"Clarets" V "Rovers" rivalry - Full Answer
Message Details:
Name: Anna Question below
Talk about a hot potato or what? Well the second part of the question is the
easier part so we can begin there. As most people are aware, association
football bloomed up as a mass sport at the end of the nineteenth century and
Lancashire in particular was one of the two areas where football quickly gained
ground and became a much loved spectator sport. Nevertheless, Blackburn
Rovers, who were founded in 1875 and Burnley Football Club, who were
founded in 1882, actually played their first competitive match four years before
the Football League began. The two teams locked horns on September 27 in
1884 at Turf Moor and Rovers ran out winners 2-4 in front of a crowd of
approximately 5,000.
Four years later in 1888, the two teams would meet again for the first time in
the inaugural Football League, season number one! Again the fixture was
played at Turf Moor, this time on November 3, and again Rovers came out on
top, winning emphatically 1-7! The two teams to date have played each other
102 times with 42 wins for the clarets, 41 wins for Rovers and 19 draws. The
biggest gate of the East Lancs Derby, or the Cotton Mills Derby as it was
originally known, was at Blackburn on March 16, 1960, when 53,892 crammed
into Ewood Park to watch Rovers beat the high flying clarets in an FA Cup tie, 2-
0.
The explanation for rivalry in football is more often than not attached to two
football clubs being in close geographical closeness to each other. Both
Manchester teams or Liverpool and Everton are singular examples of this
proximity factor. As Blackburn is a bare 11 miles from Burnley both clubs fill
this criteria. Inevitably, this competitiveness ebbs and wanes pending league
positions, recent encounters and the changing social environment. Fans in the
1950’s and 1960’s most certainly mixed without too much trouble, whereas
from the 1970’s and onwards supporter segregation has been necessitous as
both sets of fans appear all too often ready to engage in physical violence with
each other.
The modern game of football has evolved significantly in the last few decades
and many changes have affected the game. All-seated stadiums and a large
increase in the number of women attending football matches has impacted on
the supporter side of football, the majority would agree in a positive if not
sometimes too sedate manner. Nevertheless, the rivalry between Rovers and
the clarets trundles on incessantly and as I write, with Rovers stuck in mid-
Championship table and Burnley yet without a Premier League win, the two
teams could well be limbering up for game number 103 somewhere in the
autumn of 2022! Then again……..there’s always Sean Dyche.
Put the kettle on mum!
Peter John Fyles
Message: Why is there rivalry between Burnley FC and Blackburn Rovers and when did it start?
