The Rovers Return

I was grafting away today when I came across this page that appears in tomorrow’s Hull Daily Mail:

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Tommy Briggs heads a goal against Charlton, December 14th 1957.

In my mind, there is probably no better name for a northern footballer than Tommy Briggs.

A true Rovers great and yet one that few Rovers fans will have heard of.

Briggs holds the record for the most amount of goals scored in one game, when he scored seven for Rovers in an 8-2 victory over Bristol Rovers 55 years ago today in the 1954/55  season…

From givemefootball.com:

Blackburn Rovers’ Tommy Briggs scores seven goals – six in a row in 57 minutes – in an 8-3 thrashing of Bristol Rovers, who lead twice in the game! 

Blackburn’s penalty-taker Bobby Langton gave Tommy a hand to become the best-ever Second Division individual scorer when he steps aside to let him take a spot-kick when he is on six. 

Formerly with Grimsby Town, Birmingham City and Coventry City, Bobby played 194 games and scored 140 goals for Rovers before returning to Grimsby Town in 1958. Read more »

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My ticket collection from the 2001/02 Worthington Cup run.

Bobatron, this one’s for you. Admittedly, I should have looked this up before you mentioned it…

Rovers have been included in the running for best League Cup moment, a competition celebrating 50 years of the competition, for beating Spurs 2-1 in the 2001/02 final.

Vote here.

For anyone who doesn’t remember, or doesn’t know, in 2001/02 Rovers were struggling. We’d just been promoted back to the Premiership after a two-year absence and were embroiled in a bit of a relegation battle.

The Worthington Cup, as the League Cup, now the Carling Cup, was then known, provided us with a welcome distraction from the difficulties of league football, and, ultimately, gave us the boost we needed to mount a late surge into the top half of the table, where we eventually finished 10th.

It was a great cup run, one I was lucky enough to go to every match of, starting with Oldham Athletic, where fewer than 10,000 saw Matt Jansen and Darren Dunning (remember him? He now plays for Gainsborough Trinity) score in a 2-0 win, with Marcus Bent sent off in the last minute.

Middlesbrough followed, as did another crowd of just fewer than 10,000. This one went to extra time as Craig Hignett, the former Boro midfielder, put Rovers ahead, only for Nemeth to equalise. Craig Short rescued us from the brink of penalties with a winner in the 113th minute. Read more »

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The teamsheet from Rovers' shock defeat to Workington Reds in the League Cup, 1964/65.

From Cumbria’s News And Star:

Workington Reds fans can vote to make their side’s 5-1 thumping of Blackburn Rovers the most memorable League Cup moment of all time.

To celebrate its 50 years, the Football League Cup, known as the Carling Cup, has listed its top 50 moments and is calling on fans to vote for their favourite.

Reds’ victory over Division One side Blackburn at Ewood Park during the 1964/65 season has been ranked as one of the top moments.

That day, a crowd of 11,800 saw Reds net five of the best with Kit Nappier and Barry Lowes both bagging a brace. Dave Carr added the fifth to complete the rout.

During the mid-sixties Workington developed a proud record in the League Cup, twice reaching the quarter-final stage.

The headline Red-faced Rovers the next day said it all. Workington went on to face eventual winners Chelsea, drew 2-2 at home and then lost 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in the replay where a certain debutant – Peter Osgood – scored both goals.

Chairman Humphrey Dobie said: “It is a great honour to be named among some great sporting moments.

“I can vaguely remember the game and we did really well that day.

“That was in a time for Workington when we played some of the top teams around.

“We played Manchester United, Fulham with the likes of Jimmy Hill and Chelsea too.

“We did really well to draw 2-2 with them at home but they thumped us at their place in the replay.

“I hope the fans come out in force and vote for us because it is fantastic to be mentioned in this way.”

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Had an email from Stuart Glendinning of Tru Supporter. You may or may not remember me posting about this venture before here and here.

Dear Rovers fans

Just to let you know that we will be filming Rovers fans again this Saturday.  We’ll be at The Fox and Hounds from about 11.30 filming fans there before the Portsmouth game and we’ll be at The Aqueduct after the game.

For those of you that have already been filmed – it would be great to see you again as I need to get some written stories.  If you can spare me 5 or 10 mins that would be greatly appreciated – I’ll do the writing I just need to capture a story or two that we didn’t talk about on film.  Incidentally the videos are looking good – the passion for Rovers shines through.

Naturally we are keen to film more fans on Saturday.  There are some on this distribution list that couldn’t make it last time – hopefully we can see you on Saturday.
Also maybe you’d be kind enough to mention to some friends or relatives that support Rovers that they should come along. We have already captured some great memories but it is undoubtedly the case that the more that participate, the more stories, the more interesting the website. Read more »

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A bit of vintage footage, found on YouTube, of Saint and Greavsie talking about Rovers having just been taken over by Jack Walker with Don Mackay in charge.
Interesting to look back at the club then, but also interesting to hear the thoughts of Rovers, who’s chairman the late Bill Fox also chaired the Football League, of the soon-to-be formed ‘Super League’.

My account of the United game will come tomorrow.

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From the Peterborough Evening Telegraph:

By Alan Swann

League Cup (first round), September 11, 1961: POSH have only played Rovers once in the Football League Cup and that was 48 years ago. Third Division Posh went down 3-1 at the home of top-flight opposition in the first round of the 1961-62 competition.

Billy Hails opened the scoring for Posh in the 15th minute after good work by Dennis Emery, but Ian Lawther (2) and Bryan Douglas ensured there would be no shock.

Posh boss Jimmy Hagan had caused a shock with his team selection for a Monday night fixture dropping Norman Rigby and Peter McNamee after a dismal team performance in a 6-2 defeat at Bradford Park Avenue 48 hours earlier.

Posh: Ronson, Whittaker, Walker, Rayner, Ripley, Stafford, Hails, Emery, Bly. Smith, Sheavills.

Blackburn: Else, Bray, Newton, Clayton, Woods, McGrath, Isherwood, Crowe, Pickering, Douglas, Laverty.

And Posh have only played Blackburn twice in the Football League. Rovers won the Third Division title in the 1974-75 season, but Posh beat them 1-0 home and away.

Jeff Lee’s first-half penalty following a foul on David Price was enough to secure victory at Ewood Park after a Freddie Hill (right) goal won the game at London Road.

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Despite a 2-1 defeat at Anfield, Alan Shearer and Jack Walker celebrate beating Manchester United to the Premier League title.

It says that, out of all the current Premier League sides, Rovers have the best record against top four – Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool – with an average of a point a game.

The full record, from 120 games, is 29 wins, 33 draws and 58 defeats since we became founder members of the Premier League in 1992. That amounts to a total of 120 points and a win percentage of 24.2.

Burnley are the only other side ranked at a point a game, but having only played three matches I don’t think the Dingles can really count…

One thing that surprises me, and shows how short a memory people seem to have these days, is Martin’s comment, “You may be surprised to learn that the side with the best record against the big four is Blackburn Rovers.”

Not really, considering we are one of only four teams to have won the Premier League, more than a certain member of the big four have managed, and in the early days we were better than both Liverpool and Arsenal, while being about as good as Manchester United. Sadly, we can no longer make these claims, but it’s a fact that while the league was in its infancy, we were one of the big boys! Read more »

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Colin Hendry celebrates scoring the only goal in Rovers 1-0 win at Villa Park in 1995

Colin ‘Braveheart’ Hendry was an immense figure in the Rovers team of the nineties.

As well as being my personal favourite all-time player, he was a rock at the centre of defence, without which the Premiership title would never have been won.

The Scot ironically started as a striker for Dundee before moving to Rovers in 1987. He famously scored the goal that won us the Full Members Cup against Charlton. The Addicks at the time were playing in the First Division, a league above Rovers.

Hendry was converted to a centre back before moving on to First Division Manchester City in 1989 after making 102 appearances for Rovers. Hendry won Player of the Year for the 1989/1990 season. However, after a fall-out with manager Peter Reid he lost his place in the team.

After becoming Rovers manager Kenny Dalglish re-signed Hendry for around half a million pounds and he became a key figure of the side Dalglish would go on to build with Jack Walker’s millions.

He was part of the team that got promotion from the Second Division into the newly formed Premiership in 1992 and continued to be one of the best defenders in English football. He helped us to fourth place in our first season, then second before becoming champions! Read more »

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