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Billinge End Blue

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Everything posted by Billinge End Blue

  1. I think this play is worth backing regardless of the current ups and downs at Ewood. It is not precious or self indulgent / self pitying to still feel strongly about what's happened to Rovers over the best (worst!?) part of the last decade. The fact that the issues and lack of oversight have impacted several clubs as well as ours only highlights the scale of the problem for football. This play is a great way of keeping a focus on something that it is all too tempting and easy to just ignore and hope, even believe, has gone away. I hope the play is successful and achieves its aims. Professional Football is less a sport and more of a business than ever. Those who have taken and continue to take advantage of the opportunities this presents to the detriment of the clubs, and the complacent authorities who have allowed it, need to always be looking over their shoulder. They must not think for one moment that even though they've swept the mismanagement under the carpet that it has been forgotten or forgiven. Good luck with it. BR, BRF, BRFC OK
  2. Bob's prediction is uncanny...however 7 years ago, many Rovers fans wanted hope to triumph over (other clubs') dodgy experiences with shoddy foreign ownership. With foresight or hindsight, our decline, every step of the way, has not been normal or part of football's natural order of things. Obvious and instinctive to most Roverites, too many dispassionate observers have also said so. Would bigger, better protests/boycotts have made any difference to our fate over this time? I don't believe so but even if it was the case, there is no gain for Rovers supporters in agonising and divisive finger-pointing now . That said, the past and ongoing protests and boycotts on whatever scale against the owners and associated parasites have been and are still highly worthwhile. Resistance is not futile and eventually, this too will pass...
  3. The pattern, scale and timing of transfer activity inwards and outwards at Rovers over the last six years is the clearest evidence of malfeasance at our club; it cannot seriously be dismissed as ineptitude or misfortune.
  4. Anybody else on here see The Smiths in Blackburn for 50p? Upstairs in the Elizabethan Suite above DJ's (previously Fernando's Wine bar. above what became C'est La Vie) at the movable feast that was the weekly Gum Club night...great gig, up there with the Jam, Clash, Motorhead, Killing Joke and Pogues - all fantastic KGH gigs. Colne Francs use to have some decent bands on too, Southern Death Cult, King Kurt etc. Good grief even the best sounds of today are drab and uniform compared to those days
  5. <I remember Ron Kennedy reports in the late 60s - I think he covered when Alf Thornton was away and if he was a freelance that would add up. I was at SMC and his brother was our form teacher and maths teacher. Can't recall his first name now, but we used to call him Toss Kennedy.> His name was/is Tom, still see him around - as well as a maths teacher he was the Eymard 1st year Form Tutor in my day. "Who's that smoking at the back? Pipe down!" Forget QED.... "N'est-ce pas? Oui, Oui? Later!" (Edit - meant to also say - great articles, when journalists could actually write and do more than cut n paste and spellcheck).
  6. Saw some great bands and heard excellent music at an excellent new-to-me venue in Blackburn tonight. <<Edit : 41 King Street (above the Cellar Bar) is the venue. >> Blitzen Trapper, from Portland Oregon, played a blinder of a set (vastly superior to the - comparatively - fairly twee Fleet Foxes they are supporting on a current UK tour). Check out the great vid of their catchy 'Black River Killer' on You Tube for a taster. They stated they'd had their best food sampled so far in England in the 'city of Blackburn' - the mysteries and delights of the butter pie were highly extolled! They were slightly disappointed at the non-existent bog-wall poetry (but then it is a newish venue) - we had to make do with the Geordie-originated 'Michael O'Brien is a c@ck'. Anyone else there tonight? There was fantastic and capable support from Blackburn's 'Fifth House' and 'Stacey McKenna and the Kingdom Road' - a folky slant is certainly a la mode (seek winterbirdrecordings.com). Good stuff...
  7. What's the general consensus on the Courteeners then? Kooks/AMs wannabees or the new Manc vibe? Best ever gig attended ? (can't be arassed to start a new thread) Got to be between The Jam - King Georges Hall Motorhead - King Georges Hall The Pogues - KGH/Hacienda/Brixton Academy Killing Joke - Sheffield Top Rank/KGH Windsor suite/Ashton-u-lyne Metro Sex Gang Children - Francs, Colne Southern Death Cult - Francs, Colne Stone Roses - Preston Guild Hall Foyer Oasis - Avenham Park, Preston Section 25 - The Club, Blackburn The Smiths - Elizabethan Suite, Upstairs at DJs, Blackburn The Clash - King Georges Hall New Order - King Georges Hall The Cramps - Teatro Tenda, Rome King Kurt - King Georges Hall
  8. This match was the last time I stood on (and fell from) a crush barrier stanchion (unless one of my many tumbles at Celtic Park counts)...wither Matty Jansen now?
  9. Great day and victory... for various reasons I arrived at the last minute, parked up near the Havelock at approx 5 - 10 minutes before kick off. Bizarrely, my walk to Ewood was like someting from the Omega Man or 28 Days Later... I saw absolutely nobody (except maybe in a few passing cars) until Nuttall Street - got through the Riverside turnstile just as the ref blew his whistle...Craig Short - goal machine!
  10. Prematch, tension-alleviating pub crawl, with Outer Circle assistance and probably never to be repeated... Dog Inn, West View, Woodlands, Mill Hill, Navigation, (towpath) Watersedge, Fox n Hounds... postmatch (shorts involved), Brown Cow, White Bull, Moorgate, Mill Hill WMC, Stakes Hall...all with the thup thup thup of the police helicopter overhead... Say what you like about 'authentic derby rivals', particularly in this century, but it is always highly satisfying to beat the Clarets...
  11. <that Thwaites pub in Islington > = the George IV what a trip...after a quiet and restrained (!?) night out in Blackburn, caught the 02:00 train from Preston to London Euston (with a decadent few cans of Thwaites Pale Ale)...cold bacon baps for brekkie, playing footie in the Islington park v 20 young Arsenal fans while waiting for the nearby pub to open (London's only Thwaites house, dunno if it's still there)...Sh*te but strangely majestic Wembley, Big Col's goal....Punch & Judys in Covent Garden after...no recollection of the journey home Happy days
  12. For all you youngsters, using the modern day marvel that is youtube, check out these fantastic tracks from the real eighties.... Killing Joke - Pssyche UK Decay - Werewolf King Kurt - Wreck a Party Rock Southern Death Cult - False Faces The Danse Society - Hide Discharge - State Violence State Control The Replacements - @#/?s of Young REM - South Central Rain Hüsker Dü - Eight Miles High Hüsker Dü - Could You Be The One Nineties too.... Teenage Fanclub - Star Sign Melvins - Revolve Lemonheads - My Drug Buddy Call me an ole fuddy duddy but contemporary bands don't even get close....
  13. Go on then, Den; I'll prompt you.... What is your suggestion to resolve the Old Gate Debate?
  14. Great news, always knew he'd return one day! He's given a sound interview on Roversworld - just hope he doesn't give the boo boys any opportunity to make him a scapegoat should BRFC struggle again this season... Welcome home Lancashire....la la la!
  15. <Thats why I would have gone to Saltzberg but for work commitments so I reluctantly missed out so after going to Krakow for 3 days I am now off to Cologne for similar and I can assure you that a piffling Cat A ticket is sod all in comparison.> Thenodrog Not sure whether I'll get a ticket for the match or not but this is THE definitive European trip to go on (it'll even beat Glasgow next May!). Everyone seems to be staying in Cologne (myself included) but Dusseldorf is a darn fine night out during Karneval, particularly for mild and brown ale afficionados! Glad you're on your way to Germany too 'drog, hope it isn't too boisterous for you though...you seem a bit sensitive to unruly behaviour at times and we are heading there for the start of the Drei tolle Tage (three crazy days). Bear in mind that Cologne will be being governed by jesters, fools, and an assortment of nutters - there will be a Bacchanalian revelry on a massive scale. That said, Riversiders will probably feel particularly at ease! (Soz if this is in the wrong thread) PS Fife, I appreciate where you are coming from on the yob confrontation angle
  16. Why is wistful nostalgia for losers? Not all change is for the best, unless you choose to believe those who make a living out of it... Do you really enjoy it more these days, Theno? Would you have preferred to have missed out on your old Darwen End supporting experiences and only ever have watched Rovers at today's Ewood Park? Quite agree though, Alexandra Meadows or Leamington would probably have be even better than the old Ewood!
  17. As an ex-Blackburn Ender and Riversider, I miss the cameraderie, banter, vocal and active supporting of both terraces at Ewood Park. Even though the Div 3 and Div 2 Rovers teams of the '70s and '80s were not always fantastically skilful, as a fan you felt closer to them and that there was a shared endeavour. "Arte et Labore", in varying ratio over time, is a superb club motto for my town's team. My support of BRFC was forged in the old Ewood...I respect completely younger fans who conjure loyalty to the club (not necessarily the current bunch playing for or running the club) from their experiences at today's Ewood - I don't know whether I would be able to (if I was a sixteen year old lad today). Someone will point out how smelly the bogs were etc etc, but the positive, unique and intrinsic history of the old Ewood has gone with our new ground. Even the fear factor as a young lad when Chelsea or Bolton fans came into home areas were part of what bound us to the club. Loyalty too, 'oh if you're going to <insert next away game>' sung loudly towards the end of a heavy defeat (and meant too!). Said it before but the baby was thrown out with the bathwater upon the ground's redevelopment and imposition of subsequent regulations - I'm sure fans of most clubs can empathise with this. I don't mean to sound ungrateful to Jack and his successful masterplan (it would've happened anyway) - just sharing my view.
  18. Couldn’t decide where to post this so felt a new thread was in order… With all the doom and gloom after last night’s result, which would most of us prefer: for Rovers to win the UEFA Cup in Glasgow then suffer relegation to the Championship in May or to get knocked out of the UEFA Cup in February and finish the season a creditable (?) 13th in the Premiership? (to add an extra dimension, in the latter scenario, you can choose who beats us out of the likely/possible contenders!) Me? Give me the silverware any day and let next season look after itself (I’m not particularly superstitious either)! PS I know this is rather contrived but bear with it (of course we can win it and stay up)
  19. <<QUOTE(MCMC1875 @ Dec 3 2006, 12:06 ) Well said IHB. Compare Gerald Jackson's sanitised Ewood matchday 'experience' with an Accy Stanley home game. Much less expensive ticket (it is "div 4"). No crappy music opn the PA. You can stand up. Stewarding reasonable. The pitch is so close so you can hear the players & the tackles. No big screen. NO DRUMMER. No Gerald Jackson. Decent pies. No childrens section in the home end - Hallelujah! No Rovervision. Half-time devoted to refreshments & scores. A crackin' experience. and No Tugay, no Brad, no Bennie, in fact no international players whatsoever, no famous opponents, no media coverage, no superb stadium etc etc sorry but my last word on that subject..........NO piggin way. >> Why can't a Rovers fan attending Ewood choose between an 'Accy Stanley' type of experiece in one part of the ground and whatever it is that currently floats folk like Thenodrog's boat (prawn sandwiches?) in another? Ewood Park is certainly big enough to cater for both aspects but those in authority at the club only ever consider supporter choice from a single perspective.
  20. Sounds like a good idea - happy to chip in £15 too (but can't make the meeting on the 14th - school Christmas play to attend)
  21. <A fixture against any Premierleague team would bore the shyte out of me personally.> Enough to make you consider giving it a miss if a home-tie? Burnley away again
  22. My mate's dad had his collar bone broken when jumped on by thugs while walking home through the park (this was in 1974).... The park is pretty impressive and us locals do appreciate it and its renewal....perhaps the new fences will reduce the level of antisocial behaviour there (although the plans to incorporate a youth 'hanging out' shelter off West Park Road might not help). What Mid Pennine Arts (with the council's blessing) have done with the Canons though, as part of their 'Panoptican' project, is nothing short of sanctioned vandalism. It's a hideous visual atrocity compounded by the fact that no one could stump up a fraction of the cash a few years ago to save the highly-regarded metal water Tank a few hundred yards away, once Blackburn's highest viewpoint, now sadly demolished. <Quentin Crisp actually mentioned Corporation Park in one of his many books > 1864roverite Perhaps a memorial blue plaque could be put up to accompany the one on Lynwood Road for Kathleen Ferrier?
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