the team won the Premier League – the picture of Alan Shearer lifting the cup with ‘Uncle’ Jack Walker bringing back fond memories of the ‘glory days.’
Then there’s the small matter of the club’s big 150th birthday on Bonfire Night. Yes, a whole 150 years since ‘old schoolboys’ John Lewis and Arthur Constantine held a meeting in the St Leger Hotel in King William Street to form the club still loved by so many today.
The club is woven into the very fabric of the town,
says Leader of the Council and lifelong Rovers’ fan, Councillor Phil Riley, as we discuss this edition of The Shuttle.
And it really is.
With plans being made to mark the huge milestone, we set out to find some of the club’s longest-serving season ticket holders and the youngest ones too, to hear why they love the club so much.
And we managed to find two who were related! At almost 80 years young, David Fitzpatrick has been following Blackburn Rovers for more than six decades – attending his first match back in the 1950s.
And, when his grandson Lowen (also pictured) was born the first thing he bought him was his own season ticket.
There were crowds of more than 40,000 when I first started watching Rovers, David reminisces.
My grandad had supported Rovers, my dad too – it’s in our DNA.
I was only a lad when I first went to Ewood Park. Back in those days, juniors would be passed down the crowd to a little form by the pitch – no thought for health and safety then!
We’d take our blue and white rattles and watch from the sidelines – the players like giants to us.
From that very first match, David’s lifelong love of Blackburn Rovers was born.
Supporting Rovers is just like life, he adds. You have your ups, and you have your downs, but you stick at it, no matter what.
When the club was first formed on November 5th 1875, the team actually played in green and white quartered shirts, although they quickly changed to the beloved blue and white halves.
As with much of the history of our borough, the club’s links were very much with the booming cotton industry here – the wealthy, well-educated middle class forming and administering the club.
The only income at the outset, however, was the player subscriptions, which amounted to a grand total of £2.8s.0d – or £2.40 to us.
That was spent wisely, including purchasing a set of goalposts (44p) and a football (75p).
While the first game I watched was at Ewood Park, when I was at college at St Mary’s, I used to play football on the very same pitches where it all started – up on Oozehead Lane.
David’s right. The history books recount how Blackburn Rovers’ first ground was there, with one of the ‘features’ of the pitch being a cow pit – or watering hole – close to the centre circle.
This ‘minor difficulty’ would be overcome by the strategic placing of timber boards and turf over the hole for the duration of the match.
History also suggests that the early football method relied more on ‘brute force’ than sophisticated football skills. David said:.
When I first started going to watch, there’d be brass bands at half-time,
When we’d play Everton, there’d be a ‘Toffee Lady’ dressed all in blue with a basket, throwing Everton Toffee into the crowds. It was brilliant.
Proudly, Blackburn Rovers was one of the founding members of the Football League.
In the early days, however, the club was more focused on the FA Cup – going on to win it three years on the bounce between 1883 and 1886, and a grand total of five times in eight years.
It would be 81 long years before Rovers would be crowned champions of England – winning the Premier League in 1995.
For David, like so many die-hard fans, this has to be one of his favourite memories.
I was there, at the game at Liverpool with my son Ciaron,” he says. We were losing the game and were all glued to a radio that someone had in the crowd, waiting for the Manchester United result to come in.
When it did, the whole place erupted – even the Liverpool fans celebrated with us.
I was sat close to Jack Walker at the time, and I remember looking over and he had tears in his eyes – he was absolutely overcome. What a fabulous day that was!
It’s fitting then that, when pressed on his all-time favourite Rovers player, of course, Alan Shearer is thrown into the mix.
He adds:
I used to say to my boys that we were watching a legend in our own time when watching Shearer.
It’s hard to pinpoint a favourite player, though. I was lucky to watch the likes of Bryan Douglas and Ronnie Clayton, who have stands named after them.
And, while he’s not a player, my all-time favourite Rover must be Jack Walker.
He was a true supporter, he grew the club, and without him, we wouldn’t have won the Premier League.
Indeed, in a poignant tribute to Jack when he died, the club said:
Jack Walker – the club’s number one supporter in every possible sense.
His love for Rovers knew no boundaries, and his loyalty and commitment could never be brought into question.
And Jack’s legacy lives on to this day, particularly his investment in the Academy.
Jack’s vision that the Academy was the way forward, that it would bring players on, was spot on
David says pointing to brothers Scott and Adam Wharton as great examples of its success.
I watch all of the Crystal Palace games, and Adam is class – he has time on the ball, his passes are perfect, and he is a beacon in the middle of the park.
David has travelled up and down the country following his beloved Blackburn Rovers.
He was at Wembley in 1987 when Rovers beat Charlton Athletic to win the Full Members’ Cup – Colin Hendry, another club legend scoring the winner. And he was in Cardiff with his sons Ciaron and Thomas when Rovers won the League Cup in 2002 – another great day!
He’s encountered a couple of scrapes along the way too.
Twice I’ve been on a bus that’s been hit by missiles thrown by Burnley fans.
Former NHS worker David still very much enjoys his match days – now in the Jack Walker Stand – with his sons and grandsons.
Football is in my blood, and Blackburn Rovers is too, it’s true that it’s part of the fabric of our community – a proud part – and one I’ve enjoyed sharing with my own children.
I just hope that there’s a good life after here, and when the time comes, I can continue watching from above!
Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery will host an exhibition celebrating the club’s history from April 5th to June 14th – it’s free to visit.
Steve Waggott, Chief Executive of Blackburn Rovers Football Club, said:
We are all so looking forward to celebrating 150 years of the club – our proud history, our achievements and the pride of our town.
Our club is very much built on people like David and his little grandson Lowen. Their loyalty and the loyalty of all our fans is the very foundation of Blackburn Rovers.
And the motto on our badge is as revalent today as it was back in 1875 – Arte et Labore – by skill and hard work.
Long may that continue.
The 2025/26 Blackburn Rovers season tickets are available to buy from March. For more on the club, its history and to buy your tickets, visit: www.rovers.co.uk
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