Blackburn’s plight is ‘death by 1,000 cuts’
LEGAL BATTLES, absent owners, budget cuts, prized assets sacrificed and a manager jumping ship. It has been a turbulent few weeks at Blackburn Rovers, the former Premier League winners now battling to avoid another relegation to League One.
Under Jack Walker’s big-spending ownership, Kenny Dalglish’s side reached the top flight in 1992 and were champions of England three years later. The contrast with current owners Venky’s could not be greater.
Rovers are languishing five points above the Championship relegation zone, boss Jon Dahl Tomasson recently left and homegrown star Adam Wharton was sold to Crystal Palace. That is against a backdrop of financial problems with Venky’s — the poultry giants who bought Blackburn in 2010 — embroiled in a legal battle over an alleged violation of the foreign exchange law.
In November, though, a High Court of Delhi ruling allowed £11.5million to be transferred to help fund the club. Venky’s were hopeful of providing another cash injection in January but the High Court postponed the hearing until March 12. More than 5,500 Blackburn fans filled the away end at Preston on Saturday and familiar chants of ‘ we want Venky’s out’ were aired.
Ian Herbert, of Rovers fan site BRFCS.com and the 4,000 Holes podcast, told Mail Sport: ‘Last summer, Jon Dahl Tomasson suddenly had his budget slashed. That came as Indian tax laws changed and Venky’s were told they couldn’t send money to the UK without a court order.
‘The court hearing scheduled for January meant that Rovers have not had the usual working capital injection from Venky’s. Adam Wharton went to Crystal Palace for £22m and the fear is that the money will simply be used to top up the club’s bank account and not be reinvested in the team.
‘ Thomas Kaminski went to Luton last summer, so the quality of the squad feels like a death by a thousand cuts.
‘ Venky’s have very rarely communicated with us, have no connection to the town and there was no obvious reason for them buying Blackburn Rovers. I worry that if the Wharton money runs out in the summer, then Rovers could eventually enter administration. The court case on March 12 is absolutely vital.’
Venky’s have pumped almost £200m into a club that were in the Premier League when they took control and vowed to bring Champions League football back to Ewood Park. But Rovers fell out of the top flight in 2012 and into League One as recently as 2017. There has been little progress but plenty of chaos, a far cry from the halcyon days with the team that Jack built.
Mark Atkins was part of Dalglish’s side who dramatically rose from the second tier to clinch the Premier League title. The former midfielder, who was covering Saturday’s game for local radio, told Mail Sport: ‘If you did a poll about Venky’s, most supporters would want them out. The problem then is that someone would have to buy a football club which is in so much debt, so you’ve got to be careful what you wish for.
‘Venky’s are putting money into the club just to keep it afloat — £20m a year, I believe. If Venky’s stopped funding it, I don’t think Blackburn Rovers would be around for much longer.’
Herbert countered that point by arguing: ‘I’ve no idea who would buy my house but until it’s on the market, that remains an unknown. The examples of Wigan, Bolton, Birmingham and West Brom show that there are options out there. Venky’s were willing to keep the club afloat, but right now they can’t because of the court order.’
Former Birmingham boss John Eustace recently succeeded Tomasson and this Lancashire derby saw him collect his first point since taking charge. Rovers raced into a 2-0 lead with clinical strikes from Sammie Szmodics and Sam Gallagher but Preston hit back through Robbie Brady and Emil Riis before the break.
There have been complaints about ticket prices and dealings in the transfer market, with Rovers twice fumbling a deadline-day move for the highly-rated US international Duncan McGuire. With the desire for change set to grow and grow, Herbert adds: ‘Right now, we’re just treading water at best.’