The Rovers side in 1892 that had finished ninth. The biggest disappointment was the inability to match the three-in-a-row mid-eighties side. © Cottontown

It wasn’t that the year after the fifth cup win was poor, just that Rovers had been used to winning trophies so often that the local public tended to think of it more as a right than as a spectacular achievement. They wouldn’t be the last fans to take winning for granted but they could well have been the first.

Notable departures after the cup win included the physical Scottish right back Tommy Brandon (who would return after two seasons with Sheffield Wednesday) and goalkeeper John Gow whose abysmal performance in the 7-1 thrashing by Notts County in the cup final warm-up game led to him being allowed to leave for Northwich Victoria. To take his place, Rovers brought back Herbie Arthur to place between the sticks. England international Arthur had been the keeper in the three cup wins in the 1880s but was no longer at the height of his powers. This seemed proved when Rovers finished ninth out of the fourteen sides and only two local sides conceded more than their 65 goals against; Accrington and the hapless Darwen side.

A performance by Arthur would go down in folklore and is still often trotted out whenever the Blackburn-Burnley rivalry is mentioned. In December 1891 the two sides met at Turf Moor in some of the most appalling weather conditions there could be for a football match. The first half was played during a snowstorm, with a blizzard becoming so severe that the half blinded and half frozen Rovers side all left the field and refused to return for the second half. All except Arthur, who went to play Burnley all on his lonesome. The clarets kicked off and immediately attacked. Arthur immediately appealed for offside and the referee blew his whistle. Arthur then took so long over taking the free kick that an exasperated referee decided to abandon the game. This match became legendary, as it must be a rare sight to see one man face eleven and outwit them all. Despite this happy occurrence, there were two unhappy firsts for Rovers that season. They lost to Burnley for the first time and finished below in the league, unfortunately the first and not the last time. Preston doing the league double over them didn’t help much either.

There was some small comfort against their eldest rivals, Darwen. After three years out in the cold, Darwen had been welcomed into the First Division of the Football League although it would not be for long, as they finished bottom of the league and conceded 112 goals in just 26 games. An average of almost 4.5 goals a game. They had received no help from their Blackburnian neighbours, as Rovers won a thriller 5-3 in front of over 10,000 at Barley Bank and then easily disposed of them 4-0 at Ewood. Accrington may have finished below them but in that season they won their one and only league game against Rovers, 1-0 near the end of the season. Ninth wasn’t an especially poor result but when mixed with an unhappy cup run, it led to a disappointing season. New players were drafted in, such as John Murray, who arrived from league champions Sunderland, left half Henry Marshall, centre forward Bill Sawers and left winger Jack Bowdler. Bowdler was the only one of the four who was not Scottish. Scottish players both dominated the team and the Rovers side for the early years and were playing in the English game in vast numbers until well into the twentieth century.