Capable of some cracking performances, but Dwight McNeil is horrendously one footed, his right is purely for standing on ....

You are of course, correct ! I mis-remembered ...

E.V. Cooper ( Ted ) was 1st XV Captain from 1971-73, and again for Blackburn Rugby Club's Centenary season in 1977-78. He lived in Brinscall and was a fine attacking Full-Back with a wicked sidestep. Those who remember him will know that he was taken far too young by Multiple Sclerosis . Both John & Ted were on the youth & mini Rugby Committee together, giving up their Sundays to coach ..

I was really saddened to learn of the passing of John Whitney, who worked for Rovers for over 20 years, following his retirement from Lancashire Police. John and I first met in 1978 when I started playing Under 16's Rugby at Blackburn RUFC, and he was Chairman of the mini/junior section. At 6'4" and an ex 2nd Row forward, he was always interested in how I was doing, and was the first to buy me a beer after my 1st XV debut in the 2nd Row, aged 21. Anyone involved in amateur sport be it Football, Cricket or Rugby, knows how much Clubs rely on unpaid volunteers, and John put countless hours in as a coach, referee, fixture secretary and later as the Club's Representative at the Lancashire RFU. He had been a " Vice-President " there since 1981. He initially worked for Rovers as a " Steward ", but basically it was his role to prevent any trouble in the tunnel area. Even in his later years, John was an imposing figure and I suspect he defused a few situations. He had a wicked sense of humour and could be gloriously " un-PC " on occasion ... Rest in Peace, John 😢 Facebook

Will remember to repost this in the highly unlikely event that we've clinched the Championship title by Easter 2023 !! 😁

Hi Revidge, I think you may be confusing me ( Sympathetic Claret ) with my fellow supporter ( Longsiders1882 ) ... unless you know both of us and we're both called Chris !! Good to know it's not just me having " senior moments " ... 😁 Keep well, pal !

Occasional posting Claret in peace as ever ... took a couple of hours to reflect on events Well it's come to an end ... it's been on the cards for 18 months, and frankly, if you only win 7 out of 38 games you don't deserve to stay up ! Good to see you lads enjoying the " Schadenfreude " ... as we would, of course ! Obviously, we need to see who we can retain next season, Tarkowski is a free agent and will go, probably Cornet and almost definitely, Pope ... we should get decent fees for both. If the yank owners have anything about them, they'll re-negotiate the loan, possibly with a debt/equity swap, and give us a fighting chance of bouncing back. From t'Rovers point of view, the owners aren't in any hurry to stop the funding but it'll be interesting to see who we'll both appoint next ... At least we'll have no " staying up " bonus's to pay and those under contract will have their relegation clauses kicking in, let's see who's up for the scrap next year ! Looking forward to the Blackburn, Preston and Blackpool " Derbies " ... Enjoy your summer, and all best wishes to you and yours ...

Yep, judging by the last set of Venky's London Ltd's accounts, that should cover about 4 days of operating losses ....

The other " X factor " in this is Leeds United ..... Burnley are now only two points behind Leeds, but with a 14 goal better goal/difference. Leeds have Crystal Palace ( A ) tomorrow night followed by .... Manchester City ( H ) Arsenal ( A ) Chelsea ( H ) Brighton ( H ) Brentford ( A ) Very easy to make a case that Leeds will still be on 33/34 points with just two games left, and a still worse goal difference !!

It would be a culture shock for them, the last time they played in anything other than the top tier of English football, was 29th April 1954. Jerry Seinfeld was born that day, Churchill was Prime Minister, and an 19 year old truck driver from Memphis, called Elvis Presley was still 11 weeks away from recording his first hit, " That's all right, Mama " ... So, it's been a while ! In normal times, relegation would be a blow, but with wealthy owners and a huge fanbase they would be expected to return to the EPL in short order. However, their Chairman's chief funder, Alisher Usmanov is subject to sanctions due to the Ukrainian conflict, they also have the new stadium underway and I doubt many if any of their playing staff will have relegation clauses in their contracts ... A long way to go yet, mind you .... the trouble is with following Burnley, it's the hope that " kills you " ... 😁

To be honest, I wouldn't profess to know enough .... I don't think we need someone coming in and try to change systems, tactics and personnel at this point. The last two games have seen us revert to playing to our strengths, the return of Cork to midfield seems to have helped. The one thing we'll always see from this squad is 100% effort, and we'll have to see if that's enough for a " Great Escape " ...

Over the foreseeable future, you may well become a fore-runner of many. Whilst the East Lancs NHS Trust do have birthing facilities in Blackburn & Rossendale, any potential births within the Trust's catchment area considered a higher risk for whatever reason are now usually sent to the Central Birth suite, situated at Burnley General, where the specialist care is considered amongst the best in England ..

I also have a lot of Rovers fans I count as good friends,, having been a member at Blackburn Rugby Club for over 40 years ... Lots of good natured joshing, on the receiving end in the mid 1990's when Rovers were in their prime, although the odd opportunity for a dig back presented itself, Trelleborgs etc ... Things have rather swung the other way over the last decade, though, a fellow Claret was checking the scores on his phone at a 1st XV game last season, when a Rovers fan leaned in, " How are Rovers doing ? " ..... " Not sure, mate, I don't follow lower league football " .. I would add that this season, we've not been quite so " brave " ... the thought of Rovers passing us by going up as we get relegated, is about as palatable for us, as it would be for Rovers fans should the situation be reversed .. Enjoy the rest of the season all ....

The game in hand is Everton's visit to Liverpool this weekend .... a 1-1 draw isn't uncommon in the Merseyside Derby, but obviously I hope Mr Salah and his mates fill their boots on Sunday ... 😀

Sorry, but I couldn't resist ... remember, we're away at Chelsea at Saturday ....

I'm getting from that he's mistaken as to " Darrenrovers " true identity, can I have initials then ! "

Just had a long E-mail from Ossie Young. He's narrowed you down to initials, both of which are NM, which isn't ideal ... one of the " Darwen feckers ", as he so beautifully put it . So, are you the Goalkeeper, or named after a well known " law " ? He recalls Craig Mann's parents buying him a Sunbeam Alpine in the 6th form, and fumes " he didn't need that much help getting girls anyway, the git ! " 😄 Ossie sends his regards, and has asked me to tell you that he still speaks regularly to Pete Collins, now of Connecticut. He's not gone totally native and will be supporting England, although fears the worse ! Claret, In peace as ever ...

Just come back to this topic, which I posted, seems to have caused some controversy .. Valid points made by many, I will point out that the excellent Lancashire League website reveals that whilst East Lancs 1st XV does indeed to appear to have 10/11 players who are indiginous ( for want of a better word, no offence intended ), every member of the 2nd & 3rd XI's have " Asian " names. I hope this doesn't indicate that it's becoming two separate Clubs under one name ... Burnley CC obviously has the car parking and bar income from visiting supporters on match days to sustain it, whilst Lowerhouse has a thriving social and junior section. Lowerhouse Chairman Stan Heaton appeared on Sky a few weeks ago. An old mate, who played at East Lancs for years tells me that the Bar taking are reducing year on year, as the Asian lads just come, play and then go, not staying around for the " Craic " afterwards, which is understandable .. Surely a chance for the Venky's or Issa brothers to sponsor, which would greatly enhance their reputations ..

East Lancs now sitting bottom of the 2-tier Lancashire League, after some poor recent seasons .... Playing without a Professional, what's gone wrong at what used to be one of the strongest Clubs in the League ??

So, here's the thing .... The 1st years of 1975, were the last to enter QEGS under the " Direct Grant " scheme. This scheme had an entrance exam, where the top 25% of pupils were offered a " free " place at the school, with assistance for travel/uniform costs if parents were on a low income. This accounted for 30 out of the 120 or so new entrants. The other 90 were offered places, with a sliding scale of fees, based on the parent's income. If your parents earnt little, you paid nothing, and got help with travel/uniform etc, if your parent was a solicitor, bank manager etc, you paid according to their means. 400 took the exam most years for QEGS ... The scheme was abolished by the Labour Government, forcing the schools to choose between going Independent, or reorganising to join the State sector as a Comprehensive. QEGS went down the Independent route. According to your view, " Direct Grant " was elitist and divisive, or a " ladder up " by which a bright child from a humble home could get a 1st Class " academic " education. My Dad grew up on a Council Estate, his father was a Lorry Driver, killed in WW2 when he was 7, his mother a Boots factory worker. He passed the old 11+, went to High Pavement GS, Nottingham, and after National Service, gained a Choral Scholarship to Cambridge ... as you would expect, he was of the second view which is why I was sent there. As for posh, the lads from the wealthy families in Blackburn, tended to go to Rossall, Kirkham or Giggleswick Public Schools ... some of an uncharitable mind, may suggest this was because they weren't academically clever enough to pass the QEGS exam !!

Ossie rarely gets back to the UK, his parents passed a good few years ago, and he was their only child. When he attended the BRUFC reunion, he actually drove to Blackburn via North London, from Florence as he combined the trip with sorting out his late Uncle's affairs ... He was great mates with Allan Nicol, a St Augustine's lad, who's now retired from Lancs Constabulary after 30 years. As Ossie strolled in to our reunion, Allan just walked over, burst into tears, and hugged him .... Allan's probably just shy of 19 stone, it was quite touching .... God knows what Ossie's lovely Italian wife, Elena thought of it !! 😁

Ha,Ha ! Not only is he a Claret, he actually bought a " Communal Hymn Sheet " on Ebay, from the Tottenham v Burnley 1962 Cup Final ... I'd say that's bordering on obsessive !! 😁 I never knew how he ended up without his front " set ", you've educated me there !! Ossie .... markoyoung@onetel.com

Do you mean Mark Williams ? If so, you don't want to meet him in his professional capacity, as well as being a Solicitor, he's now the Assistant Coroner for East Lancashire ! Do you remember Mark " Ossie " Young, lived in Wilpshire ? Original bassist in the " Stiffs ", he's now a Corporate Accountant, and has lived in Florence for nearly 30 years .. another " Claret " Keep well, and let's hope the " Derby " can be resumed soon, ideally in the top flight !!

About 5 years after I left ( 1987 ? ), a mate from Blackburn Rugby Club bought his first place, a rather nice flat on Buncer Lane, and threw a " housewarming " in early Summer. When we turned up, he said " I've invited the older couple from upstairs, they can't complain then if it gets a bit louder later on " ... We went out into the garden , and who should be there but " Jack " Longstaff & his wife ! Instinctively, the three of us began rubbing our shoes on the back of our trousers !! He was charm personified, especially to our respective lady-friends. Paul Heathcote's girlfriend, an especially pretty blonde, approached us from the kitchen with a drink for him, " Is this your Popsy ? " he enquired, and introduced himself with his olde-world manners, " Enchanted, young lady " etc. After a few minutes, he looked at her, and then at Paul, " Just a word to the wise, my dear .... you can do far better than this rascal !! " ...... 😁

B****y Hell, didn't pick up on that, " Revidge ", hope you're keeping safe and well ... I'm usually one for looking forwards in life, not back, but after a few pints of " Hen Harrier " at Blackburn Rugby Club, I was talked into arranging a reunion of the 1982-83 Colts ( Under 19's ) in 2017, so tracked down a few ex-QEGS. Greg Starks ( Mollington Road ) is the Executive Head Chef for Warner Leisure Group, and hasn't touched a fag/pint for over 25 years ( to the surprise of those who remember him ), John Aspin is a Primary School Head in Bacup, Tim Rayner is a retired Dentist. Charlotte Hindle is a TV Producer, most recently on " Songs of Praise ", and Paul Heathcote has a 2nd Career as a " Sparkie ", after having done nearly 25 years in the Royal Marines ..