[Archived] Foreign Rovers Fans

[daren]

I know rover_groo sorted me out on the Saturday and Sunday. Although he's not strictly a native! Also some very nice chaps we randomly met in the Blues Bar. And some of the locals in the Fernhurst. Everyone was great! Even the asian taxi driver that wanted to take us to Manchester because the prossies there were better (We just wanted to go to Aldi coz the other chap had a cold!).

[Rovers in America]

Great thread this, especially for somebody who lives 6 miles from Ewood!

Amazed at how many of you live in the US and that your support isn't all down to Mr Freidel. I wonder if the Aussies on here are expats or if they have similar reasons for being a Rover as the Yanks?

Yeah, even I'm surprised by how many of my fellow american supporters are fans for other reasons than Brad. Then again, in America, the vast majority of people that start following the premiership end up going towards one of ManU, Arsenal, Liverpool, or Chelsea, mainly because those get the most play time here. It's kind of hard to support any other team because soccernet and fox soccer channel cover those moreso than the others. Myself, if I were to pick it up now probably would have gone with Liverpool mainly due to owner of the baseball (Texas Rangers) and hockey (Dallas Stars) teams I support just bought them not too long ago.

[stuwilky]

I know rover_groo sorted me out on the Saturday and Sunday. Although he's not strictly a native! Also some very nice chaps we randomly met in the Blues Bar. And some of the locals in the Fernhurst. Everyone was great! Even the asian taxi driver that wanted to take us to Manchester because the prossies there were better (We just wanted to go to Aldi coz the other chap had a cold!).

Yer man groo is a complete legend, possibly the most helpful Rovers fan around.

[American]

Amen to that. We didn't even mind that he took us 20 minutes away by cab for dinner! (Of course we pointed out to the taxi driver that we had him outnumbered!)

[Daremz]

There seems to be a number of foreign/travelling fans that visit this site that want to attend games and meet up with fellow Rovers fans - probably preferably people that they 'know' from on here?

Does anyone ever make sure that they've got a good welcome at Ewood from their fellow fans? There's been a few rallying calls on here recebtly for help meeting up before games etc and I haven't spotted any responses, although people might have PMed them.

I'd hate to think of somebody travelling from say, the US, and attending a game without actually getting to speak to anyone (especially as we can be a pretty miserable bunch in East Lancs sometimes). It must be really daunting visiting a new country and attending at the cauldron(?) that is Ewood.

Maybe this goes on without me knowing?

Big round of applause! Even small help like advice on travelling from Liverpool/Manchester airport to Blackburn and advice on (cheap) hotels in Blackburn would be very well appreciated by all the non-english fans. And ofcourse it would be great to meet some of you guys/girls when someone visits Ewood!

[DanLad]

Big round of applause! Even small help like advice on travelling from Liverpool/Manchester airport to Blackburn and advice on (cheap) hotels in Blackburn would be very well appreciated by all the non-english fans. And ofcourse it would be great to meet some of you guys/girls when someone visits Ewood!

You can get from Manchester Airport to Blackburn on the train with only one change, I think. That'd be my prefered method of travel on public transport if I were you. The change would be at Salford Crescent or Bolton, I think. I'll have to check my facts, but I'm pretty certain that you get on the Blackpool North train from the Airport and then change at Bolton or Salford Cresent (not Salford Central) by getting the Clitheroe train.

I'm not so good with hotels in Blackburn, TBH.

General shout out - Where have other people stayed?

[blue/white]

Can someone throw a good spot to spend a night post match?

cheers,

b/w

[Oklahoma]

For me it all started when Rovers entered in the Premiership.

There was a lot of tv coverage of the english league and I started to support Rovers cause they were the underdogs. I also supported Deportivo in Spain for the same reason. And both won the league afterwards (even though Depor lost one in the final minutes of the last game).

In 1995, I went to england and bought my first rovers shirt, the first of many that I wear proudly.

Since then, with internet, it became a lot easier to know and meet other Rovers supporters. I even met another one in Portugal.

[andy82]

Although i am only 'half-foreign' and currently reside in the UK i was introduced to Rovers when Kenny Dalglish signed as Manager. I then came to the play off final as my Uncle knew a few Leicester fans. He decided to support Rovers that day just to spite them, and i got a little carried away.

[Robin]

There seems to be a number of foreign/travelling fans that visit this site that want to attend games and meet up with fellow Rovers fans - probably preferably people that they 'know' from on here?

Does anyone ever make sure that they've got a good welcome at Ewood from their fellow fans? There's been a few rallying calls on here recebtly for help meeting up before games etc and I haven't spotted any responses, although people might have PMed them.

I'd hate to think of somebody travelling from say, the US, and attending a game without actually getting to speak to anyone (especially as we can be a pretty miserable bunch in East Lancs sometimes). It must be really daunting visiting a new country and attending at the cauldron(?) that is Ewood.

Maybe this goes on without me knowing?

You know the first time i was in Blackburn me and my brother went and had a drink in the Fox and Hounds place.

We sat down and had a few paints of Guinness and everyone in the pub just stared at us(only a few in at the time)...soon they started to ask us a few questins if we were man u supporters(carling cup home against man u) and after some time i convinced them that i was a rovers supporter(me brother support forest).

After that everyone was very friendly to chat with,i remember that there were a couple of Japanese people there,and someone of them went into the wrong toilet and there was a big laughter in pub!

Well, in that pub i met a guy called John(didnt hear any second name) and we had good chat. He had been to the away game at trelleborg and other European away games.

Anyway he invited me and my brother the blues bar in ewood park, he gave us some passes and said something like"just show the guards this and go further in"!

And in we were! A lot of friendly people in there

If anyone recognise this guy John(a bit older fellow,i think he had something to do with this brisa stuff), please give him a big THANK YOU!

He really made our day!

[KoNG]

I became a Rovers fan out of a little fortune and also some major dislike for other teams. When travelling through Europe/UK etc I spent 3 or 4 months working behind the bar in a pub in Hackney, 90% of punters were Arse fans, 8% Millwall and about 2% Spurs… I found it quite easy to dislike Spurs from the get-go.. and then I went to a few Millwall games at the Den! So I decided I was a lions fan and it was fun giving a little stick to the gunners fans on Match day from behind the bar.

The little lady didn’t like Hackney at all.. (weird!) ..? and the last straw was when I got held up at gun point behind the bar one sunny Tuesday afternoon.

So we legged it up to a friends hotel in Windermere/Bowness and started working there. Our friends old man who owned the hotel was a Rovers supporter and flicked me his tickets/seats one weekend… The rest, as they say…….

[Nate]

Reminded me the most of the Melbourne demons, one of the oldest teams and the underdog still. Family came from the Lancashire area made the choice even easier

They are my AFL team as well.

[American Rover12]

Living in the states, if it's not the world cup, you dont get much exposure to soccer abroad. It's only now that the MLS is even starting to get any kind of decent so quality soccer is hard to come by. I became a soccer fan after watching my first world cup in 7th grade, summer2002. Before that i hadn't even really considered it a sport. I got older and played in small local leagues with friends but found i still couldn't really find it on tv. Well the pleace i started working at had fox soccer channel and gol tv and i found out i could get it at my house too. I finally talked my mom to getting foxsoccer channel and GOL tv during the 05/06 term and the first ever full game I saw was between Rovers and Newcastle and it was a 1 nil win. Well, watching their game play, style, savage and pederson, and knowing my history teacher was a huge magpies fan, i continued to follow them. It was the frst game i saw and it was the team my heart was set on. Now I'm the biggest fan on the whole eastern seaboard.

[graysmark]

There seems to be a number of foreign/travelling fans that visit this site that want to attend games and meet up with fellow Rovers fans - probably preferably people that they 'know' from on here?

Although not a foreign supporter, living a fair way from Blackburn, i would love to meet up with fellow rovers fans from this site. Perhaps there is some way of setting up regular meets for a drink etc prior to matches?

You know the first time i was in Blackburn me and my brother went and had a drink in the Fox and Hounds place.

We sat down and had a few paints of Guinness and everyone in the pub just stared at us(only a few in at the time)...soon they started to ask us a few questins if we were man u supporters(carling cup home against man u) and after some time i convinced them that i was a rovers supporter(me brother support forest).

The very same thing happened yesterday in the ground. I had invited my friend (A Gooner) up to Ewood, and i think there was some suspicion from the local fans. Fortunately, he knows his football and was able to blag his way out of trouble.

[RoversSG]

From Singapore.

Started supporting blackburn when i was 13, that was way back in 1992. not knowing anything about football then, i just picked the team with the coolest name Helps that blackburn was in 4th then (behind man u, villa and norwich!!!). still remember scratching my head wondering who shearer was when we signed him!

Best moment : 10 secs after seeing jamie redknapp scoring a free kick against us in the final match of 95.

Worst moment : Watching us loss to forest which virtually guaranteed relegation.

[Rover4ever]

found out i could get it at my house too. I finally talked my mom to getting foxsoccer channel and GOL tv during the 05/06 term and the first ever full game I saw was between Rovers and Newcastle and it was a 1 nil win.

Wasnt that the game that saw the "Hand of Ped" ?

Funnily we have beaten the Toons through divine hands twice in the space of 3 years (Gallagher being the earlier scorer)

[roversmum]

Wasnt that the game that saw the "Hand of Ped" ?

Funnily we have beaten the Toons through divine hands twice in the space of 3 years (Gallagher being the earlier scorer)

Which surely must go to prove that the Almighty hates Newcastle as much as we do.....

[Daremz]

From the foreigner's stories who've been at Ewood before I have the idea 'everybody knows everybody' at Blackburn and people are staring at you when you're a 'new face'? Can people tell me where they stayed overnight (at what costs) when they visited Blackburn?

[American Rover12]

Wasnt that the game that saw the "Hand of Ped" ?

Funnily we have beaten the Toons through divine hands twice in the space of 3 years (Gallagher being the earlier scorer)

I think it was, but i think i was more impressed then annoyed or ###### off. ahaha, plus i really hated that teacher, so anything to beat newcastle was sweet.

[rover_groo]

I came to support Rovers on the back of being pushed into supporting Liverpool back in 1994. Our local football club arranged for us to watch the Blackburn vs Liverpool fixture back then and I was only a 13 year old kid. I remember the wee portacabin for a club-shop and also the Jack Walker stand had only the steel structure standing. Anyhow the game kicked-off and Wilcox netted the first and then Sherwood doubled the lead with a great strike low into the bottom corner.

That was the turning point and I remember cheering on Rovers watching 'Sports Saturday' on RTE a few weeks later when we defeated Man Utd 2-0 and Mr Shearer grabbing a brace. Well that Christmas I plucked up the courage and rang the club-shop looking for a merchandise catalogue. Once it arrived I bought the home jersey and a track-suit. Not bad for a 14 year old, lol.

Well this season I've now went on a time share on a season-ticket and delighted with that purchase.

I know rover_groo sorted me out on the Saturday and Sunday. Although he's not strictly a native! Also some very nice chaps we randomly met in the Blues Bar.

Daren, it's no problem at all mate. It was great to meet up and especially driving to the U18s match was an unforgettable experience. Well I hope Modes98 has taken the advice now and started to take driving lessons again. Did you ever contact Mitch from the Irish Rovers. If you fall into any difficulty, then you have my number.

Yer man groo is a complete legend, possibly the most helpful Rovers fan around.

Stu, I'm not a legend but I do like to assist other Rovers. I know what it was like when I was 16-17 and tried to get over and couldn't get anyone to follow suit. I was just sick of all these red and blue nosed supporters (not referring to Rovers) in Ireland and something had to change. Only a few years later we got up and running and great to head over to see Rovers and so many good friends in the area. There are also quite a few helpful lads in Blackburn as well and most importantly the football club.

Amen to that. We didn't even mind that he took us 20 minutes away by cab for dinner! (Of course we pointed out to the taxi driver that we had him outnumbered!)

C'mon American. It was a classy establishment even though we had to wait a considerable period of time for the food and it was well worth it. Pretty reasonable as well. BTW, this is the man who should take quite a few plaudids as he has travelled considerable distances to get to Ewood. Could also be bringing an American team towards the end of the season to play in the football tournament.

All in all, great so see the fan-base still continuing to grow and that's even without the official supporters association. The Norway lads run a great ship with PKS, Herby, plus a few other non-message board users, such as Ronny, Kenneth, Jone and the mad-man Markus. Look forward to catching up before Christmas.

[ROVERS]

i am a die heart blackburn rovers fan located at a place call singapore,

singapore? a brief description would be........... a place filled with BIG FOUR supporters, nothing unusual , just frustrating....... hahaha

1st time i came across blackburn was the match against norwich (7-1 scoreline) a long long time ago. since then ....... its all blackburn....

also, i think that the name of the club, the jersey and my personal favorite........ the badge (red rose in the middle) are just simply so damn beautiful, my love for this club is beyond words....

so IF THERE ARE ANY SINGAPOREANS out there that support blackburn rovers................. please.............. tell me where u guys normally hang out to catch the matches (since we have the luxury of 24 hours of non-stop EPL action broadcast on channel 27 recently, catching ROVERS' matches are no longer an issue....).

have been a loner for too long. please tell me someone out there in singapore share the same love as me..... thanks......

[American Rover12]

have been a loner for too long. please tell me someone out there in singapore share the same love as me..... thanks......

True story. I know how it feels man.

[wandel77]

I Started to support Rovers in the early 90´s, it proberly began with the old Championship manager and when KD came to the club i was 13 or 14 years old. I have been at Ewood 1-2 times a year since 1997 when we lost to Man Utd. 2-3.

Im looking forward to a Season with some good results and hopefully a trophy .-)

[brian_gallagher85]

groo

Any plans for a euro away trip this season?

I've been on the official site for over a year and a half and was at the semi last season with a lad from Dundalk who's also a member.

We're hoping to make it to the next away game in Europe, so I'm just wondering if you have any plans?

(PS, I'm not planning on stalking you or owt LOL)

[USRoverME]

Hey, AmericanRover12, there are a few other Rovers on this messageboard from the easern coast of the states, I know of Boston, Florida, DC, Philly, myself in DE (eariler from Maine)....