 This image is © Cottontown and is used with permission More FA Cup wins than any other town team, more times champions of England than any other town, winners of major trophies in three different centuries. Blackburn the club has always been caught between two stools. Too successful to judge themselves against most of the other town teams (Burnley apart who also punched above their weight and as such became worthwhile eternal rivals) and yet conversely too small to consistently challenge the big-city clubs, Rovers were an enigma. A contradiction and a team set apart. Their past was always glorious, yet their present and future has often been unsure. So what is it about Blackburn Rovers as a football club that makes them special?
Well...it is an institution, not merely just a club. Even the most dim-witted Rovers fan knows that their club is ancient and has a past steeped in glory, even if you do have to go back a long way for most of their achievements. Yet unlike the other creaking behemoths who slid around the leagues desperately trying to again relive their glory days Rovers were different. They had Jack Walker. Although their dominance at the very pinnacle of English football in the nineties only lasted for one season it still means that in the last forty years of all the town clubs only Blackburn Rovers in 1995 have been the national champions of England. Of all the towns in England only Blackburn in modern times has been able to stand above the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool. That is the paradox faced by being a Blackburn Rovers fan. Should he be looking backwards or forwards for Rovers glory? Is it in the past, the present or the future?
That’s the thing about Rovers though…they were awesome in the past and maybe should be happy with just that. Yet the potential is there for them to still be a force in the future. That is what makes the town of Blackburn and its remarkable club so unique. They are forever between two stools. Their history is too great for them to be satisfied with anything but the best yet logic and realism suggests otherwise. Yet when it comes to Blackburn Rovers, logic and realism so often keep getting thrown out the window.
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