Sunderland v Blackburn Rovers - Premier League SUNDERLAND, UNITED KINGDOM - DECEMBER 26: Chris Samba of Blackburn Rovers is tackled by Kieran Richardson of Sunderland during the Barclays Premier League match between Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers at The Stadium of Light on December 26, 2008 in Sunderland, England. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

Blackburn Rovers v Sunderland - Football League Division Two BLACKBURN, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 27: Tony Parkes of Blackburn Rovers (on the floor, left) scores past Sunderland goalkeeper Barry Siddall during a Football League Division One match at Ewood Park on December 27, 1977 in Blackburn, England. (Photo by W & H Talbot Archive/Popperfoto via Getty Images)

Thank you…There’s plenty others that also add to the special sauce… @StubbsUK @Roth @4,000 Holes @rog of the rovers amongst them…all the mods, all the podcast contributors & loads of folks that send us stuff in every now & then…👌 Plus…all our subscribers & anyone who has bought merch…you help to keep the site going 👍🙂⚪️🔵

All the best to everyone who has contributed, posted, written, moderated, listened, read, purchased, maintained, liked, quoted and even disagreed 😁 #COYB 🤍💙

Bravo - a magnificent effort...one to show the grandchildren...🙂

Mike Newell - a pub quiz question staple of mine for so many years...

All orders have now been fulfilled & items are in the post on the way to you… Thanks to everyone who has bought some of our merch - every sale helps to keep the site alive. If anyone has any merch requests for 2025, feel free to add them to this thread & we will investigate suppliers. Ideas for summer 2025 merch in particular would be of interest. 🤍💙

Don’t go there…👀

The BRFCS POTM for yesterday’s game was Danny Batth MOTM template.mp4

It's the Christmas Special - the panel considers these topics... If you could travel back in time to a seminal Rovers moment and change one thing what would it be, why & what would have happened? A Rovers Sliding Doors moment… Which Rovers player/manager (past or present) would be best suited to be Prime Minister & why? What aspect/feature do you most miss from the old Ewood Park? Film titles - Add “Rovers” to a Film Title to make it more interesting - with a synopsis (if a Christmas Movie even better….) Rovers players that really could have been in bands - could be looks, name…which band, what instrument, why? What piece of Rovers merch is currently not on sale in the club shop but really ought to be? What should be in John Eustace’s Christmas Stocking? Join host Ian Herbert, with panelists Mike Delap, Stuart Grimshaw, James Marsh, Michael Taylor & Roger Whiteside as they trawl the memory banks to conjure up some happy memories. LISTEN HERE

Previous meetings & last (incredibly memorable) match…

Go to this link, search “Blackburn Rovers” with the year of your choice…you’re welcome 😉 https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/search/2/image?family=editorial&phrase=Blackburn rovers 1970&sort=best

Meanwhile…on the coach home…👀

Were they the same ones who missed Hyam’s offside at Middlesbrough? 😉

Don’t forget to vote for your BRFCS POTM in our Match Centre right now… https://www.brfcs.com/magazine/football/match/1216100/millwall-blackburn?tab=voting

Nice one…yes, a unique piece, we often make up some one offs to see what they look like & to discuss whether we think they’ll sell. The pink merch wasn’t as popular as we thought it would be so the sweatshirt remains a truly unique item. Hope you wearing it brings us luck…😁

Bloody hell…🤦‍♂️ Football, just like the Christmas season, is fuelled by belief. For us Roverites, that belief is currently vested in the nous of John Eustace’s ability to extract maximum value from his squad, every bit as much as the annual, global, sleigh-bound journey of a red-clad altruist! At this time of year, it’s impossible to escape Christmas music and amongst all of the Wham!, Slade & Wizzard, it’s Greg Lake’s poignant Christmas classic, “I Believe in Father Christmas” that brings out the karaoke kid in me. Lake’s song is both celebratory and cautionary, a beautifully melancholic reflection on dashed hopes but laced with enduring belief. It starts with the nostalgia of childhood, the purity of believing in something magical, before confronting the commercialisation and disillusionment of adulthood. That is quite possibly my lifelong football-watching journey distilled..! Mention of the word “belief” also reminds of the eponymous hero of Apple TV’s Ted Lasso series. Ted Lasso became a global sensation thanks largely to the feelgood factor generated by a relentlessly optimistic American football coach. Lasso is as much a preacher of human decency as he is a tactician. His mantra of “Believe” is scrawled across a makeshift sign in the changing room, summing up his entire approach. In a sport rife with cynicism, Ted Lasso feels like an anomaly. His belief isn’t blind, more a determined choice to see the best in people, to seek joy amidst the chaos. As children, we grow up idolising players, that football is a fairytale where the good guys (our team basically...) wins. The harsh realities come later - dodgy owners, relegations, semi-final heartbreaks. But still, we believe. Every August, every matchday and for Rovers fans, this Christmas once again offers a tantalising glimpse of possibilities. Not for the first time in recent seasons, Rovers end the year in the conversation for the play-offs and the January transfer window looms large. The current run of six successive victories has raised both hopes and perhaps even expectations. The squad has been plagued with injuries and suspensions but one characteristic visible in abundance to us on the terraces, is the apparent togetherness of the squad. Eustace’s values seemingly embraced and embedded. The quandary for us supporters is the extent to which we should allow ourselves to believe. We see the holes in the squad, we see how it could be “even better if...” and we hope that the manager’s requirements to address those concerns are delivered in January. The extent to which we believe however, is possibly a function of our individual Rovers-supporting experiences. Ted Lasso and “I Believe in Father Christmas” challenge us to reconsider what belief truly means. It’s not about naivety or turning a blind eye to challenges. It’s an act of defiance, of choosing hope in a cynical world. In footballing terms, it’s still singing in the 91st minute as Fulham score their seventh goal at Ewood. It’s travelling away from home, in midweek to the likes of Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday and to be rewarded with battling away wins. Lake’s haunting refrain, “I believed in Father Christmas” is not necessarily a lament for lost innocence, but a call to hold onto that belief, even as we grow older and possibly wiser. Similarly, Ted Lasso’s “Believe” sign isn’t about guaranteeing success but fostering resilience, optimism, and connection. Rovers are presently riding a wave of success and John Eustace is rightly receiving plaudits for the work he has done at Ewood. In his early days his mantra was “Together”. He was at pains to emphasise that escaping relegation would only be possible with unity, to the extent that he started sound a little like the old Prudential TV ad – Google it kids, it’s on YouTube, starring the guy from the Fast Show & Harry Potter. “We want to be together...” Can we draw parallels between Eustace’s “Together” & Lasso’s “Believe”? The world may not always be quite as magical as we’d like. Rovers won’t win every week (sorry...), the snow may not fall on Boxing Day, Santa will still bring you socks. But in football and in life, hope and belief is what carries us through. Merry Christmas to everyone connected with Rovers – players, staff, supporters alike. We’re in this together...

My bit in the LT today… https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/24809537.blackburn-rovers-belief-despite-previous-misdemeanours/

Something about Ferraris…😁

Previous meetings and last match…

We have two away kit scarves & two away kit hats left in stock. If you order a hat & a scarf we will give you a set of our pin badges with our compliments. …🔴⚫️ https://www.brfcs.com/store/category/7-away-kit-merchandise/

30 years ago today…⚪️🔵

See also…watch right to the end 😂