Why in the world do I support Blackburn Rovers?

Now this is a million-dollar question. Friends and colleagues alike would sometimes ask me "Why the heck are you supporting a mid-table team?!"....
The answer is simple. I am definitely NOT a glory hunter i.e. I do not believe in supporting a team just because they are ALREADY "up there"! No disrespect to all my Man-yoo/Chelsea/Liverpool/Ar**nal friends (altho' Liverpool's status as an 'up-there' team is very-very-very questionable).....but some of us football fans really do believe in supporting other teams apart from the top-4.
Sadly to say (and I do firmly believe) that MOST of the newbie footie fans today supports their team because the respective team is already a force to be reckoned with in the league. Ask anyone in the street, and 9 out of 10 would definitely say either "ManYoo", "Chelsea" or "Ar**nal" as their favourite team. Whatever happened to Liverpool supporters you ask? Well, Liverpool....err, haven't won anything 'league-ish; aka the EPL since....errr.....since......errr....well, you get the drift! For argument sake, let us concentrate on the Manyoo/Arsenal/Chelsea influx of fans!
Back to the impending question, why the heck Blackburn Rovers?! Why would I waste my time supporting a mid-table ensemble and a bunch of has-been players? The history goes back a long way....in fact a long time before the days of Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton first graced the blue/white halves of Ewood. 'Twas the season of 92/93.....Rovers had just been promoted to the EPL....and all they had were Mike Newell and Kevin Gallacher.....as the attack force. And i can remember myself saying "Hmm, this looks like a decent team....very full of potential, just been promoted....". And that began my Blackburn Rovers adventure. Of course the very next season they went on to sign more illustrious players like Shearer, Sutton, Sherwood, Le Saux and the likes....but for the record, the real heavyweights during those early 90s were Man-yoo (no surprise there!), Norwich City (?!), Sheffield Wednesday and not your customary Chelsea and Liverpool.
And for comparison sake, i do not believe in be-littling smaller-funded teams whenever they lose to much glorified-cash-rich teams. Say, when Chelsea hammered 'Boro a few weeks back, everybody (even those other top 4 team fans) were saying on how Chelsea is very strong and 'Boro can't match Chelsea technically, can't stage a fight because they have crappier players than Chelsea.... and all. What a bunch of hogwash! Let us analyze.....Chelsea have abundant of cash to splash around to get the players that they want, where else cash-strapped teams don't enjoy the same privilages. The same applies to Man-yoo, Ar**nal and Liverpool folks! Can any other team outside the so-call top 4 dominating teams afford paying ridiculous amounts spent for Torres, Shevchenko, Ballack, Nasri, Berbatov and the likes? Hardly...they'll be doing more than breaking their piggy banks to do so...might as well re-mortgage their home stadium in the process (and still can't afford!).
Let's not stray from the main argument. Blackburn Rovers is by far to date, the smallest ever 'town' team to have ever graced the EPL. Yeah, they have actually won it ONCE in 1995, making them the only team so far to have won it apart from the other top 4 teams. Wait a minute, what's that...Liverpool has not come close even? This is quite commendable dontcha' think?...and I'm proud to be called a Blackburn Rovers supporter for the reasons i have laid out above. So all you fans of smaller teams, be it Southampton (i actually know a dude who fancies Southampton!), Wigan, Hull (who's gaining more and more fan every single day!) or any other team apart from the top 4, be proud of the teams you support!!!
Forza Rovers!!!!

Comments

PaiultheRover said…
Thee real reason why people support clubs like Blackburn, Bolton, Wigan and Blackpool is because they live close to them. But teams like man united have proper fans who live close to or in Manchester but they have Glory supporters all over the world and never rely go to the games, this applies to all the top four. As a Blackburn Rovers fan I am very proud of my team and always will be a follower of the mighty blue and white halves.
Anonymous said…
Right ... Close to the town ?
I happen to support Blackburn Rovers as well, and I've never been anywhere near England. Well, if Eastern Europe (The Balkans) is near the town of Blackburn, then I guess you're right :D