A month after the landmark which resulted in the formation of Blackburn Rovers, the club finally managed to organise a game for itself. As they had no ground of their own they had to travel away to another local team, Church, in December 1875. The first ever Rovers side is thought to have been made up of – T GREENWOOD, J BALDWIN, F BIRTWHISTLE, A THOMAS, J.T. SYCKELMORE, W DUCKWORTH, J LEWIS(c), T DEAN, A CONSTANTINE, H GREENWOOD and R BIRTWHISTLE. The game ended in a 1-1 draw and there was a small report in The Blackburn Times on the 18th December. “On Saturday afternoon a football match was played at Church between the members of the Rovers’ club, Blackburn, and the Church club. The ball was kicked off by the Blackburn captain at three o’clock and after some fine playing, lasting about thirty minutes, a goal was obtained by Birtwhistle, of the Blackburn Club. With hard struggling, the Church club succeeded in scoring the next goal, and the goal resulted in a tie.”

Rovers were a team. Whether you wish to view their first match as a success or yet another example of them being unable to keep a lead is to up to you. Further friendlies at the likes of Darwen, Turton and Cob Wall followed before Rovers finally found a home ground, Oozehead.