[Archived] Rovers Fans Abroad

[Kelbo]

There seems to be many Rovers fans on here from different parts of the world, be interested to know if they are ex brits or not and how they came to follow Rovers!!

Thanks all of you for your contributions.

[The Rover of Finland]

There seems to be many Rovers fans on here from different parts of the world, be interested to know if they are ex brits or not and how they came to follow Rovers!!

Thanks all of you for your contributions.

My love to Rovers started a season before we won championship. I was 13 back then. I collected every possible poster and photos of Shearer then. TV shows a lot English football here in Finland. Actually more than Rovers matches comes live. The channel package costs €42 per month.

I visited at Ewood first time in spring 2004. Next time took 2 and half years but since then I´ve been there several times with my dad. 11 times total if I can count correctly. I hope another football trip takes place before Christmas.

[budha]

I had been watching the old First Division games from Finnish telly since I was a kid without aligning myself with a team, but when the Premier League came around, it seemed all my friends had their favorites: your usual Man Utd's, Arsenal's and Liverpool's. I can't remember the exact situation how I ended up choosing Rovers, but it was probably to spite a friend or two while watching a match between Rovers and their favorite. Nowadays I consider Rovers as much MY team as I do my local team battling in the third tier here in Helsinki, Finland. Never been to Blackburn or even England, but I guess I need to fix that one day..

[Iceman]

i played in Blue and White halves, when i was like 6 or 7. True story that, and then just liked Rovers, because they played in the same colours.

[vizcaya]

I started watching english football in the mid 80s. Didn't really have a proper favourite team, just a couple of teams that a liked. But even back then I started to develop a soft spot for Rovers. But, my favourite player at the time was a certain K. Dalglish. So when he became manager, that was it for me. And have been a true blue and white since then. I lived in Salford for 6 years and have been to quite a few games, but have never been a ST holder. The ultimate experience was of course being present in Cardiff that very special day in 2002

[Drakefyre]

I fell in love with soccer before and during the 1994 World Cup, and shortly thereafter with the MLS and DC United. But as I grew older and realized that the English leagues were the best (England hadn't made the World Cup and were slightly off my radar), along with discovering CM3, I decided to discover my roots. I found out that I had relatives from two places in England - Manchester and Blackburn. Thanks to Duff, Dunn, and Jansen, and Arte et Labore, I chose Blackburn over Man City, and I followed the promotion campaign intently. One of my prized possessions is a 94/95 away jersey that I traded for with an friend who didn't realize what it was.

Arte et Labore! Up the Rovers!

[Mafioso]

1994 : At 7/8 years old i wasnt much into football. But even a toddler could see that Shearer was a superstar. That, together with the fact that evryone here supported Utd, Liverpool, Juve, Milan or Inter .. I wanted to be different. And I've been different ever since.

2007 : My first visit to Ewood Park ! Blackburn - Arsenal. Final score 0-2. Dissappointing result, but the experience of being my first game made me forget the result.

2009 : Planned to watch 2 games in a week. Fulham - Blackburn was cancelled an hour before kick off. Possibly one of the saddest moments of my life. Im not exagerating. Travelling 1000s of miles, months of anticipation, and then cancelled... for a lack of bl**dy undersoil heating.

2009 (the following saturday) : Went up to Ewood again this time Blackburn - Newcastle. Final score 3-0. My voice came back the following thursday.

[ManicRover]

Pretty simple story really...My background is Scottish (although to be honest my great-grandfather was the last of my line born in Scotland) so I followed Scotland and soon grew to really like Kevin Gallacher. He was with Coventry at the time so after deciding I needed a team in England to follow (achieved mostly by reading Shoot magazine) I followed Coventry. Short after Gally left for Rovers and I've been following them ever since. I started following in 93 so the championship season followed quickly after. I admit this helped cement Rovers as my team. Over time, thanks to the net and way better TV coverage it is now much easier to be a Rovers fan in Canada. Finally made it to a match in 2005 (2-0 over Brum) and hoping to come again soon.

[colin]

Pleae keep this one going. It's really interesting.

Cheers

Colin

[Mr. E]

My love to Rovers started a season before we won championship. I was 13 back then. I collected every possible poster and photos of Shearer then. TV shows a lot English football here in Finland. Actually more than Rovers matches comes live. The channel package costs €42 per month.

I visited at Ewood first time in spring 2004. Next time took 2 and half years but since then I´ve been there several times with my dad. 11 times total if I can count correctly. I hope another football trip takes place before Christmas.

My story is similar to this. Except I was growing up in England (London) at the time, and was quite a bit younger, like 6 years old the season before we won it.

[CaliRoverNYC]

Started following the sport during the 02 world cup, and when I couldn't find a Freidel USA shirt I bought a Rovers one in stead seeing as it was "red white and blue" (yes sadly i own a freidel outfielders shirt) I started following Rovers as a result.

Since moving to NYC I have tried to organize our support on the east coast, and i'd say half of the Rovers I meet are Americans and half are from Lancashire.

[knobs]

I went to Kevin Morans Ireland testamonial first ever game to go to. He played for Rovers so supported em ever since

[USABlue]

Ex Accringtonian here, went to see Rovers for the first time in the 60's barely remember we beat Bury 3-1 I think. Could not go again until I was old enough to pay my own way, early 70's been a recovering Rovers addict ever since. The hardest time was from 1980 to mid 90's when there was no news or coverage here. It's brill now I can get my fill of Rovers via the net and TV. Still love my Blues, always will. Rovers till I die.

[2k.]

went to Ewood for the first time in either 79 or 80 for (I think a preseason friendly) when i was about 2-3 all i can remember was being how amazed at the ground (I was only little!) and having my first ever wagon wheel!

[Kei]

From Ossy, currently living in Melbourne. Only been gone a year, infact this is the first time in almost 15 seasons I haven't had a season ticket and can't get to games.

[supergrabbi01]

Growing up in here australia, at a time when 'soccer' was viewed as a distant fourth code behind rugby league, aussie rules and rugby union, i'd not really had much interest in football. Then, in '94, my family got in touch with a long lost cousin who lived in blackburn. I was around 10 or 11 at the time, and he sent over a rovers jersey and match programmes.. Thereby starting my love affair with the blue 'n' whites.

Despite the stick from my mates who support the 'big clubs', rovers are my passion, and although i've not made it to ewood, I finally saw us play live for the first time against rangers here in sydney after over 15 years supporting the club. Unfortunately I couldn't make the other two games, and we lost, but the experience of watching the mighty rovers run out onto the pitch, after countless nights of waking up at 2 a.m to follow our fortunes, was unforgettable.

[American Rover12]

My first job's boss was a big football fan, and every weekend we'd delay opening and watch the games on FSC. Finally ordered it at my house, and the first game I saw was rovers v newcastle. My history teacher at the time was a prick and a huge magpies fan. Also I really liked the rovers shirts. They won the game, and i started keeping tabs on them. A little interest quickly turned into my biggest obsession.

[FourLaneBlue]

Grew up in Little Harwood, have since lived in China and Colombia.

Now live in Lima, Peru. Have been to more Rovers games than the vast majority on here and will be back to see the xmas games.

Have bored Rovers fans with my posts on here for many a year...

[shraffy]

My decision to support Blackburn was entirely rational, and well thought out. I am Canadian and have no ties to any part of the UK. I decided I needed a team to follow in 2001 (at an age of 21) and began researching all the options in the Premier League that year. I immediately ruled out the big 4, as well as any team I thought had a high likelihood of relegation in the near future. That left a handful of teams such as Bolton, Aston Villa, Everton, West Ham, Middlesbrough, etc. Now, in Canada my hockey team is the Toronto Maple Leafs - we are the self described centre of the hockey universe and we should win the Stanley Cup every year. Of course, we never win, and it feels terrible. So I really wanted to choose an 'underdog' football team - a team that I could really root for and savor every point won. If we finished 6th in the League, I wanted to be ecstatic about it as opposed to disappointed with 2nd place (ie ManU, etc). Other criteria were: proud history with some prior successes to feel good about; not in London; a sweet home kit that was unique; a real nasty rivalry to look forward to; and a visible online presence (as I was in Canada and like to keep up-to-date on the club goings-ons).

The correct (and only) choice was Blackburn Rovers. So here I am. It was one of those things that after the decision was made, a home kit was ordered and I became a self-made fan for life. They are now my most important sports team and I update myself on club matters on a daily basis. A couple years ago I moved to London temporarily and was able to attend my first game at Ewood Park. It was the final home game of the 2007/08 season against Derby. Victory! I also caught a few away games whenever Blackburn came to play the lesser teams in London (Fulham, West Ham, etc.). I've never seen the team draw or lose in person.

I no longer live in England. Up until recently I was in Lagos, Nigeria (the entire continent of Africa supports Arsenal or Barca it seems). As the only Blackburn fan at the local pub I took a lot of sh*te when we went down a goal early against Arsenal this past May. But everyone knew who won the game come the final whistle. "Who's that guy in the red and black halves?" HAHAHA

When backpacking through Uganda last summer I was having a beer with some people I met while whitewater rafting. Halfway through the night it came out that one of the dudes was from Burnley and was a fan of their club. I told him we could never be friends as I support Blackburn. He laughed; I told him I was serious and walked out. It's been the one and only time I felt like I personally contributed something to the rivalry. I love to hate them!

I now live in Costa Rica. Will be up early tomorrow to watch the game on a fuzzy live stream. Up the Rovers!

[jonv]

Dad a city fan, brother a united fan, raised in Northampton of course I had to choose Rovers

started supporting season 94 and never looked back

[john.leigh]

Made in Ossie, born in Accy, raised in Ossie, now living in Aussie.

I can never rememeber a time in my life when I was not a Rovers fan & given that I'm 42 now that's some years...

Can first gams I really remember are from the 1975 season when we were Div 3 Champs - but had been going since before then

Always had a season ticket - never missed - until we came over here 7 years ago.

Been to over 75 grounds at home & abroad - Never seen England play!!

My claim to fame would be that when watching Rovers in Sydney Birdy said "you're a familiar face!"

Rovers tattooed over my heart & bringing my boy up exactly the same!!

[RoversNCarolina]

I've been a Rovers supporter for nearly a decade now and don't post on here much but read the forum everyday. My first interest with football came during the '94 World Cup and I started following Blackburn not long after we earned promotion following Uncle Jack's death.

Rovers had American keeper Brad Friedel and, having grown up in South Carolina's "Red Rose City" of Lancaster, I had an immediate attraction to Blackburn Rovers. I started working in soccer media relations at Furman University in S.C. about the same time and got a chance to work with some great teams and great players including Clint Dempsey and Ricardo Clark when they played for Furman. That and the '02 World Cup helped fuel my passion for the game.

Along with Furman and my Atlanta Braves, Rovers are a big passion. It's fun to support Rovers when those a round me are for Man U, Spurs and Fulham. Wishing Rovers would make an appearance in the US soon and I hope to make it to Ewood one day.

[alexanders]

I am from a town called Aalesund(45k people) in Norway. We just lost against Motherwell from Scotland in the Europa league. I have always been very interested in football and I like to think I didnt choose the might blue and whites, but they chose me. I think it was a combination of Shearer being a superstar, played with them on CM, liked their shirts and of course Henning Berg moving there. I also had to admit I think I jumped on the bandwagon and get a lot of stick because of that. Anyway I support Rovers more than my local home team Aalesund and every weekend is another weekend of stick from my friends who are united and liverpool supporters.

My loves for the Rovers grows everyday and being a Norwegian supporting Rovers is immense. Hi Mack gave me a Rovers shirt for free on vacation, Rover the moon gave me free tickets to go to the Stoke Away game. I really appreciate the genuine friendly atmosphere around this club. Now I have a 2 year old who already owns 2 rovers shirts and says Blackburn if someone asks him what team he likes

Xmax 2006: Went to Boro at home (Won 2-1) and a couple of days after trashing Wigan at JJB (3-0).

Spring 2009: Away at Stoke at Britannia. We lost 0-1 I think. Horrible game, but brilliant atmosphere after putting up 52 coaches from Ewood Park to gather support in the relegation battle.

Spring 2010: Away at Arsenal at The Emirates. Looking forward to meet some of you on the away game if I am able to get tickets in the away end without being a ST holder.

[Martin]

My first game was Blackburn Rovers vs Manchester Utd in April 94 (I think). I had no interest in football at this time, I was 9 years old.

As you know, Rovers won 2-0. Shearer scored two, I had a team and a hero. The rest as the say is history.

Despite living in Scunthorpe (some 100 miles away) I followed the team reguarly home and away. I should note, this wouldn't have been possible without the help of some members of this forum. You know who you are

I held a season ticket for 9 years before moving to the United Arab Emirates in 2008. My first season ticket was in the Riverside, I then moved to the Blackburn End before finally settling in the Jack Walker Stand.

I usually manage to take in the first game of the season and Christmas fixtures as they coincide with my holidays. Unfortunately, this year I did not attend the first game of the season for the first time in over ten years. This honestly breaks my heart.

[otto man]

Blackburn lad born and bred now living in Cyprus(been here 3 years and loving it). Was an Ewood regular for 36 years up until the move. Just paid €500 for an HD box and subscription for the year, so I can still watch the boys. Can't wait bring it on!