Good Luck to Rovers who play St. Pat's this evening in Richmond Park.

Vs

This is a great opportunity for all Rovers fans to come down and get behind YOUR team!

Glynn Hodges, manager of Blackburn Reserves has announced a 15 man squad for Friday night’s friendly. It'll be a youthful Rovers team sprinkled with Irish Internationals who'll face the Supersaints.

Included in the squad are a number of Irish youth internationals including Edward Nolan from Waterford, Dubliner Alan Judge as well as local lads and former Crumlin United players Gavin Gunning and Aaron Doran.

The full squad is as follows:

• Gunnar Nielsen
• Anthony Kane
• Edward Nolan
• Joshua O'Keefe
• Dean Winnard
• Gavin Gunning
• Aaron Doran
• Alan Judge
• Jamie Clarke
• Raffaele De Vita
• Jonathan Flynn
• Maceo Rigters
• Alexander Marrow
• Marcus Marshall
• Kris Paterson

St Patrick’s Athletic FC Versus Blackburn Rovers on Friday 29th February.

Kick off at Richmond Park is at 7.45pm.

Admission €10.00
Concession €5.00

For the latest information please check

St Patrick's Athletic FC

As the new season approaches, I trust that everyone is fit and well for the big kick off!

Portsmouth are first up and we would like to wish Rovers Good Luck for today and the season ahead - the European matches are eagerly awaited!

Well done to our own Steven Reid who captained The Republic of Ireland on Wednesday night and picked up a knock on the ankle for his troubles. Unfortunately, the match will be easily forgotten as the result was a bit of a disaster, to put it politely!

This web site is due for an update and as I have just been reciently married, I ask you to please bear with me as I get this done. If there is any queries in the mean time, please don't hesitate to get in touch!

Looking forward to another exciting season ahead and meeting up with you either in Ewood Park or on the European trail!

Slan.

Mitchell

mitch@theirishrovers.com

Matt Jansen

Picture courtesy of www.rovers.co.uk

For more see www.rovers.co.uk and Matt says Thanks

Good luck to Matt Jansen for his future career on his release from Bolton Wanderers.

Good Luck to Rovers who take on Manchester City in Ewood Park, on the last day of the season tomorrow, 7th May with the kick off time at 3.00pm.

There is a 5-a-side football tournament being organised for today with all the proceeds going to charity.

T O U R N A M E N T D E T A I L S : -

DATE:
Saturday 6th May 2006

VENUE:
JJB SoccerDome

TIME:
Teams are meet up between 2:00pm-2:30pm for registration, hand outs of the
fixture-list as well as a brief introduction to the rules of play. The
competition will kick-off at 3:00pm and a presentation will follow in the
Blues Bar.

FORMAT:
x2 Groups (top 2 teams from each group will qualify for the Semi Finals)
x10 minutes for each game

OTHER NOTES:
- Referee's will be arranged for each game.
- £15 per team entry fee.
- Trophies to be presented to the Winners (awards will be given out to 3
other prized categories after the competition)
- A post Match raffle will be organised in the Blue's Bar for signed
memorabilia etc etc
- As all proceeds will be going to the 'Scope' charity, it would be great if
we could all dig deep as donations of any amount would be very much
appreciated.

FURTHER LINKS:
www.jjbsoccerdome.co.uk www.jjbsoccerdome.co.uk
www.scope.org.uk www.scope.org.uk

IF YOU ARE IN BLACKBURN, COME DOWN AND SUPPORT YOUR TEAM!

This is going to be the highlight of the season for all Rovers' Supporters Associations, with teams entering the competition from London, North and South Lancs, ourselves and from Northern Ireland (whose Chairman Simon Gray has gone to a lot of trouble to organise this), to name but a few. It is a very fitting way to end this fantastic and most successful season we've had in years.

Tickets for all games are for members only. This is the policy of Blackburn Rovers FC. If you are not a member for the 2005/2006 season you can not get a ticket for any game. To join The Irish Rovers now contact mitch@theirishrovers.com

Tickets for all games are supplied on the understanding of the recipient that match times and dates are subject to change. We advise all members to make allowances for this fact when making travel arrangements.

The meeting points for The Irish Rovers to watch televised matches are;

DUBLIN: The 51 Pub, Haddington Road, Dublin 4.

CORK: To be confirmed

Membership of The Irish Rovers is now open.

The subscription this season is ONLY € 5.00

It's very easy to join The Irish Rovers - you can join on line HERE!

New members are always welcome!

The proposal for the shape of the ‘new’ Irish Rovers is the following:

1. Membership fee of € 5.00. (This goes towards the costs of the web site and other administration expenses involved.)
2. Keep the web site updated and email members when any important news and information becomes available.
3. Obtain match tickets for members.
4. Organise trips (tickets and accommodation only) for those members interested.
5. Keep up the close affiliation we have with Blackburn Rovers and the other supporters associations.

These unique Irish Rovers lapel badges are now available. The badges cost €3 each, or 2 badges for €5. To get yours today, contact mitch@theirishrovers.com.

You can see the minutes from the AGM in the 'Old News' section.

Honorary President of The Irish Rovers Matt Jansen

Chairman/ Tickets (Mitchell Sheridan) mitch@theirishrovers.com

Southern Regional Coordinator (John O'Leary) johnnyblackburn1@hotmail.com

Following a Board meeting, Rovers have agreed to release Matt. We would like to pass on our gratitude to Matt and wish him well for the future.

For more on this see www.rovers.co.uk

Well done to Rovers who played one of the strongest Manchester United sides Alex Ferguson has put out this season. It was a strongly contested Semi Final from the first whistle to the last. While both teams had chances for further goals, they never came as both sets of defenders were on top form. Indeed Andy Todd, our Captain Fantastic was the Man of The Match. The atmosphere in Ewood Park was electric!

We would like to send our congratulations and best wishes to our President on this, his 28th Birthday today!

The Annual General Meeting of The Republic of Ireland Blackburn Rovers Supporters’ Association, The Irish Rovers, was held on Sunday 9th October last in The 51 pub, Haddington Road and was chaired by The Chairman, Mitchell Sheridan.

The Chairman started the meeting by apologising to the members for giving just a weeks notice and also for the lack of committee members present. The AGM had been arranged in September previous, however nobody could make that one and it was of the utmost importance that we held an AGM.

The Chairman from the Northern Ireland Blackburn Rovers Supporters Association, Simon Gray, sent us his best wishes for the meeting and for a successful season ahead. www.nibrsa.co.uk

Apologies were received from the following members; John O'Leary, Martin Cook, Richard Conway, Leo McEvitt, Trevor Montgomery, Fintan Bracken, Valerie A. Sheridan, Timothy Sheridan, Ian Sheridan, Ross Barrett, Patrick Flaherty and Jimmy Cully.

The Chairman explained the situation regarding Blackburn Rovers F.C. - their decision to disband the official supporters association and by implication, our affiliation to that association. He also explained that there was a severe drop in membership and a general lack of interest in The Irish Rovers since the last AGM. Unfortunately there was no explanation for this as the committee informed members regularly of meetings and trips etc. The Chairman informed those present that The Secretary, Richard Conway, The Treasurer Jimmy Cully, The Football Coach Martin Cook, Committee members Trevor Montgomery and Leo McEvitt - the majority of the committee had all resigned and stood down from their posts for one reason or another. There were no names put forward seeking election to those vacant Committee positions.

The Chairman expressed his gratitude to the retiring committee members and his disgust and disappointment at the sad state of affairs.

The Chairman explained that as we are an independent supporters association, we are no longer bound by BRFC to have such stringent conditions, i.e. have such a large committee. He proposed that the supporters association The Irish Rovers be disbanded in its present form as this was too ‘top heavy’ (and currently impossible to achieve), but to be continued on in a smaller, more lightweight form. The Chairman envisaged that the ‘new’ Irish Rovers would be looked after by him and that it would carry on in every regard as before, but without the very large and cumbersome committee structure. To this end The Chairman promised to keep The Irish Rovers alive and active and received assurances from John O'Leary that he would endeavour to keep the Munster region active with a location for meetings, televised matches, etc. The Chairman insisted that The Irish Rovers wouldn’t cease to exist as long as he had something to do with it. This proposal was met with general agreement. In fact, the consensus from the floor was that members were only members for the sole reason of being able to obtain match tickets.

The Chairman’s proposal for the shape of the ‘new’ Irish Rovers was the following:

1. Have a token membership fee of € 5.00. (This would go towards the costs of the web site and other administration expenses involved.)
2. Keep the web site updated and email members every week / other week, and or when any important news and information becomes available.
3. Obtain match tickets for members.
4. Organise trips (tickets and accommodation only) for those members interested.
5. Keep up the close affiliation we have with Blackburn Rovers and the other supporters associations.

The formal proposal to disband The Irish Rovers in its current state was proposed by The Chairman, Mitchell Sheridan and seconded by member Arnie Brady.

The formal proposal to continue The Irish Rovers in its more lightweight form was proposed by The Chairman, Mitchell Sheridan and seconded by member John Kinane.

Any Other Business:

Venue: We will continue meeting up for televised matches; however, the choice of venue is under consideration. Alan O’Donnell suggested a number of locations that show Rovers on T.V. via various European satellite stations. Alan will inform The Chairman who will update the web site and email members when he knows of any televised matches.

Trip: The Chairman suggested that The Wigan match scheduled for 1st April next would have the potential for a good trip. He also suggested the Man. City match on the last day of the season in Ewood as another possibility. When membership numbers increase, The Chairman will do a poll to see what match members would be interested in going to as a group.

Close of business.

27th April 2005

Rovers picked up another point at the Hawthorns on Tuesday night, in a surprisingly open game. The Baggies, battling for their Premiership lives, took the lead through a superbly struck left-foot free-kick from Kieran Richardson. Rovers fought back, Stead unfortunate to see his fine effort strike the inside of Russell Hoult's post and somehow contrive to stay out of the net, but we went in one down at half-time. After an on-pitch deluge during the interval, and likely a deluge of another sort in the away dressing room, Rovers looked a far better side in the second half. The introduction of Tugay led to an improvement in the passing, and Brett Emerton couldn't miss after finding himself all alone inside the penalty box, 1-1. That's how it stayed until the end, despite fine efforts from Robbie Savage and Steven Reid. The point keeps Rovers recent impressive run going but offers little hope to West Brom in their battle to avoid the drop, it's Arsenal and Man United next for them.

Paul Dickov is again sidelined with a knee injury for the trip to the Hawthorns, so Jonathon Stead will continue to lead the line for Rovers who are expected to be unchanged from the side which started against Man City at Ewood on Saturday. For the Baggies, on loan Manchester United starlet Kieran Richardson makes his return in a must win game for the home side.

Rovers recent good defensive form continued on Saturday as we kept yet another clean sheet. In a game of few chances, David James kept out good efforts from the luckless Jon Stead and from Dominic Matteo, whilst Shaun Wright-Phillips had a good shout for a penalty turned down.

In a display of common sense, the F.A. has cleared Andy Todd of the violent conduct charge he faced after Robin Van Persie decided to try and run through him on Saturday.

Morten Gamst Pedersen's strike on the stroke of half time gave Rovers a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace to all but secure top flight football next year. At the same time Newcastle were losing to Norwich, a result which saw Rovers leapfrog our esteemed ex-manager. The Geordies can take heart in the knowledge that Souness has a proven track record at getting teams promoted from Division 1.

We went to Cardiff last Saturday to see Blackburn Rovers perform in their first F.A. Cup semi-final for 45 years. We saw a spirited Rovers team give every ounce of energy in their bodies to try and fulfill the dreams of the thousands of Rovers fans cheering on the men in blue and white. We saw every single Rovers fan on their feet after the team conceeded the second and third goals while desperately pushing forwards seeking an equaliser, fans with flags waving, hands clapping, voices sounding loud. Why did we seem to celebrate the game more than the supposedly victorious Arsenal fans you ask? Because we had pride, pride in our players, every single one of them had performed in the manner every true fan sitting in the Millenium Stadium on that sunny Saturday afternoon would have if they but got the opportunity. Ewood Park hasn't always been endowed with an atmosphere in the past, Rovers fans have been criticised as a dour lot too fond of remembering the good times Jack brought whilst forgetting the days before his tenure. That was the magnitude of the club's performance in Cardiff, we left the stadium with our heads held high, we proudly showed the badges of our allegiance, even in defeat.

Then came the Sunday papers. Rovers were portrayed as a team of thugs, there were calls for Andy Todd to be banned for life(must avoid these wildly cavorting young Dutch you know), supposedly respectable commentators pontificated on how the result was a victory for football. One hardly knew whether to laugh or cry, had Sky TV and Match of the Day contrived to broadcast a different game into the plush London homes of the journalists? Nope, I looked, there were Sam Allardyce and Peter Reid on the BBC saying Blackburn had put in a great performance. What has gone so wrong with our beloved game that diving, prancing, kicking the ball away and giant men like Patrick Viera falling over as if they've been shot if someone so much as breathes on them, has become a byword for what football should be? Reading some of the comments it seems that English football in the 1960's and 70's was synonymous with the modern day French national team. Someone better hop in a Tardis and tell Don Revie's Leeds United about this.

The facts are these. Blackburn Rovers played the game the way it should be played, hard but fair, like it meant something to them. The decisions of the referee during the game clearly seemed to favour the big London club against the little Northerners, yet Arsenal had 3 bookings against Rovers 4, hardly the stuff of a one-sided massacre. To be fair to Steve Dunn, some of these so called saviours of modern football seem to have perfected the ability to make the most out of any situation(in the park we would have called it cheating).

How soon until football becomes a non-contact sport? How soon until the team with the prettiest players are awarded the victory? How soon until football finally alienates the it's loyal fans? The game is dead, it just doesn't know it yet....

17th March 2005

We have an allocation of tickets for the semi-final at the Millenium Stadium against Cardiff. The game will take place on Saturday the 16th of April, kick-off is at 12.15. To obtain your ticket for the game, please contact James Cully at jamescully@irishbroadband.net as soon as possible. We remind all members of our ticketing policy for all games which can be seen below, namely tickets are for members of the Irish Rovers for the 2004/05 season only, all tickets must be requested 3 weeks prior to the fixture, and payment must be received 2 weeks prior to the fixture. If you are not a current member contact richard@theirishrovers.com for more details. We do not think it will be possible to run a fully organised official trip to this game, for the simple reason that Cardiff hotels are already booked solid, for details on alternatives and what we are all doing contact Richard, basically this means that everyone will have to pay their own flights and accommodation seperately but we will do our best to keep everyone together as much as possible if so wished.

The league game against the Gunners is live at 12.30 on Saturday 19th March from Ewood Park on Premiership Plus, as usual we will be meeting up to watch the match in The 51, Haddington Road, Dublin 4.

Rovers continued their recent good run of form, drawing 0-0 in a dour game against Liverpool at Anfield. The sole 'shot' on target in the game was an effort by Pelligrino, the ponderous Liverpool centre-half, who's attempt from 30 yards dribbled through for Brad to scoop up with ease. Things could have been better for Rovers but for an uncharacteristically poor display of set-piece taking by the usually mercurial Morten Gamst Pedersen, in fact Liverpool looked at their most dangerous when Rovers had a corner.

Have you ever dreamed of playing at Ewood Park? Well here's your chance, and it's all in support of a good cause too. Football Aid is a charity organisation that raises money by auctioning off places in charity matches that take place in Premiership grounds. There are places in both the nominal home and away teams up for grabs. If all this wasn't enough to persuade you to part with your hard earned cash, there's also the possibility of playing alongside Rovers legends in the game, and when I say legends, I mean it, do the names Colin Hendry and Kevin Gallacher mean anything to you? Both Rovers championship winners played alongside the lucky winners of the auctions last year. So come on, fulfill one of your dreams, the wife can't very well complain with you being charitable can she? Click on the image below to find out more, or go to www.footballaid.com

6th March 2005

We are meeting up from 15.00 in The 51 to watch Rovers take on Everton. Hopefully Everton will desist in their tactic of playing on a freshly ploughed field for the visit of 'little' Blackburn. Rovers should be on a high following the midweek vanquishing of the Burnley trolls, although Dickov, Emerton and Savage are all struggling with injuries picked up in the victory.

7th February 2005

Blackburn Rovers take on Burnley on Sunday 20th February, the game is live on the BBC(ad-free!) with the kick-off scheduled for 1.40pm. We'll be meeting up in The 51, Haddington Road, Dublin 4 to watch the game. It's 26 years since our knuckle-dragging rivals last recorded a positive result against the Rovers, respective league positions and the January fire sale at Burnley make just one result look likely, but local derbies can always turn up surprises. The last time the sides met at Turf Moor, Burnley were above Rovers in the league and confident of success, a 2-0 victory on the day, coupled with a 5 goal hammering at Ewood, saw Rovers continue their domination over the Dingles, eventual promotion to the Premiership, and priceless comments from Stan Ternant about minis and ferraris.

28th January 2005

We will be meeting up to watch Rovers take on the seemingly invincible Chelsea this Wednesday night at Ewood, from 7.00pm. Chelsea have lost just once in the league this season, but someone has to catch them on an off-day eventually and there is no reason why it can't be Rovers. This game also marks the first return of Damien Duff to Ewood and hopefully he'll get a great reception from the Rovers faithful. We will be watching the game in The 51, Haddington Road, Dublin 4, hope to see you all there.

23rd January 2005

This Monday night game live on Sky has been given extra spice due to the remarkable results achieved by the bottom four at the weekend. The unexpected success of the teams struggling in the Premiership basement has lead to Blackburn's league position looking precarious once again. Three points in the Lancashire derby would see Rovers move up the table, leapfrogging Birmingham, Portsmouth and potentially Fulham, and more importantly enable us all to sleep easily at night once again. The game will also see the debut of new signing Robbie Savage, as well as the first chance for those of us restricted to TV viewing to see Ryan Nelsen and Aaron Mokoena in Rovers shirts, all three are expected to feature to some extent. We will be meeting up to watch this game in The 51, Haddington Road, Dublin 4 from 7.00pm.

16th January 2005

Rovers travelled to Fratton Park in the midst of a minor injury/suspension crises, but dug deep to come away with all three points. A first league goal for Morten Gamst Pedersen after a lovely through ball from a rejuvenated David Thompson was enough to settle the game. The goal came minutes after Lomano Lua Lua saw red for a foolish headbutt aimed at Andy 'Killer' Todd, the flamboyant little DR Congo international should really be more careful in picking his targets. An ill-tempered game also saw Portsmouth's Andy Faye dismissed in injury time for a frustrated lunge on Brad Freidel, and ref Andy D'Urso dish out seven yellow cards as well. Recent signings Ryan Nelsen and Aaron Mokoena, both international captains, made their league debuts in a Rovers defence keeping yet another clean sheet. The victory moved Rovers nine points clear of the drop zone and looks to have all but ensured our Premiership survival.

2nd January 2005

The vital Christmas period has been for the most part kind to Blackburn Rovers. Four points from a possible nine may not sound like much, but in comparison to the other teams struggling in the Premiership basement it is manna from heaven. After the bore draw with Everton things livened up a bit on St. Stephens Day as Newcastle were the visitors to Ewood, four goals were shared between the sides as Newcastle once again showed the 'Souness-factor' and collapsed in the second half. Whilst at Ewood Souness was oft criticised for his training methods, which seemed to involve nothing more scientific than playing 5-a-sides, and the impact this was having on the teams fitness, a theory which has grown in strength with the number of goals Newcastle have conceeded in the second half of games this season. The most memorable moment of the game however occured after a Laurent Robert thunderbolt had found the back of the net, Craig Bellamy following up attempted to blast the ball into the net in celebration, but from no more than six inches out screwed it into the stand.

The Lancashire derby with Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok had been noticeable over the past couple of seasons for Rovers grabbing goals deep into injury time. This year there was no need for such heroics, as Paul Dickov's sublime volley gave Rovers all three points. The fiery little Scot is really starting to impress, providing much needed goals for the side in addition to the expected harrassing of the opposition's defence. The rest of the game was relatively incident free, except for the expected continuous diving from Bolton's Diouf.

On New Year's Day, Rovers fell to only there second defeat in eleven games, a late Nolberto Solano header giving Aston Villa all the points. Solano always seemed to be a thorn in our side whilst at Newcastle and continued that trend at Villa Park.

19th December 2004

After waiting 3 years for a 0-0 draw we get two in a row, typical Rovers really. Whilst the result was again less than the performance deserved it must be remembered that Everton are still sitting pretty in second place in the Premiership table and despite their dire showing at Ewood, not to mention having a playing staff of second-rate grafters, are apparantly a decent team. If Paul Gallagher's youthful exuberence hadn't seen him stray a vital yard offside things would have been even better as he tapped in Steven Reid's shot, just minutes after being introduced to the fray. The result at Ewood coupled with thumping defeats for our relegation rivals saw Rovers climb above both Crystal Palace and Norwich City, and put further distance between ourselves and Southampton and West Brom. Things are also shaping up nicely for the return of Graeme Souness on St. Stephens Day, with Rovers suffering just one defeat in the past eight matches, and half the Newcastle squad laid low with flu. Lets hope the Geordies have a bit more courage in wintery adversity than their North-East neighbours Middlesbrough though, much better to have Souness relegate them the usual way than due to a points deduction!

12th December 2004

Another week, another result that wasn't quite good enough. Coupled with our Lancashire neighbours, Bolton, baffling ability to somehow contrive to lose to Norwich 'what's a win' City, this weekend saw Rovers slip back into the relegation zone we'd only briefly emerged from. One defeat in the last seven games now has to bring some hope for the future though and if we can manage to turn just a couple of the draws into wins we'll be waving to Souness as we pass his floundering Newcastle side on the Premiership ladder. This was Rovers first 0-0 draw for 57 games, that's three seasons to you and me, a fact made all the more surprising given that we were playing against the Premierships second top scorer in Andy Johnson. The team continue to look fitter all-round and more determined under Mark Hughes' tutelage, a fact which unfortunately probably played a part in David Thompson's cameo appearance and dismissal for two yellow cards. Let's hope we can show title-chasing upstarts Everton where they really belong next week, a game given added spice by the presence of two ex-roverites, Marcus Bent and Lee Carsley, in the Toffees ranks.

Everyone in The Irish Rovers would like to thank Bray Wanderers most sincerely for all their hard work and effort that they put into the recent visit of Blackburn Rovers Football Club to Bray, especially Eddie Cox, Aine Breathnach and Jack O'Neill. Thank you again for making the day most memorable.

Well Saturday arrived and we all got very excited seeing our beloved Blackburn Rovers back on Irish soil again! There was quite a large 'Blue - White Army' that traveled over to Ireland and The Irish Rovers and all Rovers Supporters meet up in The Katie Gallagher's Pub on the Saturday afternoon before the match. The camaraderie continued into the Carlisle Grounds and we were rewarded by a very productive game of football, with Rovers turning out a 4 - 0 victory.

It was a great opportunity for us to see all our favorite players and also to have a glimpse of the players Graeme Souness will have in mind for the first match in The Premiership Season against West Bromwich Albion this Saturday 14th August.

The Irish Rovers Player of The Season Trophy was presented to Jonathon Stead on the pitch before kick off by our Chairman Mitchell Sheridan. Jonathan was delighted to receive his trophy and celebrated with a very fine goal for Rovers just before half time! We hope he will continue with his success for Rovers for many seasons to come!

We had some of our junior members performing mascot duty before kick off - many thanks to David McCooey, Timothy Sheridan and Kyle Strahan who flew the flag for The Irish Rovers! We also had a few more involved in a penalty shoot out at half time!

Our sincere thanks must go to Bray Wanderers, especially Eddie Cox, Aine Breathnach and Jack O'Neill for organising everything and for all their generous and untiring help in making our day out a most successful and memorable one. Thanks again for everything!

The Blackburn Rovers Squad that played Bray Wanderers;

Amoruso, De Pedro, Dickov, Douglas, Emerton, Enckelman, Ferguson, Flitcroft, Gallagher, Gray, Gresko, Johansson, Matteo, Neill, Stead, Yelldell, Yorke.

Jonathon Stead is the Irish Rovers Young Player of the Season for 2003/04.

20th October 2004

We would like to send our congratulations and best wishes to our President on this, his 27th Birthday today!

The Rovers take on Liverpool on Saturday 30th October, kick off time is 5.15pm. We are currently taking bookings for this trip, our first official visit to Ewood Park this season. For more information contact Mitchell mitch@theirishrovers.com

* Estimated price. This is based on getting certain flights and will have to be paid in full at the time of booking. Unfortunately, there will be no refund for travel expenses. Tickets for all games are for members only. This is the policy of Blackburn Rovers FC. If you are not a member for the 2004/2005 season you can not get a ticket for any game. To join The Irish Rovers now contact richard@theirishrovers.com

Good Luck to the Rovers tonight where they take on Charlton Athletic in The Valley. This match is live on Sky Sports and if you would like to meet up with fellow Rovers, then The 51, Haddington Road is the place to be! Kick off time is 8.00pm. Good Luck to Greg who is doing the 'Fanzone' commentary on Sky.

The Return of The President!

THERE'S ONLY ONE MATT JANSEN!

(Picture courtesy of www.rovers.co.uk)

What a delight it was to be in Ewood Park on Saturday to see our President come on and score the winner! The moment Matt stepped onto the pitch, the Rovers faithful went crazy! "There's only ONE Matt Jansen.." erupted from every corner of Ewood Park (and was sung the loudest by yours truly!). Being such a Gentleman as Matt is, he didn't disappoint and fifteen minutes later he had everyone on their feet again! Absolutely fantastic goal and Matt was mobbed by every Rovers player on the pitch! I had to wait till he was going home to get my hands on him!! As usual, Matt took time out to say hello and he's looking forward to writing a few words for the first edition of The Irish Rovers Newsletter. What a fantastic day! Fantastic for Matty, a fantastic result and a fantastic start to Mark Hughes' management of Blackburn Rovers. Just what the doctor ordered!

Unfortunately, the game was finished as a competition after 15 minutes. However, the Rovers supporters gave the 'Toon Army' hell with their 'appreciation' of Mr Graeme Souness! There were some quite inventive chants doing the rounds!

Mitchell Sheridan and John Carver

I had the pleasure of meeting John Carver, the Newcastle (Caretaker) Manager after the match, where after I had congratulated him on his success, he informed me of his impending sacking for Sunday morning! Very nice man and wished Rovers well in their quest for a new manager.

John Fitzgerald scored in second half.

Republic of Ireland U21 3-0 Cyprus U21
Whelan 34
Fitzgerald 60
Doyle 79

The Republic of Ireland Under 21s kicked off their European Under 21 Championship qualifying campaign with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Cyprus at Buckley Park, Kilkenny, last night.

Goals from Glenn Whelan, Blackburn Rovers' John Fitzgerald and Kevin Doyle gave Ireland the victory and ensured it was lucky 13, though in reality, a victory was rarely in doubt from the opening minutes as Ireland totally dominated the match.

More on the FAI's official website

Well done John from all of us here in The Irish Rovers!

Teams:
Republic of Ireland U21: Murphy (Swansea City); Kelly (Tottenham Hotspur), McCarthy (Manchester City), Fitzgerald (Blackburn Rovers), Capper (Scarborough); McGeady (Celtic), Potter (Liverpool), Whelan (Sheffield Wednesday), Kearney (Cork City); Doyle (Cork City), Elliott (Sunderland).
Subs: McStay (Leeds United) for McCarthy (65 mins), Tabb (Brentford) for Doyle (84 mins), Flood (Manchester City) for Potter (87 mins).

Cyprus U21: Stylianou; Tsolakidis, Merkis, Kontoleftherou, Pelagias; Konstantinou, Nikolaou, Zachariou, Raunas; Vasiliou, Alexandrou.
Subs: Charalampous for Raunas (36 mins), Ioannou for Vasiliou (55 mins), Pavlou for Konstantinou (68 mins).

Referee: Per Staberg (Norway)

John Fitzgerald

This evening, Buckley Park, Kilkenny – Kick off 7:30pm.

Republic of Ireland manager Don Givens has kept faith with most of the side that beat Bulgaria 3-2 two weeks ago for tonight’s opening European Under 21 Championship clash with Cyprus at Buckley Park, Kilkenny.

The current Under 21 side are now a record 12 games unbeaten and Givens stressed the importance of patience against a Cypriot side Ireland will be expected to beat comfortably. “We must be patient. What we can’t afford to do is lose an early goal. If it takes us 89 minutes to score the winning goal, then so be it, but we can’t be making the game difficult for ourselves.”

Team: Henderson (Notts County); Kelly (Tottenham Hotspur), McCarthy (Manchester City), John Fitzgerald (Blackburn Rovers), Capper (Scarborough); McGeady (Celtic), Potter (Liverpool), Whelan (Sheffield Wednesday), Kearney (Cork City); Doyle (Cork City), Elliott (Sunderland).

Good luck to the team and especially to John Fitzgerald, our very own Blackburn Rover from Dublin who will be representing his country again at under 21 level this evening. John is continuing his rise to the top and has featured regularly this season in The Blackburn Rovers Reserve Team Squad. He has already represented The Republic of Ireland at Youth and Under 20 levels.

Blackburn Rovers have signed former Coventry striker Jay Bothroyd, 22, from Perugia on a season-long loan with a view to a permanent deal. Bothroyd started his career in Arsenal before moving on to Coventry in a £ 1 million transfer before his move to the Serie A club.

Graeme Souness was delighted with the transfer, "He's a young player we've been aware of for quite a while. "He has scored goals in Serie A and it's a hard league to score in. We hope to bring out the best in him."

Out of the Exit door however, is the departure of Dwight Yorke to Birmingham City for an undisclosed fee. It was looking like he was on his way to Celtic before Birmingham boss Steve Bruce entered the race with an offer for Yorke at three o'clock yesterday afternoon. He signed up with 10 minutes to spare. Dwight joined Rovers in the summer of 2002 for £ 2 million from Manchester United, made 54 appearances and scored 19 goals.

Reserves manager Tony Parks was delighted with the performance of the Reserve team last night. Two goals in the second half were enough to beat Manchester City, with our very own Jonathon Douglas getting the second.

This Rovers match is LIVE on TV today and takes place in Ewood Park. Kick off time is 12.45pm. If you fancy meeting up with fellow Rovers fans then why not come along and meet us in The Irish Rovers regular meeting place, The 51, Haddington Road, Dublin 4. For more information contact Mitchell

Blackburn's new signing Morten-Gamst Pedersen is poised to make his debut after his £2.5m move from Tromso. Skipper Barry Ferguson is available after missing Wednesday's 3-0 defeat at Arsenal through suspension.

Manchester United's Jonathan Spector could retain his place at left-back alongside central defender John O'Shea, who is set to replace Roy Keane (rib). Phil Neville is also pushing for a place in the team as is Louis Saha after recovering from a knee injury.

ROVERS face Manchester United at lunchtime - the last club they beat in the Premiership. Jonathan Stead enhanced his growing reputation by scoring his sixth goal for Blackburn with a late winner over a below-par Manchester United in this equivalent fixture last May. It was the second successive season Rovers had notched 1-0 home victories over United, and now they have their sights on completing the hat trick. Should United lose to Rovers it will be only the 50th away defeat in their Premiership history.

Blackburn Rovers (Squad): Friedel, Enckelman, Amoruso, Short, Gresko, Emerton, Neill, Gray, Tugay, Ferguson, Thompson, de Pedro, Flitcroft, Stead, Yorke, Matteo, Johansson, Pedersen, Dickov.

Man Utd (Squad): Howard, Carroll, Ricardo, P Neville, G Neville, O'Shea, Silvestre, Spector, Miller, Djemba-Djemba, Fletcher, Kleberson, Scholes, Smith, Saha, Giggs, Bellion, Ronaldo.

We have to take our hats off to Arsenal, who last night showed their class. 43 unbeaten games in The Premiership really is a major achievement. For those of us who watched the match live in Gleesons in Irishtown, we agreed that Rovers matched Arsenal in the first half and felt that maybe we should have gone into the break with a goal to our credit. However, Arsenal went up a gear or two in the second, which unfortunately Rovers couldn't match and the rest, as they say, is history! Lucky for us then that we won't be facing Arsenal every week and as Graeme Souness pointed out "I felt we matched Arsenal in the first half in every department and in terms of chances.
I've no complaints about tonight, in the first half we did well and we won't come up against a team like Arsenal every week, so if we can play like that against other teams we will do well this season."

Roll on Manchester United on Saturday...

The Beach Tavern, (Gleesons Pub) in Irishtown, Dublin 4 will be showing the match live this evening... more details contact Mitchell Kick off time is 7.45pm

Rovers second away match in The Barclays Premiership this season is the visit to Highbury this evening - Wednesday 25th August, kick off time is 7.45pm. Will Rovers put a stop to Arsenal's unbeaten record of 42 league matches without defeat?? Graeme Souness thinks we can beat them - you can find out by coming down or else by tuning in to Canal + Sport or Arts Sport 2.

Tugay will be given the captain's armband this evening as Barry Ferguson has been suspended for the match because of the two yellow cards dished out to him against Southampton. Thompson makes a welcome return to the squad.

Arsenal (squad): Lehmann, Almunia, Taylor, Lauren, Toure, Cygan, Senderos, Cole, Clichy, Gilberto Silva, Flamini, Fabregas, Pennant, van Persie, Reyes, Bergkamp, Henry, Pires, Ljungberg.

Blackburn Rovers (squad): Friedel, Enckelman, Amoruso, Short, Gresko, Emerton, Neill, Gray, Tugay, Thompson, de Pedro, Flitcroft, Stead, Yorke, Matteo, Johansson, Gallagher, Dickov.

The match will be shown live on Sky PremPlus TODAY!

Early Kick Off - 12.45pm!

Rovers first away match in The Barclays Premiership this season is the visit to St Mary's on Saturday 21st August (today!). If you fancy meeting up with fellow Rovers fans then why not come along and meet us in The Irish Rovers regular meeting place, The 51, Haddington Road, Dublin 4? For more information contact Mitchell

Southampton are likely to be without James Beattie, who has a thigh injury. Peter Crouch or Brett Ormerod are set to line up alongside Kevin Phillips, and Darren Kenton also faces a late fitness test on a thigh problem.

Blackburn have no fresh injury worries, with Steven Reid and David Thompson remaining on the sidelines.

Southampton (from): Niemi, Dodd, Lundekvam, Higginbotham, Le Saux, Fernandes, Delap, A Svensson, Nilsson, Phillips, Crouch, Ormerod, Folly, Prutton, Kenton, Beattie, Telfer, Best, Smith.
Blackburn Rovers (from): Friedel, Amoruso, Short, Gresko, Emerton, Neill, Gray, Tugay, Ferguson, de Pedro, Flitcroft, Stead, Yorke, Matteo, Johansson, Gallagher, Dickov, Enckelman.

For your diary - The next Rovers match on TV is on Saturday 28th August and takes place in Ewood Park where Blackburn Rovers are hosts to Manchester United. Kick off time is 12.45pm.

Republic of Ireland U21 3-2 Bulgaria U21
The Republic of Ireland Under 21s made it 12-games unbeaten on Tuesday night as an 89th minute goal by Paddy McCarthy ensured a 3-2 victory over a determined Bulgaria at United Park, Drogheda.

Republic of Ireland U21: Henderson (Notts County); McStay (Leeds United), McCarthy (Manchester City), Fitzgerald (Blackburn Rovers), Capper (Scarborough); McGeady (Celtic), Potter (Liverpool), Whelan (Manchester City), Kearney (Cork City), Elliott (Sunderland), Doyle (Cork City).
Subs: Murphy (Swansea City) for Henderson, Tabb (Brentford) for Doyle, Thornton (Sunderland) for Kearney (all half time), Flood (Manchester City) for Potter (66 mins), Kendrick (Darlington) for Capper (75 mins)

Well done to the team who are now 12 games unbeaten! And well done especially to John Fitzgerald, our very own Blackburn Rover from Dublin who has represented his country again at under 21 level. John is continuing his rise to the top is a regular this season in Blackburn Rovers Reserve Team Squad. He has already represented The Republic of Ireland at Youth and Under 20 levels.

Well finally the football withdrawal symptoms have come to an end! We can now look forward to 9 months of football action!

We would like to wish our President Matt Jansen, Manager Graeme Souness, Captain Barry Ferguson and everyone in Blackburn Rovers Football Club the very best of luck in the season ahead, from all of us in The Irish Rovers.

Everyone in The Irish Rovers would like to thank Bray Wanderers most sincerely for all their hard work and effort that they put into last Saturday's visit of Blackburn Rovers Football Club to Bray, especially Eddie Cox, Aine Breathnach and Jack O'Neill. Thank you again for making the day most memorable.

Well Saturday arrived and we all got very excited seeing our beloved Blackburn Rovers back on Irish soil again! There was quite a large 'Blue - White Army' that traveled over to Ireland and The Irish Rovers and all Rovers Supporters meet up in The Katie Gallagher's Pub on the Saturday afternoon before the match. The camaraderie continued into the Carlisle Grounds and we were rewarded by a very productive game of football, with Rovers turning out a 4 - 0 victory.

It was a great opportunity for us to see all our favorite players and also to have a glimpse of the players Graeme Souness will have in mind for the first match in The Premiership Season against West Bromwich Albion this Saturday 14th August.

The Irish Rovers Player of The Season Trophy was presented to Jonathon Stead on the pitch before kick off by our Chairman Mitchell Sheridan. Jonathan was delighted to receive his trophy and celebrated with a very fine goal for Rovers just before half time! We hope he will continue with his success for Rovers for many seasons to come!

We had some of our junior members performing mascot duty before kick off - many thanks to David McCooey, Timothy Sheridan and Kyle Strahan who flew the flag for The Irish Rovers! We also had a few more involved in a penalty shoot out at half time!

Our sincere thanks must go to Bray Wanderers, especially Eddie Cox, Aine Breathnach and Jack O'Neill for organising everything and for all their generous and untiring help in making our day out a most successful and memorable one. Thanks again for everything!

The Blackburn Rovers Squad that played Bray Wanderers;

Amoruso, De Pedro, Dickov, Douglas, Emerton, Enckelman, Ferguson, Flitcroft, Gallagher, Gray, Gresko, Johansson, Matteo, Neill, Stead, Yelldell, Yorke.

BREAKING NEWS ... The Blackburn Rovers Squad to play Bray Wanderers has just been announced. Rovers will choose the team from;

Amoruso, De Pedro, Dickov, Douglas, Emerton, Enckelman, Ferguson, Flitcroft, Gallagher, Gray, Gresko, Johansson, Tugay, Matteo, Neill, Stead, Yelldell, Yorke.

HOW TO GET TO THE CARLISLE GROUNDS, BRAY

The best way to get to the Carlisle Ground in Bray is to take the DART (local train) from Dublin to Bray. At the station exit, take an immediate RIGHT. The ground is @ 50 meters in front of you! Take the next RIGHT and Katie Gallagher's is over the train tracks on the right.

Unfortunately, The DART will be under maintenance during the weekend and only the South Bound line shall be running.

Normal DART services will be running to Bray BUT ONLY from Pearse Street Station. If you are traveling by train, we urge you to please check with your local station for further information.

HOW TO GET YOUR TICKETS FOR SATURDAY'S MATCH

Tickets can be collected from Jim Cully - he will be in The 51 from about 8.00pm onwards Friday evening and will be in The Katie Gallagher's Pub on Saturday afternoon. PLEASE COLLECT YOUR TICKETS BEFORE 6.00 PM SATURDAY.

Tickets are priced the same as last year - € 15 Adult and € 5 Junior.

In order not to be disappointed, all members are urged to please get in touch with Jim Cully james@theirishrovers.com to book their tickets as soon as possible.

Well Saturday is almost upon us and we are all looking forward to seeing Blackburn Rovers coming over to Ireland again. This is going to be a fantastic opportunity to see Rovers final preseason friendly and a good opportunity to see what team Graeme Souness will choose for the first game in The Premiership.

We will be presenting The Irish Rovers Player of The Season Trophy to Jonathon Stead on the pitch before kick off, while some of our junior members shall be involved with a penalty shoot out at half time, so please come down early and not only support The Rovers, support your Supporters Association too!

There will be a large 'Blue - White Army' traveling over and The Irish Rovers are planning a get together for all Rovers supporters on Friday evening before hand in The 51 Pub, Haddington Road, Dublin 4, which is just off Baggot Street Bridge.

MEMBERS WILL BE IN THE 51 FROM 8.00 PM ONWARDS!

If you can't make The 51 on the Friday evening, don't despair because all Rovers Supporters are meeting up in The Katie Gallagher's Pub (which is situated just across the road from Bray's grounds) on the Saturday evening before the match.

As I'm sure you are aware of, at our AGM in June a new Committee was elected. All the relevant posts and offices were filled out (see end of page).

As the new Chairman, the first official duty I would like to make is to publicly thank our previous Chairman Steve Taylor.

Thank you Steve - we all are very grateful for all your hard and unselfish work behind the scenes in The Irish Rovers, which, from time to time went completely unnoticed and mostly unappreciated. Believe me, we did very much appreciate it and we are very grateful to you for the hard work and effort you put into the organising and setting up of our Supporters Association in particular.

We've had our up's and down's as a Committee, but on the whole, mostly up's - there are some fantastic memories of first trips, first football matches, first time in Jumpin' Jacks etc., etc. from most of our members, which of course, wouldn't have happened without you! Steve, you've got an awful lot to answer for!!!

Unfortunately for us, Steve has had to stand down from office because of his work and family commitments - absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he's up to his eyes with Kildare Town Supporters Club!

The Committee will still be in close contact with Steve, as he will be taking full charge of the merchandising end of things, so everyone please keep a close eye on the web site for new Tee Shirts, Polo Shirts, Fleece Jackets etc., etc.!

Once again, thank you very much Steve from The Committee, members, everyone associated with The Irish Rovers and from me in particular.

Cheers!

Mitchell

(Please check the Photos section to be "wowed" by our silky skills......!)

This took place in Newbridge Town Football Club on Saturday 3rd July 2004, and The Committee would like to thank everyone who took part in what turned out to be a very successful event! Congratulations go to Bray Wanderers who have won The Irish Rovers Challenge Cup for the second time in less than a year!

The End of Season Social will take place on the 3rd July 2004 in Newbridge. This is planned to include a 5-a-side football tournament, attendance at the Kildare County-v-Bray Wanderers League of Ireland match, and dinner and drinks in Newbridge itself. It is planned to make this an annual event and we would ask all members to support this initiative.

AGM is confirmed for Tuesday 8th June at 8pm in The 51, Haddington Road, Dublin 4. If anyone has any issues they want raised at the AGM or ideas for next year, if possible, contact any one of the committee so we can put the issue on the agenda, and look into the feasibility of implementing any suggestions. If anyone needs directions to The 51 get in touch with Richard. Membership will also be open for renewal at the AGM, and it would be a great help to all of us if as many people as possible could renew on the night, it would ensure your membership reaches Blackburn Rovers earlier and will save us a substantial amount of money on the postage of forms, which we can then use in providing more for all our members. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on the night, if you haven't met us before don't worry, we're not near as bad as we seem!

The AGM will take place on the 8th June 2004, membership will be available for renewal on this day. Provisionally scheduled for The 51, at 8pm.

A 6-a-side football tournament was organised by the Irish Rovers for after the Portsmouth game on the 27th March. Aside from ourselves, two teams from the London branch of the supporters association, a team from BRFCS.com and the eventual winners a team styling themselves 'A Heartbreaking Team of Staggering Genius' competed. The tournament was a huge success all-round and we'd like to thank all the teams who took part for helping to make it so.

The results:

A new force has entered the world of football management games for so long dominated by the Collyer brothers, and it is to my delight that I can report that the makers of this game have realised what so many others have failed to, we don't want a Championship Manager clone. Blackburn Rovers Club Manager is a novel approach to the football management genre, it gives you the feeling of being in the Ewood hotseat as opposed to the general football manager feeling. The game has the full support of Blackburn Rovers Football Club and is packed with a wealth of official contributions, including hundreds of pictures.

"So how does it play?", I hear you ask. Surprisingly realistic, it really is like being Rovers manager, you're team will play Arsenal off the park one week, and lose to Partick Thistle without getting a shot the next. I must warn you, this game is addictive, you'll readily spend an entire day sitting at the screen telling yourself "just one last game". There is a wealth of options in both tactics and training, and a sizeable database of purchasable players.

Good news for those of you running low spec computers is that the system requirements for this game aren't excessive, you won't need to rush out and buy a new PC just to get you're Rovers fix.

If you're a Blackburn Rovers fan, buy this game. If your a football fan, buy Championship Manager. If like most of us you're both, buy both.

It's all happening again, I'm sure I'm not the only one getting gut-churning echoes of the last time Rovers were relegated at the current moment in time, a talented team who aren't performing and with a few notable exceptions, don't seem to care. Come along to The 51 this Easter Monday and see if we can improve our survival chances against ex-Rover Chris Coleman's Fulham, from 7.30pm.

The winners of the Blackburn Rovers Club Manager games and the auction for the signed football have been decided. We would like to congratulate the successful parties, you will have your prizes shortly.

An official trip is being organised to the Manchester United game on the 1st May, if you are interested in attending please contact Steve ASAP as there is a large demand for tickets for this game. Provisional details are to fly over on Friday and back on Sunday.

This event has been rescheduled in order to try and facilitate the attendance of our President, further information will be supplied shortly

The committee have obtained a football from Blackburn Rovers, signed by the majority of the current first team squad. The football will be auctioned among members of The Irish Rovers, the highest bid received by Mitchell Sheridan by the 26th March 2004 will be deemed to have won the auction, the bidding currently stands at €85. If you would like to bid, please email mitch@theirishrovers.com

Thanks to the good folks at JustFootball we have two copies of Blackburn Rovers Club Manager to give away, to be in with a chance of winning this prize just complete the following in 10 words or less: "Dwight Yorke is always smiling because..... ". Competition will close on the 25th March, all answers by email, or carrier pigeon, to richard@theirishrovers.com

The committee are in the process of planning the Irish Rovers end of season social, an event which we hope will become an annual event. We have earmarked Saturday 22nd May, the day of the FA Cup final, as the date for this event, and hope to be joined by representatives of the other Rovers supporters associations, as well as, hopefully, some of the players.

The Irish Rovers lapel badges will be available from the end of February. The badges will cost €3 each, or 2 badges for €5

Fleece-lined jackets bearing the Irish Rovers crest will be available shortly, priced at €75. The last of the polo-shirts and t-shirts are also available, but going fast, so don't delay. If you are interested in either of these items contact steve@theirishrovers.com

Due to lack of interest thus far this game may be abandoned as an official trip and organised privately in order to reduce costs for those travelling. As such, if you are interested in attending this game please contact us ASAP in order that you don't miss out.

A full official trip is being organised for the home game against Portsmouth on Saturday 27th March. Provisional details are that we will be flying into Manchester on Friday 26th and returning on the Sunday evening. These details will be confirmed and a price set as soon as possible. All aspects of this trip, travel, match tickets, accommodation and entertainment will be organised on your behalf by the committee. If you would prefer to make your own way to the game, match tickets only should also be available, subject to availability. A 5-a-side football tournament is being organised by the committee to take place on the Saturday morning, The Irish Rovers will be competing against other supporters associations and independant teams. If you are interested in competing in this 5-a-side competition please contact martin@theirishrovers.com as soon as possible.If you are interested in attending this trip please contact steve@theirishrovers.com , places will be distributed on a first come first served basis which will commence once a final price is determined. We have been invited by the London branch of the Supporters Association to be guests at their annual dinner at Ewood Park on the Saturday night, it is expected that this function will be attended by players and staff of Blackburn Rovers. The cost of attending this function will be in the region of £25 and places are limited to a maximum of 15 people, again contact Steve if interested in attending this event. More information will be provided on this trip as soon as it's available.

A potential official trip is planned to the home game against Manchester United on 1st May, the category of this trip will be dependant on numbers, so if interested contact steve@theirishrovers.com It is possible that the date of this game may be altered for TV coverage

Some members will be travelling to the Arsenal game on the 13th March, but due to the potential for rescheduling of this fixture due to Champions League fixtures and TV scheduling, this will not be an officially organised trip. As for all games tickets are available from Steve, steve@theirishrovers.com . If you are interested in attending this fixture and meeting up with other members in Blackburn we can put you in contact with them. The committee do warn however that this game has a possibility of being moved to Sunday the 14th March or another date.

We are meeting up for a Christmas drink or three in The Fifty-One from 8pm on Saturday 20th December, hopefully with a win over Villa to celebrate.

The committee of the Irish Rovers would like to wish all our members a very happy Christmas and all the best for the New Year.

A potential trip to the Chelsea game at Ewood is being planned. The game is on Sunday 1st February 2004. Flying Ryanair to Blackpool Saturday morning, return Monday evening, cost of flights €40. If interested please contact steve@theirishrovers.com as soon as possible

We are meeting up to watch this game in the Fifty-One on 14th December from 13.00, kick-off is at 14.00, match is live on Premiership Plus.

If anyone who is travelling over to Ewood for the Everton game fancies being introduced to the delights of Blackburn by our Social Secretary or just meeting for the game, contact adrian@theirishrovers.com