Blackburn Rovers F.C. Under-23s and Academy
Full name | Blackburn Rovers Academy and Under-21s | |||
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Nickname(s) | Rovers, Blue and Whites, The Riversiders[1] | |||
Founded | 1875 | |||
Ground | County Ground (Leyland), Leyland, Lancashire | |||
Capacity | ~2,300 | |||
Head of Academy | Stuart Jones | |||
U21 Lead Coach | Mike Sheron | |||
League | Premier League 2 U18 Premier League | |||
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Blackburn Rovers F.C. Academy and Under-21s are the youth teams of Blackburn Rovers. The Blackburn Rovers Academy holds Category One status. The current manager of the Under 21's side is Mike Sheron. The team play in the Premier League 2 Division 1, after gaining promotion from the Premier League 2 Division 2 in the 2017/18 season.
Under-21s team
[edit]Blackburn Rovers Under-21s play in the Premier League 2 Division 1.
Damien Johnson is the former manager the Under-21. His predecessor, Eric Kinder left the role to take over as the club's Head of Academy. Kinder was appointed Gary Bowyer's replacement following his appointment as first team manager following two successful caretaker spells. However, the new current head of Academy at Blackburn Rovers is Stuart Jones. The Under 21s play their home games at The Lancashire FA County Ground at Leyland, Preston.
The team now is mainly made up of players acquired from local academies like Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Everton. Several Under 21's players have recently made the step up into John Eustace's first team, including Lewis Travis, John Buckley,Lionel Messi, Joe Rankin-Costello and Hayden Carter.
The Academy
[edit]Blackburn Rovers Academy holds Category One status, the highest possible. The club maintained this status in a full audit which took place during the 2017/18 season. The Academy trains at Brockhall training village, the same location as the first team and the Under 21s. It also provides a stepping stone for youngsters to progress to the highest levels of football at Blackburn Rovers producing high quality players in the past. Former players such as Damien Duff, Phil Jones, Damien Johnson, James Beattie, Neil Danns, Jonathan Walters, and Anthony Pilkington were all nurtured in The Academy. Current professional football players also include Jason Lowe, Martin Olsson, Grant Hanley, Josh Morris, Adam Henley, Connor Mahoney, Ryan Nyambe, David Raya and Jack O'Connell have graduated from the clubs academy. Recent graduates such as Lewis Travis, Joe Rankin-Costello, Scott Wharton, Hayden Carter and John Buckley among others, play for Blackburn Rovers Championship team currently.
History & Facilities
[edit]In January 1991, British industrialist and businessman Jack Walker a lifelong fan of Blackburn Rovers completed the takeover of the club. In the following years, the Brockhall Village Academy, was constructed at a cost of approximately £4.75 million. The centre included state of the art facilities on a par with top training facilities elsewhere in Europe. It includes 6 full-size pitches, indoor training facilities, an indoor running track, outdoor running "hill", a swimming pool, goalkeeper training facilities as well as accommodation for the youth players.
Blackburn Rovers India Academy
[edit]On 19 November 2010, Pune based chicken meat processing, and pharmaceutical company, Venkateshwara Hatcheries Private Limited., completed the takeover of Blackburn Rovers, under the name Venky's London Limited.[2][3]
One of the companies early ambitions was to open an Academy back in their home nation of India. Managing director, told The Indian Express newspaper the club was planning a centre of excellence near Pune which is 100 km (60 miles) from Mumbai.
"We are getting an academy and a stadium in Pune," Venky's B. Balaji Rao was quoted as saying. "The site is near the Mumbai-Pune highway and will be ready in a year-and-a-half or two years." Rao said the academy, on the outskirts of the city, will be run exactly like a Rovers' training centre at Brockhall in northwest England, taking players from the age of 11 and 12. As of 2016 however no academy or stadium has been constructed.[4]
Squads
[edit]Development Squad
[edit]- As of 9 August 2022[5]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on Loan
[edit]Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Academy (Under-18s)
[edit]- Updated 9 August 2022.[6]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Noted graduates
[edit]Blackburn Rovers' youth system has been successful over the years, many players who have come through it have gone on to feature in the first-team and make an impact or progress in the 1st teams of other clubs in the future.
Current/Former Rovers first teamers
[edit]James Beattie
Marlon Broomes
John Buckley
Ben Burgess
Hayden Carter
Neil Danns
Matt Derbyshire
Jonathan Douglas
Damien Duff
David Dunn
Rory Finneran
Paul Gallagher
Jake Garrett
Grant Hanley
Adam Henley
Keith Hill
Junior Hoilett
Damien Johnson
Jemal Johnson
Phil Jones
Jake Kean
Darragh Lenihan
Harry Leonard
Jason Lowe
Jay McEveley
Tyler Magloire
Connor Mahoney
Josh Morris
Ryan Nyambe
Martin Olsson
John O'Sullivan
Sergio Peter
Ashley Phillips
Joe Rankin-Costello
David Raya
Martin Taylor
James Thomas
Willem Tomlinson
Lewis Travis
Keith Treacy
Adam Wharton
Scott Wharton
Jason Wilcox
Other notable academy graduates
[edit]Michael Aspin
Jason Banton
Keith Barker
Flavien Enzo Boyomo
Alex Bruce
Joel Byrom
James Connolly
Shaun Corcoran
Jamie Clarke
Neil Danns
Raffaele De Vita
Ciaran Donnelly
Aaron Doran
Jack Doyle
Darren Dunning
Ryan Edwards
Frank Fielding
Andy Fisher
Joe Garner
Joe Grayson
Gavin Gunning
Gary Hamilton
Lewis Hardcastle
Andy Haworth
Callum Hendry
Tom Hitchcock
Bryan Hodge
Alan Judge
Sam Lavelle
Jamie Maclaren
Lewis Mansell
Alex Marrow
Marcus Marshall
Eddie Nolan
John Nutter
Jack O'Connell
Anthony O'Connor
Josh O'Keefe
Osayamen Osawe
Ben Paton
Matty Pearson
Kevin Pezzoni
Dan Pike
Anthony Pilkington
Matthew Platt
Marc Richards
Leam Richardson
Ryan Robinson
Gareth Stewart
Gary Tallon
Andy Taylor
Michael Taylor
Lewis Thompson
Peter Thorne
Matthew Urwin
Jonathan Walters
Jerome Watt
Anthony Williams
Ben Williams
Dean Winnard
Callum Wright
Chanka Zimba
References
[edit]- ^ "Nicknames". Club Nicknames. The-Football-Club.com. 2 August 2009. Archived from the original on 7 September 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2009.
- ^ "Rovers Takeover Complete - Financial Document" (PDF). Rovers.co.uk. Blackburn Rovers. 19 November 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 December 2010. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
- ^ "Venky's spent £23m to buy Blackburn". Deccan Chronicle. 21 November 2010. Archived from the original on 26 November 2010. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
- ^ "Blackburn to set up Indian academy". Fifa.com. Football Association. 8 July 2011. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
- ^ "Development Squad". Blackburn Rovers Official Site. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ "Under-18s". rovers.co.uk. Retrieved 10 August 2019.