BLACKBURN ROVERS.
The club Blackburn Rovers was born in 1875 and was inspired by John Lewis and Arthur Constantine. It was not until 1886/77 that Rovers had a ground of their own at Oozehead which was rented from a farm, odd matches were played at Pleasington cricket ground. In 1878 Blackburn Rovers became part of a 23 club syndicate to form the Lancashire Football Association. It was just over a year later on 1 November 1879 that Blackburn Rovers played in their first FA Cup beating the Tyne Association Football Club 5 – 1 but eventually knocked out against Nottingham Forest 6 – 0 in the third round.
1880 saw some Controversy when the club violated a principle of the LFA and used players who were not from Blackburn to fill in for other non players. This situation worsened when a particular player from another team transferred in 1881 to Blackburn Rovers. A lot of friction was then caused between the two clubs, the other club being Darwen, when they later were drawn with each other to play in the fourth round of the Lancashire Cup, both teams refused to a date to play and subsequently both teams were dropped from LFA competition.
1881/82 season saw the club at a new ground based at Leamington Street, improvements were made and a capacity to have around 700 spectators.
The first FA Cup win for the team came in 1883/84 and yet again for the following two seasons making it three FA Cups in a row after which the club were awarded a specially commissioned silver shield and given the unique privilege of displaying the club crest on its corner flags. If it had not been for the first of these two victories the club would have folded and making a local rival, Blackburn Olympic the primary team in Blackburn.
After the introduction of the ‘professional footballer’ in 1885/86 season and becoming a legal and wage paying job, Blackburn would have a bad season and lost its grip on the FA Cup. Other major defeats followed the same season.
As the League was introduced in 1888, Blackburn along with a few other teams began playing home and away games, and finished the first season fourth place in the league.
1890 saw Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup final yet again and a convincing victory of 6 – 1 over Sheffield Wednesday. This was the fourth FA Cup victory for Blackburn Rovers. 1890 also saw the clubs new ground and moved to Ewood Park. First match at the new ground was a no goal draw with Accrington.
An FA Cup for the fifth time against Notts County in 1890/91 Although Blackburn had a success, it became a turn in fortunes for the club, the next few seasons became a very lean and uneventful period for the club. It was only due to the league being expanded in number that the club stayed in the first division in 1896/97. By the end of the century Blackburn narrowly escapes relegation.
