Rovers Return: Blackburn and their ongoing Venky’s enigma
Elton Johns performance at Ewood Park as part of his Wonderful Crazy Night tour last summer may be long gone, but sorry still seems to be the hardest word for some in east Lancashire.
The swift decline and oft-mooted demise of Blackburn Rovers since Indian poultry giants Venkys completed their 2010 takeover has been well documented and played out in the glare of fierce local resentment.
By May 2017, six and a half years after that fateful day, the one-time Premier League champions had sunk from top flight to third tier with mounting debt – now totalling more than £100m – and amid rising acrimony.
Such hardship occurred on the Venkys watch but for some Blackburn fans there were other parties to blame for what followed the buyout.
Venky's completed their takeover of Blackburn Rovers in 2010 (Source: Getty)
Prominent football agent Jerome Anderson helped to broker the takeover and questions about the extent of his influence at Ewood Park surfaced when future England boss Sam Allardyce was replaced by his first-team coach Steve Kean, a client of Anderson.
Those questions grew louder with the departure of widely-respected chairman John Williams, the marginalisation of some senior players and a change in transfer policy that included signing Andersons son, Myles. Anderson Sr has strongly denied claims that he was pulling the strings behind the scenes.
Rovers fans subsequently endured the baffling presence of Shebby Singh, an Asian football TV pundit with the remit of “global football adviser”, increasing sums outlaid to agents, Financial Fair Play sanctions, a managerial revolving door and an incrementally painful but predictable downturn.
The seemingly ceaseless turmoil culminated a year ago when Blackburn were bundled out of the Championships back door and relegated on goal difference to play at League One level for the first time since 1980.
First-team coach Steve Kean replaced the axed Sam Allardyce in the Blackburn Rovers hotseat (Source: Getty)
Post-takeover talk had been of signing Ronaldinho and David Beckham, but once that disappeared with the morning dew fear of financial ruin, asset-stripping and potential administration was never far away. A bleak on-pitch future now also beckoned.
But fast forward 12 months and that gloom has turned to positivity after Blackburn stormed back to the Championship at the first time of asking under the stewardship of the phlegmatic Tony Mowbray.
That might not seem the greatest of feats but Leeds United, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday – bigger clubs, it might be argued – have all failed to do so in recent years.
For the first time in a long time, Blackburn have a manager who resonates with the fanbase and who supporters can relate to and believe in.
Tony Mowbray has led Blackburn back to the Championship at the first time of asking (Source: Getty)
In many ways it is the perfect union. When Mowbray succeeded Owen Coyle in February 2017 he needed Blackburn – having left Coventry three points off the bottom of League One five months earlier and with his managerial career on a downward curve – as much as they needed him.
But he has led the clubs revival and, in short, the Rovers faithful are starting to feel like they used to. More than 27,000 swelled Ewood Park on Saturday for their promotion party against Oxford United – their highest league attendance since Sir Alex Fergusons Manchester United won the Premier League title there in 2011 – while away followings have boomed.
“For the first time [since the Venkys takeover] the supporters are united,” John Murray, chair of the Rovers Trust, tells City A.M. “They have put the ownership and the debt to one side and are enjoying winning and the crowds coming together. In a very ironic sense were enjoying the unification. Saturday was like a revivalist event.
“Trust members are obviously still worried about the clubs financial position – the financial threats to the clubs position have not gone away. Were still concerned the club is not in safe hands, but were living for the moment.”
Bradley Dack, signed from Gillingham in the summer, has been a prominent player for Rovers (Source: Getty)
The green shoots of recovery do not stop with first-team promotion. The Under-23 side won the second tier of Premier League 2, replacing United in the top division, while Blackburn were named the Football Leagues family club of the year.
Furthermore, had it not been for assurances from Venkys last summer, the promise to retain key senior players and the release of funds to sign the likes of Bradley Dack for £750,000 from Gillingham, it is debatable whether Mowbray would have stayed.
That is not to say the slate has been wiped clean and the hurt, naivety and anonymity – the owners have not attended a match at Ewood Park for nearly four years – forgiven. For many of Blackburns followers that might never happen. The Oxford match aside, the average home attendance this season has been 12,000, which reflects the lingering animosity.
There has been a greater sense of positivity and unity at Ewood Park this season (Source: Getty)
“Its very curates egg,” added Murray. “Certainly most Trust members would want the Venkys to sell but a lot worry about what follows. In some ways we need as little turbulence as possible to keep the momentum going.
“Things have changed this season, but they could turn again. I still wouldnt be surprised if Tony Mowbray was removed 10 matches into next season.
“I think people would say yes, Venkys do deserve some credit but it is always tinged with bitterness. Weve got promoted from a position we should never have been in.
“A series of stupid decisions still haunt us and to use an analogy: a broken clock tells the correct time twice a day. They have managed to get this season right. Are they learning? Well see.”
While a blissful union is out of the question, maybe a coexistence or marriage of convenience has developed. For Blackburn, perhaps this is the circle of life, as Elton might say.
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