Blackburn Rovers - Ewood Park
Blackburn Rovers Football Club
Ewood Park
Blackburn
Lancashire
BB2 4JF
Last match I went to see: Blackburn Rovers 1-0 Gillingham, Saturday 30th September 2017, League One.
HISTORY/FACTS ABOUT ROVERS:
- Blackburn Rovers Football Club were formed in 1875. They were formed following a meeting at the Leger Hotel in Blackburn. The meeting that was organised by 2 men, called John Lewis and Arthur Constantine. They both wanted to discuss the possibility of forming a football club to play under Association rules, and that was when Blackburn Rovers were formed.
- 3 years later in 1878, Blackburn were one of 23 clubs to form the Lancashire Football Association.
- A year later in 1879, the club played in the FA Cup for the 1st ever time, beating Tyne Association FC 5-1.
- Rovers 1st silverware came in 1882, winning the Lancashire Senior Cup. Rovers in total have won the trophy 18 times.
- Blackburn's 1st title win came in 1912, winning the 1st Division on 49 points from 38 games. They beat Everton to the title by 3 points.
- Blackburn are probably more known for winning the Premier League title in 1995. It was their 1st win in 81 years thanks to the terrific strikeforce of Chris Sutton and Alan Shearer that scored more than a total of 50 League goals between them. They beat Manchester United to the title by a point, on 89 points from 42 games.
- Blackburn have won the FA Cup 6 times. 1884, 1885, 1886, 1890, 1891 and 1928. Their last FA Cup win came at Wembley, with a 3-1 win over Huddersfield Town which saw 92,041 see Rovers win their 6th FA Cup win.
- Rovers most recent Cup victory came in 2002, winning the League Cup at The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, with a 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur. Goals coming from Matt Jansen and Andy Cole getting the goals for Rovers.
- Blackburn have been playing at Ewood Park since 1890 and holds 31,367.
- Rovers most famous fans known are Jack Straw, Carl Fogarty, Wayne Hemingway, Lee Mack, Dr Who's Matt Smith and others.
MY VISITS:
VISIT 1: Blackburn Rovers 1-0 Gillingham 30/9/17
THE GROUND:
Ewood Park has been the home of Blackburn Rovers since 1890, with playing at grounds such as Pleasington Cricket Ground and Leamington Road in the 1800's before moving to Ewood Park permanently. The capacity at Ewood is 31,367 with away supporters housed in the Bryan Douglas Darwen End which is shared with home supporters, but if demand, the whole of the stand can be allocated, which is behind the goal. It can be allocated up to 4,000. The nearest train station is Mill Hill, but when I went, I went to Blackburn railway station as more trains went there from Preston. Mill Hill apparently is about a 15 minute walk, whether as Blackburn took me about 25 minutes to get to the ground.
THE GROUND:
Ewood Park has been the home of Blackburn Rovers since 1890, with playing at grounds such as Pleasington Cricket Ground and Leamington Road in the 1800's before moving to Ewood Park permanently. The capacity at Ewood is 31,367 with away supporters housed in the Bryan Douglas Darwen End which is shared with home supporters, but if demand, the whole of the stand can be allocated, which is behind the goal. It can be allocated up to 4,000. The nearest train station is Mill Hill, but when I went, I went to Blackburn railway station as more trains went there from Preston. Mill Hill apparently is about a 15 minute walk, whether as Blackburn took me about 25 minutes to get to the ground.
1ST VISIT TO EWOOD PARK:
Blackburn Rovers 1-0 Gillingham
Saturday 30th September 2017
League One
After ticking off Blackburn's rivals Burnley last weekend, it was back to business with away days with Gills once again. I was quite looking forward to this one, my 1st new ground with Gills since Bolton Wanderers away which was in December last year, so yeah quite some time now, league game wise anyway. So, anyway it was yet another train journey for me this time as I'm sure most of you that read my Burnley visit last week, I didn't fancy a repeat of that this time for sure! But luckily I was going from a different station, I would have been hugely surprised if it happened 2 weeks running anyway. Anyway, onto my visit, I booked my trains quite some time in advance, as Virgin Trains had a seat sale going on, luckily at the time someone retweeted it on Twitter, so after looking at offers, from London to Preston on the 30th September was £22 return which I thought was an absolute bargain, so I snapped it up quickly. Only tickets I had to pay for on the day, was a London Travelcard which cost about £16, and £3.50 return from Preston to Blackburn, so wasn't majorly bad. I left home at half 6, and arrived into London Cannon Street at 7.15am. Around a 20 minute tube journey, and I arrived to Euston at around 7.45am. I bought myself a meal deal at WH Smith's and then waited for a bit for my train to be announced. I turned round and noticed a few Maidstone fans waiting for their train as they were away at Barrow, much to my delight especially that time of morning. As the train got announced, I overheard one of them say "Going down" to me as I walked off to get my train, which I immediately thought, no offence but I'd rather be going to Blackburn than Barrow and 2, we're in the Football League, you're not, so jog on. But anyway, after leaving Euston at half 8, I arrived into Preston at 10.40am with a bit of time to kill. I nipped to Ladbrokes to put a couple of bets on and bet on the greyhounds, which put me in profit, but not much. Also spoke to the guy working there that is a Preston fan and spoke all things Preston and Gillingham wise, seemed like a nice enough guy as well. Preston had Sunderland at home that day, so wished him well for the game as same back with Gills. After that, I went to find a CEX and a GAME as I wanted to see how much the latest Fifa 18 was on PS3, as I'm hoping to get a PS4 for Christmas, so wouldn't mind getting Fifa 18 for the time being. No luck as I couldn't find any. After that, I grabbed some lunch as it was just after midday, and then made my way back to Preston station. After leaving Preston shortly after half 12, I arrived into Blackburn at 1, made my way to the ground to take some pics.
I arrived to the ground about half 1. Took some pics, then made my way into the ground. Once again, the game was non existent really. It was a awful game of football I thought, neither side had many chances other than the odd one here and there. Blackburn scored from close range, thanks to Dominic Samuel who played for us on loan with the winning goal. It was also ex Gills player Bradley Dack's 1st game against us after leaving us in the Summer for Blackburn for £750k. I had a bad feeling he would score against us, and he did have a chance to as well, but luckily straight at keeper Tomas Holy. The last 5 minutes we probably could have snatched it at the end, but even if we had, I don't think we would have deserved it anyway, just a boring game of football. But then we do have Peter Taylot currently in temporary charge, so that would be why as I'm sure most Gills fans know! After the game, I made my way back to Blackburn station, and left shortly after half 5, then left Preston at 7, with Dom, Jim, Fuming Steve, Matt and Liam. A good laugh on the way back, we eventually arrived into Euston at half 9, and saw 2 ex Gills players in Stuart Lewis and Oliver Muldoon who currently play for Maidstone. Also noticed Charlton players on the train as well, I did recognise Johnnie Jackson as Charlton were away at Fleetwood. I arrived home shortly after 11pm. Yes, I made it home on the same day haha! A long tiring day, but nice to get Blackburn off the list. Blackburn was my 78th of the 92.
GROUND PHOTOS:
GROUND PHOTOS:
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