Few pictures available clicky here Also got a couple of video clips including a part of the speech at the end, but someome technical will have to tell me how to make them available ...

Really glad I made the trip up, really was a great send off for Tony Parkes, he looked and sounded close to tears when he addressed the crowd at the end. Very happy for him that the numbers turned up on the night. And secondary but still important, it was great to finally "bury the hatchett" with Shearer - I almost hope he's injured when Newcastle come to Ewood next season cos I'd like to remember last night as his final appearance on the hallowed turf. [And there was a scrap between a middle-aged fella and a teenage manc bird on the National Express at 3am whilst stopped in Birmingham - most entertaining ... far more competitive than the game ]

Aye, him and Harry are playing "Journey Round Britain (Championship Grounds edition)" against Jim Smith and Rupert Lowe.

Work that he got paid handsomely for every month. So if people don't want to line his pockets with their hard earned tenners then who can blame them. Add to that that testimonial games are just crap and meaningless and also that Shearer and the others aren't really playing for Rovers. I find it incredible the number of people who seem to be getting a fix from seeing Shearer in a Rovers shirt again - it's not real. These are just a number of reasons that will keep them away, doesn't make them poor supporters though and I would certainly never criticse anyone for not turning up. Yeah the idiots - what the 'eck are they doing staging some non-event so people might have a bit of fun, and at the same time say thanks to some old codger - if he worked there for 35 years then that's his look out. In fact, what's this whole football thing all about? Just what does each 90 minutes achieve? It's clearly a total waste of everyones time, money and effort. In fact, what's the point in being alive??

You can join me on the National Express get you back to work in London (or Birmingham) for Wednesday morning bus - leaves Darwen Bus Station at 10.55pm. You'd be back in Brum for 3am. Marvellous.

This is a crucial point. United (as they are) have identified a problem - on match days, the merchandise outlets are doing sh!t business. The reasoning behind increasing OT capacity from the current 67K to 76K is not to increase Season Ticket sales, it's to increase day trippers (mostly from abroad) who will frequent the Megastore and spend their holiday budgets there.

If that figure is accurate then it's very, very disappointing. Since Rovers fans created history by deserting the club in droves when we qualified for Europe via the league just a couple of years back, a few of us on here have regularly copped heaps of abuse for daring to question the general motivation of our fellow fans. The excuses have poured in - cost of tickets, games on TV, kick off times moved, poor football (under two managers who have employed completely contrasting tactics), selling the crown jewels, bad atmosphere, not being able to "bond" with the players, giving the Darwen End to away fans, crap beer, etc, etc, etc So with a few days to go before we can salute a true Rovers hero, a man who links the dim distant past to the amazing recent past, on a night when there is no relevant TV game, 3 months before we can watch our team at Ewood again, for a tenner a ticket ... And TP has attracted the biggest Rovers heroes of recent times, as if TP on his own was not enough of a box office draw .... .... but ticket sales are still sh!te. Lost for words. The apologists who've blamed TV, seat prices, the FA, the PL, Souness, Williams, Pele (lack of equivalent) et al ... to cover up the apathy which has blighted our support need to find some new excuses though. How can there be an almighty scramble to get a seat to watch Burnley be that away or at home, but Tony Parkes doesn't even merit two thirds of Ewood being offered for sale???????

The TV rights question - IMO - is more likely to swing in the opposite direction. As was illustrated last night, there is a frightening gap between Arsenal / Chelsea / Manchester United ... and Everton / Liverpool / the rest of us. It is said that the league table never lies, especially the definitive table at the end of a season. Rovers fans have to trot that one out more than most. Look at this league table today. It is full of pointers as to why the gap which already exists must not be allowed to widen. The points deficit from Chelsea (1st) to Liverpool (5th) equates to 13 WINS for Liverpool ... Everton's goal difference (with or without last night) is a joke ... the unholy scrap to stay IN the PL is an illustration in itself as to why unbridgeable "gaps" in the league structure are a bad idea. That's the emotional argument. The practical argument is this. Manchester United will never sell their own TV rights because they need a league to play in. I cannot see one single club in the PL which would want to further reduce the integrity of the PL by widening the already significant split in income. Arsenal have a stadium to pay for, and Chelsea are exempted from this petty squabble. The rest of us just need Sky's cash to compete or survive. Glazer can dream of doing what he wants with MU, but TV rights - bizarrely - may well scupper his plans. There is a substantial movement within the PL clubs to REDUCE the differentials between the clubs at the top and the clubs lower down. And the real leveller is that Sky TV have to be able to broadcast a competitive league - of 20 clubs, not 3 clubs. If Glazer tries to go it alone on TV rights, watch Sky threaten to remove 1/2 a BILLION quid per season from the game, and watch the other 19 PL clubs tell Man Utd exactly where to go.

The thing is, the no-shows have the perfect excuse ... Tony's game clashes with Tranmere v Hartlepool live on Sky. Who in their right minds is gonna splash out a tenner on giving a decent and correct farewell to an all-time great servant of the Rovers?? when you could be down the boozer watching a meaningful play-off game for nowt?! I can hear the excuses already ...

Not very well, last I heard. Let's hope people are planning to get em on the day.

Was souey the manager in 1995 when we played in the champs leagie? or in 94 in the uefa - remember trelleborgs. WE have always had crap european attendances. God bless you Stu, cos if I'd posted that the point would have been completely devalued. However, it's worth adding the awesome 13K v Lyon, 1998. Oh, and 31,000 v Celtic, 2002 - under Souness would you believe!!?

You're right - it wasn't strictly necessary. Everyone can see you're totally obsessed with Souness - there was no need to try and quantify it.

Bollax (sic) Rovers were never close to his heart, just as Puke aren't now. He cares about one team and one team only- Rangers. Souness chants were started and carried on by the Stepford majority- most of whom have thankfully been released from their mind control now. As for us not being in the Premiership now- well we might (had Sourness turned us down) have got someone less objectionable if we'd waited- and we might still have had Dunn and Duff. This is becoming quite tragic. Everyone knows I supported Souness and fit perfectly into the group of people you regularly slag off in your never-ending crusade to belittle what he did at Rovers. However, a quick scan of my posting history suggests this is only the second or third time I've chosen to address the subject on the MB since Christmas. A quick scan of your posting history Jan, shows that 3 out of every 4 posts you make refer to Souness or his legacy. It's only as low as 75% because you had a couple of mini-runs on tickets for the semi and then meeting Matt Jansen! Flopsy's theory that you actually fancy GS seems the most plausible on that evidence ... if you really don't, then the best advice must be to concentrate on something else for a while, or book in asap with the therapist.

He should be there as posted back in December and February

The shabby rag that is the London Evening Standard is at it again. The first link is how they are previewing tonight's game, using the odd quote from Dowie's press conference. The second link (from TeamTalkcrap) contains a whole load more quotes from Dowie - from the same press conference!! The Evening Standard preview is as pathetic a piece of "journalism" as I have ever seen. Evening Standard rubbish and the list of Dowie quotes they ignore

Even the Borneo Bulletin is having a pop!! Borneo Bulletin online

Despite the football and the result, I had a decent enough day and a half in Cardiff, and would go so far as to say that like recent trips to Sofia, Ankara and Glasgow, this was one of those occasions which couldn't be missed. Once again made by the fellow Rovers fans who despite the idiots at the FA put inconvenience and cost to one side to do the club and players proud, and enjoy themselves to the full in the process. Personally I had a bit of a travel nightmare on Friday, finally arriving in Cardiff at around 8pm Friday evening 6 hours later than planned, thanks to a points failure in West London and later a typical Friday on the A4 / M4. Once there, a pleasure (as always) to meet up with some friendly names and faces, including off the MB Glenn (+Jill), Den, Bazza, Paul McG, LDRover, Gav, Debs, GiddyGoat, Ginger, and later on PennyDuff and the Norwegian contingent. Walkabout was entertaining (especially the bride-to-be who was hoisted into the air upside down ... I think only her husband will be enjoying that view from now on ) ... and later on The City Bar was most welcoming and served well into the small hours. Logic kicked in at this stage, and being very logical I didn't see the point going 20 miles to Bridgend to spend just a few short hours in an expensive hotel, so I (somehow) got into the perimeter of the Millennium Stadium and went looking for my seat, thinking I could have a decent lie-in there and not have to move again until after the match. However, there was no getting into the seating area of the North Stand, so I retired to the concourse underneath the main stand of Cardiff Arms Park - to be precise under some stairs outside the match officials room. Not very comfortable, and not very warm - by 5am I was out and about looking for breakfast and by 7am was in McDonalds which was unfortunately the only place to open early. A short zzz later and suddenly McDs was filling up with the red of Arsenal and the Blue and White of Rovers, by chance some of my London Branch team mates who had left home at 6am were also early arrivals, so they also ended up in Maccy Ds and so the truncated build up to the game began. The queue outside the Gatekeeper at 1/4 to 10 was quite a laugh (see early photos from Roverthemoon <<here>>) and again saw some familiar, happy MB and non-MB faces in there as the atmosphere built up - considering the barmy kick off time, the fans deserve every praise for making the most of a pretty poor situation. I can't be arsed going into the talking points of the match itself, other than to say that it was all over at 1-0 and their players had clearly been told to score points off our new "reputation" and use their reactions to challenges to influence the match officials at every opportunity. The Rovers fans were again a credit - oh my word what must we do to take that attitude and atmostphere back to Ewood Park!?! My spine tingled as the inevitability of defeat brought the blue and white hordes to their feet, flags waving and volume at max. That's the memory I'll take away from Millennium Stadium visit 2005. The memories of 2002 are deeply ingrained in my mind and will remain there forever, perhaps 2005 will fade more quickly because there was no end product. That said - and despite the stupidity of this game even being there - few teams will have even been there during the non-Wembley period. We've been twice, and this latest visit was a welcome diversion from the grind of the league. Let's hope it's not too long before the Blue and White graces the new Wembley.

Cardiff 2005 was a very different experience from Cardiff 2002. Back then we emerged the media darlings as the fickle Fleet Street scribblers heaped praise on little Rovers at the expense of Tottenham. Then - as now - they were only doing what they always do - writing what 99% of their audience want - and expect - to read. And at the moment, it's not surprising we are getting the negative press treatment. We arrived at the semi final because we got past Cardiff, Colchester, Burnley and Leicester - and needed two replays to manage that. Two of those 6 games made it onto live TV, and both caused the watching public to switch off in their droves. As a Rovers fan I've been proud that my team made it to a semi final, and proud that we've taken 5 points off the top 4 teams in the PL only conceding once, and was proud of our fans (the ones who bothered turning up) yesterday in the Millennium Stadium. But you'd need to be hopelessly one-eyed to pretend that it's fun for anyone outside of Blackburn. Where a couple of years ago we were great to watch for the neutral, we are now diabolical. Hughes will get his chance to address this in the summer. For now I and many others will tell the critics - be they in the press or in the workplace on Monday morning - to get stuffed, because the Hughes 4-1-4-1 has brought Premiership safety (much like the Souness 4 central midfield scrappers did last season). And as long as we remain so poor to watch, the journos are going to latch on to all our negative points and turn them into fodder for the chattering classes. Hence the treatment in every single Sunday. Outraged from Dunstable needs to pick up his Observer and read that we're a bunch of dirty northern cloggers, and this morning, he read exactly what he wanted to read.

Who, Shearer or Souness? Actually I can't see my post defending anyone - just looking forward to Saturday, as I'm entitled to do having finished work, played a top game of 5-a-side, and packed my bags for tomorrow's journey to Wales.

How pathetically sad. Just one day away from Rovers first FA Cup semi final for 45 years, and the hottest thread on the messageboard just now is busy slagging off our ex employees. The striker who won us the league, and the manager who won us our last cup. When exactly are you lot going to move on, and enjoy OUR season rather than panning Shearer and Souness for missing out on the last 4 in the UEFA Cup?? Idiots.

advice from a mate who's from those parts ...

Me, PennyDuff and half of Norway it would seem. A little bit of Leyland will be there. Me Baz and the missus. Debs, Gav, GiddyGoat, Ginger and her sister and myself should all be out in Cardiff on Friday night. [Although staying in Bridgend ... but last train back from Cardiff is 1:39am so reckon that'll be OK!!] Bring it on!!!

Have heard this is true. Jansen will remain on the books at Rovers next season but will not receive a wage from the club. He'll get a match fee if he ever plays. I guess this is the best way out for everyone. In a way, Matt is returning the loyalty Rovers have shown him since the accident, and at the same time keeps himself in a Premier League set up with the best people and facilities. Rovers owe him nothing, but should the miracle ever happen that the magic returns, then it'll be Rovers who benefit.

Well, this time next week we'll be out on the p!ss in Cardiff!!! I managed to get a return from London to Cardiff on Megabus for £6.00 (+ 50p booking fee), down on Friday afternoon and returning Saturday evening. Tickets for the game in UN2 row 22, and we're staying in Bridgend (in a hotel of GAV's choosing because it's got a pool and a sauna which I bet nobody uses) Bjarte - we'll be looking (listening!?) out for the Norwegian posse in Cardiff on Friday night

I'm not sure why everyone is getting so excited. This phase shifts a limited amount of tickets - there are two further phases which will take place later in 2005 and early in 2006. The number of tickets / follow your team passes is capped each time. All three phases operate on a random draw process - good luck to everyone who's in the hat for tickets this time. The whole farcical process is sanctioned by FIFA but is outside of the "official" country allocations, and in fact makes a total mockery of the entire ticketing system. We all know that 95% of the tickets from this "lottery" which closes on Thursday will be on sale outside the relevant grounds in Germany to the people that really want them. At a price. But for people who can't commit 18 months in advance, buying tickets on the day is the only option, and FIFA are making it as easy as possible for the touts and the traders. No-one will challenge it now, but when thousands of England fans rock up in Germany next summer expecting to get into games, if there's the slightest hint of a scrap it'll be "ticketless England hooligans on the ramgage" and the idiots who devised this ticketing policy will be sat in their hospitality suites sipping champagne and blaming someone else.