Speeeedie...!

THAT o.g.

Oh Andy Andy, Andy Andy Andy Andy Kennedy...

Classic Archibald...

Derby & then the FMC ahoy...

iFollow Fiasco Leads to Blackout Rovers Way back in the early 90’s, my then girlfriend (the current Mrs Old Blackburnian as it goes) would occasionally arrange to have her hair done in Rochdale on a Saturday morning. Nothing too odd with that I can hear you say, but we lived in the West Midlands at the time and each fortnight, I commuted northbound on a Saturday morning to watch the unfolding revolution taking place at Ewood. The future Mrs OB however would at that point, trust only her former hairdresser from her Mancunian days and so for a few months, until a suitable West Midlands alternative was eventually sourced, this was the arrangement. I would drive us up to Rochdale, hair would be sorted, then off to Ewood. The future Mrs OB would then drop me off and spend the afternoon single-handedly boosting the local retail economy for a couple of hours. Except one Saturday, the appointment had to be delayed as we were running late due to M6 traffic issues. It seemed to take forever to reach Rochdale. With every snip, spray and “going anywhere nice for your holidays?”, the tension rose and words were exchanged as I kept pointing to my watch and visibly winced with each passing minute. We left Norden at about 2:40pm. It was a tense journey over Owd Betts to Blackburn let us say and certainly was conducted in the days before Gatso cameras became de rigueur. I leapt out, Starsky & Hutch style (ask your parents/grandparents), somewhere on Bolton Road at about 3:10pm, eventually making it to my seat at roughly fifteen minutes after kick-off, having apologised to everyone on the row for the inconvenience, as I inched my way into the warm bosom of the Walkersteel. Until Saturday afternoon just, that was the only previous occasion upon which I had missed the opening fifteen minutes of a Rovers game I planned to watch and that even includes once driving from Loughborough to St Andrew’s (Birmingham, not the home of golf) in a venerable, old Mini 1000 with a dodgy radiator that much like a thirsty child, needed topping up every thirty miles. It later transpired that the “iFollow Fiasco” experienced last Saturday was fairly widespread and the EFL’s technology was seemingly overwhelmed with fans trying to access the system in a surge, as the time ticked ever closer to 3pm. In their defence, who could possibly have predicted that? Many thousands across the country were met with a black screen or a bouncing football alongside a “please wait whilst we try to connect you” message and levels of frustration last experienced whilst listening to Robbie Savage on FiveLive. My own connection fired up in time to show me the opening goal from Bristol City and at that point, it was fair to say that I was questioning my Saturday afternoon leisure choices. Christian Walton made a bit of a hash of a header aimed pretty close to him and in trying to push the ball around the post, he succeeded only in flapping it into the side netting. I am so old that I can remember goalkeepers actually catching attempts at goal, in the case of Pat Jennings, often with a single hand. The use of lightweight balls that move in the air has resulted in a safety-first approach to goalkeeping coaching. A keeper that actually catches anything these days is a rarity. Although in a COVID-laced environment, perhaps having the ability NOT to catch aerial threats is a desirable capability. Not too much time to launch into “full pessimism” mode though before the returning Corry Evans curled a cross into the area for Gallagher to attack. It evaded everyone, attacker, defender and goalkeeper alike and Rovers were level. After that awful injury suffered against Preston, seeing the joy on Evans’ face was worth the wait. Rovers certainly seemed to get the bit between their teeth and early in the second half, the hirsute Ben Brereton latched onto a short pass back, nipping in to pinch the ball before the keeper could collect, an open-goal at his mercy, you could sense the relief...just side-foot it in and...if ever there was an advert for “sensible boots, with sensible studs” then this was it. Brereton cruelly robbed of the salvation a goal would bring. It looked like one “of those afternoons” as Rankin-Costello was robbed of a goal when the referee awarded a free kick to the increasingly hapless Bentley as a result of being fouled by his own defender. Adarabioyo soon curled in a lovely shot from the edge of the area in a “Chris Samba at Spurs” tribute and then Armstrong, on as a substitute, finished delightfully to wrap up the points. Whether this was a case of Rovers being particularly good or Bristol City being especially inept was hard to judge. Results on the day generally went Rovers way and so for a little while longer, the play-off dream remains alive. Wigan up next and with it, renewal of a strange rivalry that has taken on a life of its own since our respective promotions. Wigan enjoyed a tidy win at Huddersfield at the weekend and doubtless will be high in confidence themselves. This is yet another of those “stand up and be counted” moments for Rovers who haven’t beaten Wigan away in ten attempts, since 2007, long overdue.

Golden Goals 1984-5...Jimmy Quinn & Noel Brotherston star...

Golden Goals 1982-3...Glenn Keeley enjoys a return to St James Park

Golden Goals 1981-2...Chelsea away & Oldham away on Boxing Day...

Rovers Golden Goals 1980/1 - a Marshall Burke overhead...

Not a great week for Rovers...

Sorry about this...but 6 minutes, that's all we had to hold out...shambles...

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Villa up next at Ewood & Tim Flowers muscles in on the assists...

Rovers travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea...

Rovers take on Leicester City (no, not that game...) & a certain Mike Newell has an eventful afternoon. The first signs of what became traditional end of season jitters...one hell of a second half though...

That's very kind but it was definitely a team effort...I should share the love with Josh, Kamy & Linz for their support

Just to let you all know that BRFCS has funded two VIP fan cutouts to take their place around the Ewood Park dugout tomorrow. One has been funded by BRFCS on behalf of all our members & the other has been funded by BRFCS staff. The two VIP cut outs, have been donated to https://www.blackburnyz.org & will be debuting tomorrow. Blackburn Youth Zone is a fantastic local charity supporting children across the region. The cutouts will display two of their members and be given to them, signed by the squad, at the end of the season. Let’s hope that they bring us some luck during the run in...??

I thought Sky revealed their hand during last night’s commentary. It will happen at some point but it will be fascinating to see how they charge for this access - greater emphasis on particular clubs or as now, access to all games. If they raise monthly subs people will vote with their wallets at some point - we are going to be in a hell of a recession for a while & people’s priorities will undoubtedly change. Some times less is more, a rarity value makes something more attractive. watching a World Cup or Euros intensely for a month is one thing, but week in, week out saturated wall to wall coverage ? Not sure myself...

Sneaking this one out late at night...still makes me shudder...

It’s Back, Back, Back...But Are WE Ready ? Where were we then before we were so rudely interrupted? Football is “back” and on Saturday afternoon, Rovers will take on Bristol City...but is it truly back? Should it be back at all, even in this stilted format? Are WE even ready for it? A lot has happened in the intervening three months and very little of it good. We have seen some Premier League clubs suddenly develop deep-seated values and integrity predicated solely it would appear on league position. The fine upstanding board at West Ham United for instance, was very keen to declare the season null & void way back in March, as the pandemic was clearly the number one priority confronting society and football merely a sideshow. This admirable stance in no way influenced by their perilous position in the league table I feel sure. The government, which has demonstrated levels of competence and assurance last seen in such abundance, when a certain Mr S Singh was purveying his peculiar brand of wisdom in these parts a few years ago, saw fit early on in the public health crisis to focus upon *checks notes* Premier League footballers. Apparently, according to the MP for Newmarket, “the first thing that Premier League footballers can do is make a contribution, take a pay cut and play their part...” The extraordinary efforts of the new leader of the opposition, the admirable Marcus Rashford; stepping up to the plate to feed hungry kids and Jordan Henderson initiating the “Players Together” initiative have thrown into dark shade the feeble leadership of the health minister and his colleagues. Mr Hancock let us not forget, once a trainee jockey and recipient of substantial campaign donations from the racing industry seemed for some reason to prefer to concentrate on announcing the return of...that’s right, horse racing – this for instance in a Tweet on 30th May. “Thanks to the nation’s resolve, horseracing is back from Monday Wonderful news for our wonderful sport.” The country has suffered tens of thousands of excess deaths, each one causing misery and distress, but it would appear that the return of sport symbolises the genesis of some kind of vague normality and allows unfinished business to complete, thereby protecting the sporting integrity of the competitions. As a happy coincidence, it also means that the TV contract revenues are protected and this is paramount for the salvation of many top-flight clubs. For those clubs lower down the food chain, gate revenues make up a much higher percentage of income and so behind closed doors football, broadcast far and wide on TV & the internet, is far from the panacea for their business models. It is merely a sticking plaster on the gaping wound of impending financial oblivion. As for the protection of the hallowed sporting integrity, it is an inarguable fact that the conditions prevailing in the final series of games; behind closed doors, bereft of human spectators, cardboard cut outs, piped crowd noises, five substitutes allowed, shoe-horned into a frantic month-long footballing binge; are completely different to the experience of the previous thirty-odd games. It’s akin to finishing the last couple of miles of the London marathon...three months later...on roller skates, via Zoom. But here we are, a summer with no Wimbledon, no Open golf, (as yet) no cricket, no Euros, so the football fix will remain a domestic affair. I must confess to struggling to build up enthusiasm for this ersatz sporting buffet, but inevitably, I will tune into at least some of the televised Premier League games out of curiosity, and I will do battle with the iFollow platform to check in on my beloved Rovers, but let’s be clear, it isn’t the same. Let no TV executive have any brainwaves off the back of this. After all, what is football fandom? The visceral thrill of being amongst your fellow fans, the collective moan after a misplaced pass or shot, the euphoria of a goal, but most of all the sense of community. The warm feelings of familiarity accompanying sightings of the shirts, scarves and hats as you approach the ground. The pre-match huddle in the pub. The camaraderie of your fellow devotees around and about your seat. For years now, that has been the most influential element of attending football matches for me; less the on-field spectacle, rather everything else surrounding the match-going experience. The friendships I have made through football have sustained, where many others have withered and my relationship with football has matured to a point where the result takes its proper place in the scheme of things. Many watching their teams, by whatever means and even some of those playing and managing over the next month will have been directly or indirectly affected by COVID. They will know more than ever the true place of football in the grand scheme of things, the most important of all the unimportant things.

Everton visit Ewood in a fetching salmon pink number...

Rovers v Liverpool...no not that one...that's higher up the thread...this time it's the League Cup in 1987...

Not really a statistically significant sample size....

The edit points on a couple of those goals suggest some CRAZEEE defending judging by the position of the keeper...! Danny Graham still has an eye for a goal. Other than that, no great revelations...