Crimpshrine

They may have some ready for sale after Christmas - or so I have heard. So the 2026 151st anniversary ?

Yes. You are right. I have an old souvenir print that states "BLACKBURN ROVERS DIVISION 3 CHAMPIONS 1974/75 In their centenary year." I see it is referring the the calendar year 1975 rather than the season 74/75

It's all a bit confusing. From this it looks like the 50th season was 1924/25 and the centenary season was definitely 1974/75. So the 150th season was 2024/25. So we have switched from celebrating the number of seasons played to the number of years since formation ? Presumably the club played a season before its 1st birthday and we are now in season 151 ?

These look like proposed motions but no evidence that they were carried. Trousers optional - I wonder if anyone decided not to bother ??

WATR won't be telling the club anything. The diplomatic approach is a thing of the past. The survey is about how the members want the Trust to represent their interests during the current dire situation the club finds itself in and what course of action members would like to the Trust to follow. The survey is available to ex members also. I don't know if you are in either category ? There will be a WATR 'drop in' session at the Fox and Hounds before the match on Saturday ( from 1pm ) where members and the wider fan base can join in discussions. All welcome.

WATR have always been an independent entity as have all the other groups in the Coalition ( Proud Rovers, Action Group etc ). WATR are still working in conjunction with the Coalition but this survey has been sent to Trust members and ex-members who still have a registered email address. There is no 'splitting off'. WATR and the Coalition can work jointly and separately.

In previous years that would be very a good observation but, other than Wharton, those names will mean nothing to our players. That's the problem, we have owners with no feeling for the club who recruit players based on cost and nothing else. I wonder if any of our players would even understand the relevance if they were told there are ex-Burnley players in the opposition team. Our team is a bunch of mercenaries who will be forgotten in a couple of years

There may be a way to get some sort of content in an Indian newspaper but I know of 2 or 3 attempts that have been unsuccessful - The Times of India was contacted but wouldn't even consider it.

Times have changed. There were so many great suggestions put to the club which they could have followed up to make sure that there were some actual celebrations in addition to simply labelling a league match as 'The anniversary game'. You may have been involved in the 150th committee yourself ? WATR started making suggestions over 2 years ago. Relations between the club and the fans is at an all time low. The 150th anniversary presented an opportunity for the club to rebuild some bridges and show some interest in the fans and the community. The obvious disrespect that they continue to show for the fans is epitomised by the indifference with which they have approached our 150th year.

I didn't realise you were a member of the London branch back then. It seems we played cricket together! I was down in the Smoke from 86 until 93

And the Derby fans will need to be out of the way to allow for the thousands of fans coming up from Eton. I've heard Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees Mogg are amongst the Eton legends taking part.

Good fight back at the end and, surprisingly, it was the players off the bench that made a difference. I say surprisingly because I think our lack of depth in the squad will be a big problem this season. I can't remember in recent times when we didn't have a collapse in the latter stages of the season. We have always been in a reasonable enough position to survive - though it was extremely close two years ago. If we have our usual collapse this year while we are still in the lower reaches then we will be in trouble.

Billy Smart would fit right in amongst the clowns

Last night it was much higher, half covering the outlet pipe on the far right of the second picture

This quote is from the day of the Portsmouth postponement. “Today’s pitches are designed to accommodate vast amounts of rainfall, but unfortunately ours cannot cope with the rainfall that fell on Saturday, which was in the region of 35ml. do we know the expected rainfall volumes for tonight ?

I spent many long hours photocopying and stapling the pages of 'Many Miles From Home' . Good memories The fanzine title was taken from the lyrics of this song

How true. 2 or 3 injuries and we will have a squad that is barely league one standard. Imagine losing Cantwell and Alebiosu from the starting 11. Even if they avoid injury I bet we wouldn't turn down decent offers for either of them in January

WATR are meeting with Martyn Henderson next week. Martyn is Interim COO at the Independent Regulator for Football. It is probably the first step in a long process.

On the face of it, Pasha reports to Venky's but I think they are out of the loop on most things and that is fine with them. I am sure they had no involvement at all in Gestede turning up out of the blue, Adam Owen coming from Hibs, the 3.5 year deal for Ismael. and the signing of injured players? Pasha has other people he listens to and puts self interest before everything else. Would Venky's have turned down the opportunity to have Adidas promoting the sale of Rovers shirts around the world in favour of 'off the peg' Castore kits ? Who's benefitting from that ??

We did have a postponement against Wimbledon it would have been before 97 though. Can't remember what the score was or if it even started but I remember Fashanu, Wise, Jones et al doing belly slides all over the pitch and pretending to swim after it was called off

There is only one 'fair' option which is to finish the game with the same set of players on the pitch for both sides. 11 v 10. But that won't happen. Giving one side the points without finishing the game can never be described as fair - it denies the other side the opportunity to gain points through no fault of their own - despite the odds being heavily against them - anything can happen in sport. Remember Devon Loch

It's not more difficult but it is less beneficial financially. If the shortened match is behind closed doors then the club will have to issue refunds on the original match and get no income from the 15 minute match. Pasha thinks in terms of pound notes, he doesn't care about the 3 points. Officially, the club will probably push for the 15 minute option but I know what Pasha would prefer.

For the 15 minute option, presumably they wouldn't charge anyone with a ticket for the original game and income from hospitality etc would be zero but they would still need to pay stewards and police. If it's a full replay, Rovers can refund 40% of the original ticket price and then charge full price again for the replay, sell hospitality tickets and get income from food and drinks. Pasha will be looking at this from a financial point of view and may well prefer the full replay

I'm not convinced he had much influence on who was bought or sold. It was probably a case of Yes Rudy, thanks Rudy.

Sounds like bad news to me. They can now go back to plodding along, sending over the bare minimum in funding whenever required but taking no other interest in he club whatsoever. Venky's will see it as a problem solved but Pasha will continue to cut costs - that's his job. They will expect us all to be truly grateful and, sadly, a large proportion of the fan base will be.