3 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

Fancy escaping Burnley just to end up in Reading 😁

Actually lived in Clitheroe from 1975 having moved there from Tunbridge Wells due to my Dad's work ... someone once wrote about Reading, " No town more successfully hides it's attractions from visitors than Reading ", and I would concur ...

I met a Burnley girl in 1988, married the following July and have lived there ever since. Blackburn & Burnley, like virtually every town in Britain, has areas you'd love to live in, ( Pleasington / Worsthorne etc ) and sadly, areas that you'd be scared to let your children play out in ....

32 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

You should be a politician with that sort of non-answer 😁

Graduate of University of Reading ( 1986 ), a 2:1 in ... Politics and International Relations !! 🤣 

44 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

The first has definitely changed a lot, the question is whether the second has too??

I think it fair to say that the years have been kinder to Herbie 6590 than myself ... 😁

1 minute ago, lraC said:

I bet you know the late Ted Cooper mate.

Yes, very well .... lovely man, he was my first Coach at u16's at Blackburn, together with John Whitney, who went on to work for Rovers for years, after retiring from the police. John passed away in July of last year ...

Right lads, setting off in half an hour .... do I need this ?

4 hours ago, matt83 said:

I can’t say what percent of the fanbase do and don’t live in the Blackburn with Darwen catchment area or what the radius of it would be. But I had a think about people I know who go to at least 5 home games and out of 20 none live in the immediate area. The closest balderstone/whalley which is still about 10 miles. Mostly in Ribble valley to be fair. A few in manc, West Yorkshire and a few down south. 

Although I appreciate my experience is skewed having never lived in a bb2 postcode. 

I may have mentioned this before, in late 2017, I organised a re-union of Blackburn Rugby Club's u19's teams from 1980-83. I traced 51 lads who'd played for us in that time, through personal contacts, Facebook, Linkedin etc. ..... only 4 ( FOUR ) actually still lived in the Borough of Blackburn and Darwen !! They were spread far and wide, including Italy, Sweden and 2 in France, but by far the most common residence was the Ribble Valley ...

I also do some supply teaching, and have worked at 3 Blackburn & Darwen schools. Speaking to some of the lads there, there were some Rovers fans, but what was noticeable was the support for Liverpool among the Asian heritage students, really because of Mo Salah, who's a Muslim. Food for thought ...

20 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I9 stone and 6 ft 4 “ ? I hope I’m not next to you, or behind you !

Well I probably won't be jumping out of my seat after any goals ... as a Claret, I'm hardly likely to if Rovers score, and I'm not daft enough to do so if Watford score ... ☺️

2 hours ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

I must remember to be nicer to you. 😉

No worries on that score, my friend ... I turned 60 on 3rd December and apart from the occasional " dust up " playing my 17 years at Blackburn RUFC, the last fight I had was in 1977 !! 😁

19 minutes ago, rigger said:

But not at £11 /ticket, and £10 coach travel 

True, but also not the last Saturday before Christmas either, with family pressures and commitments ... " I need some help this weekend, you've done nothing about Christmas and it's your mother who's coming, you know ! " etc, etc ... 😁

33 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

We’re in there to. I keep an eye open for you. When I first started going some people would watch Burnley one week and Rovers the next. Coming from Rochdale I’ve been the only Rovers fan going on the coach full of opposing fans to Burnley, City, United in the past and never got into any bother. We’ve lost that over the years.

6ft 4ins, 19 stone wearing a blue Barbour coat, face that's seen the bottom of a few Rugby rucks ... shouldn't be too hard to spot ! 😉

On 16/12/2023 at 10:33, Mike Graham said:

Exactly.  Just over a week ago we had sold more than we would normally sell up to 2 days before a game.  Most tickets are sold in the 48 hours before a game. We had sold just over 12,000 at 09:30 yesterday morning.  I know of a couple of people who have not got round to buying yet.  Thank goodness it is not a digital only game 😞

If such things are any guide, Watford took 898 away fans to Preston yesterday ....

On 15/12/2023 at 23:11, rigger said:

Where are you going for a drink ?

Not sure, I've volunteered to drive ... I know we're in the Jack Walker upper, and I'm hoping to visit the BBE fan-zone. Do you think I should wear something to identify myself so my " friends " on here can stop by and chat ? I'm thinking a Claret and Blue scarf and my Burnley top-hat .. oh, hang on a minute .. 😁

So it's confirmed ... I shall be joining you all at the Watford game at the invitation of my Rovers supporting friend ... my first visit for a game since 31st May 1988 against Crystal Palace ... 3-1 Rovers ( Howard Gayle 2, Simon Garner 1 ) ...

1 hour ago, Upside Down said:

Good to hear you're finally seeing the error of your ways.

Don't forget to wear some mittens, you'll need to hide the extra digits when you're visiting civilization.

I have a " English Heritage " membership, so I'm used to visiting places closed to the Public for years ... 

2 hours ago, wilsdenrover said:

If you attend I hope you get into the spirit of the day (see below) 🤨

‘We’d like to see everyone in their colours, and the theme of the day is Blue and White Christmas’

 

I may well do so ...

4 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

Take it you are now back with us for every twist and turn of the relegation journey?

I'll pop in and out ... I've had a rather tempting offer from one of my Rovers supporting friends to attend the Watford game on the 23rd December and seeing as Blackburn RUFC have no fixture, I may well take him up on it. I've been to Ewood for other reasons since, but the last game I attended there was Blackburn v Crystal Palace, on 31st May 1989 ...

13 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

No visit from the ‘umble brothers tonight then, I take it?

Same old story, simple mistake at the back leading to their goal, it would likely have gone unpunished in the Championship ..

At the other end we have strikers who need 3 good chances to score one goal, most Premier League sides have players who convert 2 out of three, it's that simple ..

27 minutes ago, JohnD said:

I always welcomed you guys on here, and elsewhere, but you can feck off.

You never disappoint, " JohnD " , long may you reign !! 😉

In peace as ever, lovely to know that " Longsiders " and I have been missed !!  It's been an eventful couple of months personally, a family bereavement of my spinster Aunt and sorting out her estate, probate etc, a return to a " proper " job, and the arrival of a 2nd Grand-daughter have kept me busy ... 

That said, those of an uncharitable mind will suspect that my lack of posts are directly related to Burnley's League form, and you may have a point. I thought we'd start better, to be honest and I'm not sure VK knows what his best XI is, to be fair. £15m on James Trafford, who may yet come good, looks questionable, especially with Muric in situ. The loss of Benson through injury and Lyle Foster suffering with " mental health " issues hasn't helped either. Today's win was welcome, but I'm not here purely because of that. Derby actually hold record for the least number of EPL points in a season with 11, in 2007-08 ....

T'Rovers are looking much improved this season, although strangely, 5 points worse off after 19 games than last year. I'd give you a decent chance of the play-offs, unless you suffer many more injuries which will disadvantage you compared to others with bigger squads / budgets. 

A last thought, I turn 60 tomorrow which has made me rather reflective about the really important things in life. Health, family and friendships outrank everything. As Billy Connolly said " Football Supporting is a disease, some of us just suffer from a different strain of it, that's all " !! Best wishes to you all ..... 😉 

16 minutes ago, BigBar said:

We need horrible old style manager, this isn't working and doesn't look like it's going to. I'm not confident whoever the manager is with this lot but this is all too familiar and we are on a rotten run. Most teams worked us out last season , not it appears all have.

There's a chap called Allardyce, he's just put away his Golf Clubs as he doesn't like " winter greens " , and currently sat at home binging on 2nd rate Netflix series !! He's looking for a post to get him through to next May ?

24 minutes ago, magicalmortensleftpeg said:

Really? 

Disappointing draw. Not glamorous, interesting or overly winnable. Only upside is that there won’t be many PL sides left in it after round 3 given the draw tonight.

You may be right, although assuming no " upsets ", only 4 of the last 16 are guaranteed to be EFL Clubs ...

If Luton lose at Chelsea on Friday, we'll have climbed from bottom of the League to 17th, without kicking a ball !! 

We hit the bar and Hemp had a good chance ... Spain were the better footballing side and played a poor Referee like a fiddle ...

The Champagne House, Pol Roger, sent Churchill a dozen bottles of his favourite Champagne every month from the end of the War until his death for his services to France, I wouldn't be surprised to see regular cases of Rioja Reserva winging it's way to Florida on the same basis ... 

18 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Jesus, what a waste of money he was for them then. Did nothing.

Try not to concede any free kicks just outside the penalty box ....