[Archived] Fans Unite Under ‘We Are Rovers’ Banner

[BRFCS Content]

The four leading fans groups of Blackburn Rovers have joined forces creating a call to action under the banner ‘We Are Rovers’ dedicated to pressuring the owners to sell the club.

The formation of a unity organisation bringing together many of the main supporter groups – the Rovers Trust, Blackburn Rovers Football Community Action Group (BRFCAG), Ewood Blues and BRFCS.com – follows a successful, packed public meeting in Blackburn last week where fans called for united action.

We Are Rovers does not claim to represent all Rovers supporters and does not constitute a task force or other unelected body.

We will be organising campaigns which will be open and inclusive to anyone who wishes to participate in them.

Rovers legend Simon Garner has agreed to be the supporters’ ambassador and will act as a spokesman for We Are Rovers.

We Are Rovers has two core objectives:

• to seek to encourage the current owners to put the club up for sale

• to collectively work with new owners on ways of re-engaging supporters and re-establishing Blackburn Rovers as a club at the heart of its community

We Are Rovers will campaign everywhere to highlight the disastrous ownership of Blackburn Rovers by the Rao family, based in Pune in India.


Respectful, peaceful and professional protests will take place at Ewood Park on selected matchdays alongside a high profile PR campaign against the Venky’s, the company which ultimately owns Rovers, in its backyard in Pune.



We Are Rovers has been formed after the Rovers Trust balloted members to ask for a significant change in its approach – from seeking meaningful dialogue with the owners to help them understand Rovers and the supporters better, to a demand they put the club up for immediate public sale.

Members agreed with a 97% mandate. BRFCAG followed up with a similar ballot of members to back the Trust and this was also close to unanimous.

Simon Garner, Blackburn Rovers’ all-time record goal scorer, said: “I have supported Rovers fans in their efforts to take back control of the club for five years and the We Are Rovers initiative is a very welcome step up in the fight to change ownership.

“Like most fans, I have had to watch appalled at what has happened to Blackburn Rovers. Equally bad is the impact terrible ownership has had on the team, the community and on the supporters.

“I will be fully behind We Are Rovers as we seek to further highlight the actions that have brought our once proud club to its knees.

“For the sake of everyone concerned about this famous old club, we need the Rao family to hear the message in Blackburn and in India: Do the decent thing and sell Blackburn Rovers now!”

As a distinguished former player in the pre Jack Walker days, Simon knows how it is when there are little funds for team-building and managers have to make do.

He said: “We Are Rovers is not about the manager, the team or the league position. It’s not even about the few remaining administrators left at Ewood Park who are trying to run a football club in appalling circumstances.

“Owning and working for a football club; playing for and supporting the team, should be a joy and a privilege - it certainly was when I pulled on that famous blue and white jersey.

“But the pride and the fun have been driven out of the club. The fans’ passion will never be removed though and that’s what is driving We Are Rovers.”

Since the public meeting, media coverage of the crisis at Ewood Park and the fans’ determination to put an end to the Rao family’s reign has been widespread and positive.

Under the headline, “Venky’s and other corporate vandals must be stopped from owning clubs”, Oliver Kay, chief football correspondent, wrote in The Times at the weekend:

“It is an appalling mess, a serious threat to the future of a proud, historic club who were one of the Football League’s founder members in 1888, won the Premier League title under Jack Walker’s beneficent ownership in 1995 and were, for a time in the last decade, an example to all those provincial clubs who seek to balance realism with ambition in the bid to stay afloat in the top flight.”

In depth media coverage in India – in the hugely respected Times of India and in the New Indian Express – are beginning to hit home in the Rao family’s backyard.

We Are Rovers says: “It’s a welcome sign that, though the owners may be 6,000 miles from Ewood Park, we can still take up our grievances with them in their homeland.

“There is a real appetite among journalists and the media in India to understand and report on what has happened to Blackburn Rovers.

“We are receiving a lot of requests for information and interviews and we are very happy to fulfil all these requests as we step up the campaign for new ownership.”

To find out more about We Are Rovers and how all supporters can play their part, please visit:


.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/WeAreRovers
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/WeAreRovers1875
@WeAreRovers1875

[yoda]

Great start except that it is SPLIT into 2 separate threads,

Fruedian slip or sign of the times ?

[Ste B]

My bad, I forgot it posted a thread automatically.

There should have somebody around later today to do a Q&A - time to be confirmed.

[AndyNeil]

My bad, I forgot it posted a thread automatically.

There should have somebody around later today to do a Q&A - time to be confirmed.

on here or one of the social media outlets?

[Ste B]

Hopefully here...

[J*B]

Hopefully here...

Is Glen allowed to ask questions?

Asking for a friend...

[Mike Graham]

Great to hear this but you have to get Glen inside the tent rather than outside.

You know it makes sense.

[chor808]

Good stuff, the question I have is where do we submit protest ideas to and will you be open to protest ideas? Of course it would be better to submit them off public forums.

Like most people I'd like to help if possible.

[Alex Rover]

Could we suggest that all the 4 groups and their followers correspond via the 'We Are Rovers' outlets so we can keep track and not have side discussions (and link Twitter, Facebook and BRFCC together etc). Maybe freeze those lines of communication for a bit?

[Blackburn Ender]

I am happy to take part in a Q&A on 'We Are Rovers' for an hour from 7:30pm tonight on this thread.

[glen9mullan]

I am happy to take part in a Q&A on 'We Are Rovers' for an hour from 7:30pm tonight on this thread.

Be first time you have answered one!!!!

In all seriousness though, you have created a PR stunt, wasted supporters time and effort and will no doubt continue to do what you have done for 5 years.

Ride on others tail coats and come out the shadows when others are doing the real graft.

I have to say i'm not surprised, but had hoped the lightbulb had finally switched on.

I wish you luck with your endeavours,I proposed a way forward, offered my help , as did others You refused the help, but thats your perogative.

Why it could not be democratic? We both know that answer, as people were too afraid that the supporter base would see through people.

For everyone else, I can assure you all, that I wont let my knowledge go to waste and I will be working along side all those who offered their help and were refused to save our club.

As always i will say it as it is,

I want to find credible owners for our club who will work in the best interest of the club, town and supporters,and bring footballing experts back into our boardroon

[Neal]

Just seen this thread, apologies mods.

Good to see it being backed by a former player, would think that would draw the fans together hopefully but I just hope this has some substance and meaning of intent to it. We don't need another group that will stagnate, we need one that the supporters can look to, see that it's active and feel that they can get involved in helping out. Immediate action has to be taken in my view, every opportunity not taken to put together a meaningful protest could be deemed an opportunity missed.

[Baz]

Maybe we should move all the threads surrounding this to a separate 'We are Rovers' subforum? Would help clear up the MB a bit.

[PLJPB]

I am happy to take part in a Q&A on 'We Are Rovers' for an hour from 7:30pm tonight on this thread.

Not a question as such but could I suggest that you start the Q&A with a brief resume of who you are, which fan group you are part of and what your role will be going forward?

Thanks

[Ribble Rover]

Just see this thread, apologies mods.

Good to see it being backed by a former player, would think that would draw the fans together hopefully but I just hope this has some substance and meaning of intent to it. We don't need another group that will stagnate, we need one that the supporters can look to, see that it's active and feel that they can get involved in helping out. Immediate action has to be taken in my view, every opportunity not taken to put together a meaningful protest could be deemed an opportunity missed.

There won't be any immediate action, Wild's plotting his ascension to the board. This will be it, they're after a board member and I bet WW has it on his list. It goes in his favour if we go down so don't expect much immediate direct action.

[Blackburn Ender]

Well, that's not the way four different supporters groups see it Glen, but we can agree to differ while respecting each others efforts toward the same outcome.

There's a lot of very good, very talented people who have put a lot of time and effort into getting rid of the Venky's, including yourself, but none of us have succeeded yet so it's bit much to claim we have been doing nothing!

The above post is very much in your style and, personally, I find this highly public, high maintenance approach off-putting. But, maybe that's just me.

I'll remind you and everyone else that no-one gets paid, we've all got demanding day jobs and families and we are all simply trying to do something positive and useful, however small or large.

Repeatedly having a go at other fans, or trying to make it personal, is not a sensible course for any of us to follow. That's why we've got together under the We Are Rovers banner. It's not about me or other members of the Rovers Trust, BRFCAG, Ewood Blues or brfcs.com - with you it always, in the end, seems to be about you.

[gazsimm]

We need to have glen involved with getting the venkys out of our club. He has done so much work and now it would be stupid and crazy for not to have his input in getting the venkys out of our club.

[Blackburn Ender]

Not a question as such but could I suggest that you start the Q&A with a brief resume of who you are, which fan group you are part of and what your role will be going forward?

Thanks

Yes, I was going to do that, but thanks for the prompt.

[Ribble Rover]

Well, that's not the way four different supporters groups see it Glen, but we can agree to differ while respecting each others efforts toward the same outcome.

There's a lot of very good, very talented people who have put a lot of time and effort into getting rid of the Venky's, including yourself, but none of us have succeeded yet so it's bit much to claim we have been doing nothing!

The above post is very much in your style and, personally, I find this highly public, high maintenance approach off-putting. But, maybe that's just me.

I'll remind you and everyone else that no-one gets paid, we've all got demanding day jobs and families and we are all simply trying to do something positive and useful, however small or large.

Repeatedly having a go at other fans, or trying to make it personal, is not a sensible course for any of us to follow. That's why we've got together under the We Are Rovers banner. It's not about me or other members of the Rovers Trust, BRFCAG, Ewood Blues or brfcs.com - with you it always, in the end, seems to be about you.

Getting bitchy now

[yoda]

Well, that's not the way four different supporters groups see it Glen, but we can agree to differ while respecting each others efforts toward the same outcome.

There's a lot of very good, very talented people who have put a lot of time and effort into getting rid of the Venky's, including yourself, but none of us have succeeded yet so it's bit much to claim we have been doing nothing!

The above post is very much in your style and, personally, I find this highly public, high maintenance approach off-putting. But, maybe that's just me.

I'll remind you and everyone else that no-one gets paid, we've all got demanding day jobs and families and we are all simply trying to do something positive and useful, however small or large.

Repeatedly having a go at other fans, or trying to make it personal, is not a sensible course for any of us to follow. That's why we've got together under the We Are Rovers banner. It's not about me or other members of the Rovers Trust, BRFCAG, Ewood Blues or brfcs.com - with you it always, in the end, seems to be about you.

Perhaps if you had included him in the process it might not have been about him

[ABBEY]

Getting bitchy now

Pathetic isn't it ... 4 groups don't want glen ? Three because Ewood Blues said they would have no bother with him .

Brag I've not seen what they've said , Wayne w oooops trust don't but who is the 4th group ?

[Mike Graham]

Look. We need to bring the various groups together and I welcome the 4 Groups statement. This has to be bigger than any individual, we have to try our best to act as one in order to get rid of our odious owners.

I am willing to invest some of my time trying to bring groups, and individuals together. We must look at the bigger picture.

If anyone is up for a behind closed doors session to sort out these differences please PM me.

We need to keep public disagreements off the airwaves please.

[jim mk2]

Well, that didn't take long. Rovers fans are clearly not united under this new banner. Can't people agree to disagree in a common cause ?

[Mike E]

I'll ask it now, but again after half7 if it remains unanswered:

I would like to specifically ask why groups have excluded the only Rovers supporter to have publicly made any headway re: removal of the owners? That supporter of course being Glen Mullan. I would be extremely surprised to get a logical reason beyond 'We're feeling egotistical'.

[yoda]

Look. We need to bring the various groups together and I welcome the 4 Groups statement. This has to be bigger than any individual, we have to try our best to act as one in order to get rid of our odious owners.

I am willing to invest some of my time trying to bring groups, and individuals together. We must look at the bigger picture.

If anyone is up for a behind closed doors session to sort out these differences please PM me.

We need to keep public disagreements off the airwaves please.

Correct,

If they think GM is a loose cannon then they have probably guaranteed that scenario now.

If they can't micro manage GM how do they hope to manage the big picture.