First match attended

[Aqualung]

81/82 season for me on the Riverside terrace. Rovers v Sheffield Wednesday league Cup tie first leg I think. 

My overriding memory of the game was Noel Brotherton missing a penalty that almost cleared the Blackburn End! 

[Aqualung]

3 hours ago, oneandycrawford said:

Charlton Athletic at home Oct(?) 74. Riverside Stand with my dad. First game of league football for me. The blue and white halves (and the win!) did it for me and never interested in supporting any other football league club from that day on. We still went all over the north-west picking the best games when Rovers were too far away. Always had a soft spot for Bury due to close family friends.

Prior to that I'd been taken all over the north-west following the great Rossendale United side of the early 70's.

One of my earliest memories of supporting Rossy is of going to Ewood and standing in the Nuttall Street paddock (I think) for a Lancashire Floodlight Cup final against Great Harwood (possibly?). Would love to hear from anyone who knows about that match as tried to look it up online but not found anything.

Having our back garden looking on to Rossies  pitch I have great memories being brought up there mid 60s till 77.

Only players I can remember from those days we're Glyn Barker, Billy Greenan (rip), Johnny Pearson and the  goalkeeper Woods. Oh! And a player they got from Airdrie called Tommy Veitch or similar. 

Great days at Dark Lane in those days especially when the drew Shrewsbury Town at home in the 3rd round of the FA Cup. 

Edited yesterday at 01:01 by Aqualung
Missed info

[Bbrovers2288]

March 97 

Blackburn 0 Villa 2, Tommy Johnson and Yorke 

[arbitro]

November 1963 was my first game. A 4-1 win against Arsenal which included a Fred Pickering hat trick.

I remember catching the bus from Shadsworth to the Boulevard and then getting one of the football specials to Ewood.

[MarkBRFC]

Oldham at Ewood, it was the first home game of the 88-89 season.

Rovers won 3-1, I think it was a Simon Garner hat trick.

Never seen any footage back from it!

Edited yesterday at 06:34 by MarkBRFC

[oldjamfan1]

This was mine. I don’t really remember too much about it other than me and my dad were stood in the Darwen End?! The next two games I got taken to were both away games; Notts County and Oldham.

[KentExile]

I was "indoctrinated" from a young age.  Thankfully both of my parents were mental about football rather than religion etc 😉  remember being taken to games which I was too young to remember, but the first one I have a memory of beyond "going to the football", was a cup game at Ewood v Liverpool in the mid 80s.  I think it was a draw? I was still at primary school so my memory is very fuzzy on any other details

[Parsonblue]

My first game was 19th August 1961.  The season opener against Cardiff City at Ewood which ended in a 0-0 draw.  Fred Else, Ian Lawther and Joe Haverty made their debuts for Rovers whilst the Cardiff team included Barrie Hole - a player who would become one of my all time favourites when he moved to Ewood Park in 1966.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

2 hours ago, arbitro said:

November 1963 was my first game. A 4-1 win against Arsenal which included a Fred Pickering hat trick.

I remember catching the bus from Shadsworth to the Boulevard and then getting one of the football specials to Ewood.

I remember it well. I’d talked half of my school team to come with me from Rochdale. We’d played in the morning.  If my memory serves me well Arsenal were top and we were second so it was the days big match. I always used to stand on the Darwen end of the Riverside and then make my way behind the goals at the end Rovers were attacking. Rovers attacked the Blackburn End in the first half and as we were making our way along the Riverside towards the Blackburn end when Arsenal’s Joe Baker burst through our defence and slotted past Fred Else in the Rovers goal. What a sickener, a goal in the first few minutes. That was added to the sickener we’d heard before the game. Dougie was injured and wouldn’t play ! Andy McEvoy would move over to play in his place and a young lad called Reg Blore would come in for Andy.

We gradually got back into game, Andy McEvoy was playing out of his skin, we hardly missed Dougie at all ! The goal the sticks up in my mind was one of Fred Pickering’s. I was right behind the goal at the Blackburn End. Fred had a swing at a loose ball but kicked the ground as much as the ball. The ball sort of trickled towards Jim Furnell ( remember him ? ) in Arsenals goal. Jim bent down to pick the ball up and inexplicably allowed it go between his legs and just about roll over the goal line.

In the second half Big Fred tore Arsenal to pieces. He was up against Scotland’s centre half Ian Ure who Arsenal had recently paid a record fee for and he ran him ragged. It was all Rovers and we could have scored more than 4. That was the day I realised that Fred was actually England class and holding on to him was going to be a problem. Andy Mac was great that day as well, we didn’t miss Bryan Douglas at all.  Just shows what a great player Andy was. It was one of those days when the best Rovers team I ever saw rose to the occasion and buried a very good Arsenal team. Happy days, you knew to pick your games !

Edited yesterday at 08:26 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[Riversider28]

My earliest memory of going to Ewood was the 1959 Youth Cup final 2nd leg  against West Ham, which we won 1-0 on the night, 2-1 on aggregate. One of my grandads was a steward in the Riverside upper stand and my dad, my other grandad and myself had front row seats, or rather wooden benches to watch the game from. I remember absolutely nothing of the game itself other than the atmosphere under the floodlights.That was the beginning of a lifetime of pain and pleasure following our beloved Rovers. 

[K-Hod]

93/94 season, Newcastle at home, sat in BBE upper.

David May bagged the winner in a 1-0 win.

[DeeCee]

1958/9? As a babe in arms. Parents had the shop next to the Aquaduct, father used to take me, 1st team and reserves.

Can't recall any games till about 1965 when I realised how great football was, watching Douglas and Clayton.

[Gamst]

April 1995

Rovers 2-1 Crystal Palace 

Kenna and Gallacher 

[sharpysharps86]

Rovers 4 - 0 QPR. Shearer hat trick + Sutton. 1994/95 season.

I was sat in the Riverside and vividly remember Shearer's fantastic 3rd goal.

Second game was the 0-0 draw with Norwich in the same season. Glad that wasn't my first! 😂

Edited yesterday at 10:13 by sharpysharps86

[aletheia]

12 hours ago, 47er said:

1949 Rovers v Man City,

No offence intended at all 47er but I can't find a record of that game.

https://www.11v11.com/teams/blackburn-rovers/tab/opposingTeams/opposition/Manchester City/

Edited yesterday at 10:18 by aletheia

[funny-old-game]

I oyned my dad to take me to watch a game even though he wasn't into football. It was home to Blackpool 1966 and at halftime my dad said "that's it game over time to go home" None the wiser went home happy as a sandboy and been hooked every since.

[wilsdenrover]

12 hours ago, 47er said:

I could claim the record here. 1949 Rovers v Man City, aged 2, sitting on my Dad's shoulders in the Darwen End Enclosure.

A very eventful match but I remember nothing of it!

EDIT---we were awarded 3 penalties and missed the first two!.Eckersley took the third and scored.

We won but can't remember the score.

You’ve been a Rover for over half of the club’s existence!

Any idea how many matches you’ve attended overall?

 

[Waggy76]

October 1969 v Leicester City won 3-1

[wilsdenrover]

43 minutes ago, sharpysharps86 said:

Rovers 4 - 0 QPR. Shearer hat trick + Sutton. 1994/95 season.

I was sat in the Riverside and vividly remember Shearer's fantastic 3rd goal.

Second game was the 0-0 draw with Norwich in the same season. Glad that wasn't my first! 😂

I was in the Blackburn End for that one - was the Shearer goal the one which he smashed in off the crossbar?

[47er]

4 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

You’ve been a Rover for over half of the club’s existence!

Any idea how many matches you’ve attended overall?

 

A lot!

[47er]

43 minutes ago, aletheia said:

No offence intended at all 47er but I can't find a record of that game.

https://www.11v11.com/teams/blackburn-rovers/tab/opposingTeams/opposition/Manchester City/

I've just looked it up as a result of what you wrote and we didn't play them 1949 at all. We did 47-8 and we did 49-50 so I'm assuming out must have been one of them. My Dad spoke of it a few times, I never queried it. 

He must have got the date wrong. That's a bugger, I was brought up on that story.

[arbitro]

13 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

You’ve been a Rover for over half of the club’s existence!

Any idea how many matches you’ve attended overall?

 

He still has the programme from the game.

It's in Latin 😁

[aletheia]

1 minute ago, 47er said:

He must have got the date wrong. That's a bugger, I was brought up on that story.

Memory issues come to us all -can't remember what scores were a week ago but can remember stuff from 50 years ago. As to walking into a room and then forgetting why I am there.....;-)

[funny-old-game]

Where up shad did you live tony? We lived on Rothesay rd for 3 yrs

[arbitro]

3 minutes ago, funny-old-game said:

Where up shad did you live tony? We lived on Rothesay rd for 3 yrs

Arran Avenue until 1964/5 when we came to Darwen.