New season, new league and new players but same old defeats for Blackburn as the malaise at Ewood Park under the Venky’s ownership continues
League football returned to Ewood Park as if it had never been away. But Blackburn Rovers, Premier League champions of 1995, found themselves in the unusual surroundings of League One on Saturday, losing 3-1 to Doncaster Rovers, who came in by the other door. After two degrees of separation the only familiarity for Blackburn was defeat.
Three months ago, in their last five games, at least they were mixing it with Nottingham Forest, Wolves and Aston Villa, beating two and drawing with Wolves in a vain attempt to avoid the drop. Now they continue their struggles in the company of Rochdale and Northampton. It is a sad descent. As the old boys of Eton and Harrow were discussing in the late 1870s whether to have hacking, Blackburn was shaping as the first northern centre to upset that dominance, with Rovers winning the FA Cup from 1884-86 and becoming founder members of the League. Hacking now is as international as the game itself but Blackburn are not keeping up.
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