I love that photo too ARA. It evokes memories of me and Gran on our annual Easter trip to the fair and in the background is the home of the second love of my life, after my family.

He never mentioned a dickie bird Tyrone to either me or my Dad. I only know from the bit of research I did because I have his Regimental Number. There is much more detailed information to be found for WW1 and prior but surprisingly not as much for WW2. Perhaps that will change as the years pass.

.....You may recall from above, that in 1939 Grandad darrenrover was drafted into the Royal Artillery and served throughout WW2 notably in Norway and Crete. He was actually de-mobbed in 1948, some 3 years after the end of The War. Here ends with him, my direct family lineage of Military history, which stretches back as far as 1858 and that is as far as my research has currently stretched. Grandad worked at ICI in Darwen after leaving the Army until he retired at 65 in 1975. (Picture below of Grandad darrenrover in his ICI bib and braces, with his beloved poodle Ricky) To my knowledge, Grandad darrenrover didn't attend Ewood again since the late forties/early fifties, shiftwork preventing him from doing so, until 1992 aged 82, when he was the eldest of 4 generations of a Rovers following family, when he, my Dad, myself and our eldest son all proudly attended The Play Off Final together. He sadly passed away 2 years later following a stroke. My Great Great Grandad signed up aged 17, to The 104th Regiment of Foot, which was then part of The Honourable East India Company, becoming The Bengal Fusiliers in 1862 and part of the regular British Army. His service ended in 1879, having served 21 years, most of it poignantly in India, he became a Chelsea Pensioner and resided at Bowerham Barracks in Lancaster. The family subsequently moved to Darwen in 1899 and he found work as a labourer at Hollins Paper Mill. He may have become a Rover shortly after moving to the area, I don't know but I'd surely like to think so. History lesson over, apologies, I decided to delegate the writing of the next chapter to my Dad: I thought he and Mum would probably enjoy a trip down memory lane and relieve the tedium of remaining at home for the past 10 months, due to their age vulnerability to Covid 19. I gave them the 'task' between Christmas and New Year and knowing the difference between delegation and abdication, I asked every day during our daily chat, as to how their 'project' was going? Oh ok, was the daily reply, our memories aren't what they were you know (they're 84 and 85). Last night at 10.22pm my phone pinged with a WhatsApp message from my Dad! He'd no doubt had a healthy measure of Dalwhinnie after Mum had gone to bed, as is the norm! "Read your bloody emails!" it said! Unedited, here is his email to me: "I have so many memories but am struggling to put them in order. Perhaps a question and answer from you would help us a lot (I'm going to oblige his request over the next few days).My very first is being taken by my Dad and there were so many on the ground, that for safety, he stuffed me in a window space at the back of The Darwen End circa 1946/7. Rovers in First Division. Remember Eckersley, Crossen, Wharton and Langton and behold Derek Leaver. I'm thinking it was against West Brom, people passing out and rolled over the heads of the crowd to the front. This was just after The War and Dad was still in the Army as a regular. I was up from Corby to see my Grandparents. Beating Dingles 2-0 in a replay at Ewood after the bastards thought they'd dicked us when 3 up, with quarter of an hour to go at Turf Moor. I was on there too, stood on that big terrace at the side of the pitch, Longside I think. Dingle fans being hosed off the Darwen End Roof by firemen. Semi Final at Leeds v Newcastle (actually Hillsborough, programme below), replay midweek. Me and all schoolmates wrote sick notes for each other and wagged off school to go. We all denied going to Headmaster, next day in Telegraph, front page, photo back of goal and we were all on it, hence all got whacked but we lost. End Chapter, to be continued." Edit: Having checked with Mike Jackman, the game my Dad referred to at Elland Road was actually the semi-final replay, having drawn with Newcastle 0-0 the preceding Saturday. So I incorrectly corrected him but as yet haven't turned up a match day programme for that evening kick off. Hence the reason the Head at Darwen Grammar gave him and his mates 6 of the best for skipping school! Hopefully, I'll be back by weekend.....

I used to call it 'gnats piss'!

My bad Leftpegger, you're correct, please forgive me for my inaccuracies! 😀 It irks me to admit that We didn't claw that back at all. It was 2005/6, were 2-0 down at halftime, James McFadden and Mikel Arteta scoring for The Toffees on 28 and 45 minutes respectively and Andy Todd sent off in the 31st Minute. You attend that many matches over 54 years, you do tend to forget the odd specific without reference. Whatever, I still left at Half Time and had a couple of pints in Ewood Working Mens Club. Please don't tell me I had 4 pints and one was Guiness because you could well be right! 😉😀

I've just unearthed this photo amongst the archives: Blackburn Rovers, 1938/39 season, Division 2 Champions with 55 points (2 points/win) from 42 matches. After referring to Mike Jackman, the squad consisted of basically 15 players, with a total of 4 others chipping in with the odd game. The little petals don't know they are born in this day and age!

Could have done with that last Wednesday night Mark!

I remember I did similar against Everton once at Ewood Matty. I forget the year but we were 2 down at Half Time, we left and went to EWC for a couple of pints. Predictably I guess, we pulled it back to 2-2 in the second half. The only other time, in 54 years, was away at Swansea, when the band of supporters I was with and I, left en masse, at half time too. That night, we were out on the town in Cardiff, as we were staying over and spotted Joe Calzaghe having a pint with a mate outside a bar. Some of our intrepid band (you know who you are!) couldn't resist asking for photos with the great man. They asked Joe's mate if he'd take the photos of them all and he duly obliged. As they returned to the rest of the group, proud as punch, one of us told them, "it was bloody good of Nathan Cleverly to take your photos lads, do you not think he'll be a little pissed off and offended that you didn't ask him for a picture too?" They had no idea!

Were Southampton not down to 9 men in the end? Steve Williams the other sent off? I remember supporters in the Nuttall St Enclosure climbing over the wall at the final whistle!

See above Gav. Where've ya bin, sleeping it off!? 😉

Should anybody be sufficiently interested in borrowing any of my items, or just viewing them, then drop me a personal message along with your details and a categoric assurance that they will be looked after and returned to me, in a timescale that we could agree on, I would willingly lend them to you. These are just a chosen few. My attic is literally bulging under the weight of Rovers programmes. Along with Transformers, Power Rangers, Mutant Ninja Turtles etc from when my lads were younger!

1932 Arsenal 11 v Darwen 1 Match Day programme exerts:-

and another:-

More Sports Pink 21st April 1928 exerts:-

Wankers!!

This should be the spirit and attitude at Blackburn Rovers!!! It's one of my favourite pictures, taken before we knocked The Gunners out of the FA Cup in 2013. Colin-Kazim Richards scored with a 'peach' of a finish close to the end! 😉 No words of description are necessary!!

Sorry wrong thread!

WE’RE BLACKBURN ROVERS FFS, we should be looking to attract better than those being bandied about!! Where’s the fecking ambition!!? I’m logging off until later before I blow a bloody gasket! Jesus!!

I’m still seething having just arisen at 7.20am. It was really an abject showing in so many numerous respects: defensively we succumbed to 2 such simple goals, should have been easy to defend against. Just mark up tightly and properly and centre halves just step up before the ball is played and even Mister Magoo would have flagged for offside! So bloody simple, yet this lot are paid £10s of thousands a week and can’t put it into practice week after week, match after match! Infuriating when us mere no nowts can see it but they can’t! In midfield we were poor, creating little and defending feck all. Up front, we created a plethora of chances, generally by young Elliott, aided on occasions by Nyambe and Bell (they couldn’t be criticised for their forward play) but Arma and co. missed almost all of them without troubling their young keeper the once. Worryingly all of the players are showing poor body language, even young Elliott walked off head bowed when substituted. Perhaps that was the same reason as me when I almost threw my phone at the TV when I saw the £5 million fecking lummox about to come on in his place! They’re lacking in motivation clearly and with impending potential contractual disasters looming too, Mowbray and his mob including Waggott should just gracefully fuck off!! WEARE The Rovers!! RTID!!

I sat in seats 200 and 201, directly in front of the PressBox, along with one of my long standing, Rovers following pals of many years for the match against City on 15th April 1989. We won 4-0 of course, Garns scoring a hat-trick and I think Andy Kennedy scored the other. I think Simon back then must have been responsible for gifting us the tickets and me passing my season ticket on to someone else. I remember it so distinctly because it was also the day of The Hillsborough Disaster. Having been sitting directly in front of the press box, we were hearing news as it so tragically developed and our game seemed to really peel into insignificance, good a game as it was. I also seem to remember City wearing an horrendous change strip and Andy Dibble playing in goal for them had an absolute stinker. At last, there was eventually some form of justice for The 96 (RIP), the real perpetrators of the crimes getting off relatively scot free, save for living with their own consciences.

Sorry chaps (mods) it wouldn't allow me to upload any more images. Help please? Night, night!......

.......and more:- 1928sportspink4.pdf

......Further Sports Pink exerts:- 1928sportspink2.pdf 1928sportspink3.pdf

.........1928 FA Cup Final Ticket, start of 'Sports Pink' exerts:- 1928sportspink1.pdf

....and on I go:- Initially I'd like to point out that you needn't read more into the erratic times of my posts, than my being a severe sciatica sufferer due to several herniated lower lumber discs. It is pain managed pretty well through injections (I'm on the list awaiting my next one) and countless pills I have to pop 4 times a day, to the point I think I'm a junkie! I'm trying to put off the inevitable 'suffering of the knife' as long as possible, due to the potential complications. As a result, I tend to wake in the early hours once the effects of the medication has worn off, get up, make a brew and do something to kill some time whilst the painkillers kick in. Apologies, I digress:- I'm assuming that Grandad darrenrover continued to go to The Rovers, following the introduction by his Dad in 1919, but I've found nothing to back up that assumption and I've no other recollections of it being discussed either, until OUR last FA Cup Final win in 1928, when he would have been 18. I remember him telling me he went with some pals on one of the special trains out of Blackburn Station, the day before the match. They returned the day after Harry Healess had lifted the trophy, after defeating Huddersfield Town 3-1. He spent the 2 nights "down the smoke", as he described it in "a dive of a B&B in Uxbridge, struggled to get a pint anywheer", being only 18 and you didn't come of age then until 21. He also added " the ale was fecking shite as wheel, flat as feck!" He had a regular ticket for the match but for some reason or other, he swapped it with a pal. I suspect that was probably a white lie and that he probably won it from one of the pals he had travelled down with, he "loved a bit of Poker, dust see!" I've no recollections of him telling me anything regarding the actual match itself. The only others being that they were "pissed as rats that neet and nearly missed t'train 'ome on t'day efter!" He'd also instructed his then girlfriend, who later was to become my Grandma, before they'd left, to buy a copy of the Sports Pink. (Images of match day programme and ticket and several of The Sports Pink for your perusal below) After that, he must have followed Darwen down to Highbury in 1932 because in amongst his stuff when he had passed, was a match day programme. (images below). He never mentioned anything of this to me or if he did, I don't recall it (sadly I don't possess an @Tyroneshoelaces type memory, how do you do it Tyrone?). Perhaps he didn't say 'owt' because I guess it would be the equivalent to a modern day admittance to watching 'that shower' play away in London! Being in The Terriors, carrying on a long line of family, Military history, he joined The Royal Artillery and served in Norway and Crete during WW2. He never talked about his time during The War at all but I know he made up to the rank of Sergeant and worked in The Quartermasters. Not having had sufficient time to research it yet and the fact he never, ever discussed it, that's all I know of. The rest of the family moved down to Irthlingbrough in Northants for the duration of WW2, living in a small holding. It's where my Dad, being born in 1936, served his formative years, the remaining male members of the family working in the Corby steelworks and my Gran as a 'clippie' on the buses to London. I'm starting to see "Lucy in The Sky With Diamonds and Tangerine Seas and Marmalade Skies" now, as the pain-killers start to kick in! Next up, The fifties.......