No. 84: Ewood Park [Blackburn Rovers]

Saturday, 2nd May 2015
Blackburn Rovers v. Ipswich Town [Championship] 3-2

My goodness this was an early start. A 12.15 kick-off for the last day of the Championship season (why exactly, I'm not sure) meant I had to leave home at 7.30am to be in Blackburn in good time for this clash.

Typical bank holiday weekend weather, it was cold and drizzly rain when I arrived in Lancashire just under 4 hours later. This was the first game of a double-header this weekend so I had booked a room for the evening in the surprisingly comfortable Fernhurst Lodge, within eyesight of The House that Jack Built.

After parking up at the hotel, I walked down to the ground and took in Ewood Park for the first time. It's an impressive ground - three of the four stands having been built in the 1990s by Jack Walker's steel millions.

Money that also of course bought the club the Premiership title in 1995 - something that you are reminded of outside the ground where pictures of Walker and star striker Alan Shearer lifting the gaudy trophy are plastered in-between the stands.

For obvious reasons, Walker is still revered in Blackburn and there is a statue outside the Blackburn End claiming him to be "Rovers' Greatest Supporter". Certainly, his £600m fortune was ploughed into Blackburn in the 90s, turning them from a mid-table 2nd tier side into Premiership champions.

In the years since Walker died in 2000, these sort of 'sugar-daddies' bankrolling Premiership football clubs have become commonplace - and frankly, £600m would hardly touch the sides these days in times when Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour can draw on personal wealth in the tens of billions to buy titles.

Blackburn End Facade, Ewood Park.

But Walker was the first to throw personal wealth at an unfashionable club, and the first to successfully challenge the established order in the age of Premiership money.

What is never forgotten though, especially in these parts, is that he was always just a local boy supporting his local team - so it's difficult not to begrudge him nor Rovers' fleeting time at the top and to judge it quite the same as today's cash-rich clubs.

BRFC Memorial Garden @ Ewood Park and inset: Jack Walker Statue nearby.

It still seems so recent but 20 years ago was a very different time in football terms and Blackburn and Walker's 'buying' of the title has to be viewed differently than it would similarly today, I feel.

This very much still feels like a club of its community. Despite some bad feeling towards current owners the Venkys, manager Gary Bowyer, in charge since relegation from the top flight in 2012, seems to have steadied a ship that was looking down the barrel of a second successive relegation to the 3rd tier. On the pitch at least, this looks like a side that could challenge for a return to the top flight again next season.

View of Ewood Park from the wooded hilltop behind.

I had a quick scout around the ground, surrounded on three sides by red-brick terraced houses, typical of a post-industrial Lancashire mill-town, and behind the Riverside Stand by a wooded hill that I remember always being visible when games came live from here in the Premiership's early days. You are never far from the beautiful Pennine countryside in these parts.

Ewood Butty Box. Inset: Breakfast Butty!

I had just enough time to grab some food pre-match after my long journey, and elected for a sausage & black pudding teacake from the Ewood Butty Box near the ground. Absolutely bloody lovely and did take the edge off the driving drizzle and cold wind whistling around Blackburn.

Shortly after kick-off I realised in fact that I had not come properly attired for an afternoon sat in Ewood Park in early May. I had come with a thick jumper and a warm coat on, easily well-attired for an afternoon sat in Ewood Park in May, I had initially thought.

But I hadn't allowed for the fact that on this particular Ewood Park afternoon in May, Blackburn seemed to have the weather from northern Norway in January. It was absolutely freezing as a cold Arctic wind seemed to be whipping in off the West Pennines and designed to head directly through my clothes to chill my very bones.

The Riverside Stand: Oldest at Ewood Park, completed 1988.

Thankfully, the game was a lively enough affair, and a half-time cup of Bovril warmed the cockles enough to keep me in my seat for the full 90 minutes.

Blackburn of course had nothing to play for other than pride. Visitors Ipswich had it all to play for, but only needed to pick up a point to guarantee play-offs, and it looked like they were going to  comfortably cruise into the post-season after going 1-0 up in the second minute.

But credit to the home side, they fought back strong and before half-time went in 2-1 up, and the Tractor Boys in the stands were looking worried - Brentford were winning and now had a superior goal difference - Ipswich would be out of the play-offs if only Derby could earn point at home to lowly Reading.

Ipswich Fans in the Darwen End Stand.

But then, Ipswich were still in the driving seat and only needed that point themselves - could they get it in the second half and ease their fears?

No. 3-1 Blackburn on 58 minutes. Suffolk fingernails were being chomped nervously in the Darwen End.

Suddenly, a roar from the visitors with 20 minutes to go - they'd heard that Derby had gone 2-0 down and were looking unlikely to overtake Ipswich, regardless of the result at Ewood Park. Shortly after, Ipswich pulled a goal back from the penalty spot. Then at Derby, Reading also scored a penalty to make it 0-3 and it was game over for the Rams.

Match Action!

Ipswich would be heading into the play-offs to take on arch rivals Norwich for a place at the Wembley final.

After all that tension - Ipswich actually were never out of a play-off position at any point that afternoon - but only scraped in on goal difference in the end. What a climax to the season!

Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery: Closed.

I was quite happy to get out of the ground and go and warm up in my hotel room for a bit, so didn't stay to clap off the players. But thanks to the early kick-off, it was still only 2.30pm and I had a whole evening in Blackburn to look forward to!

Only problem is, not to be too unkind to the town - there isn't really much to do here. I could have spent an hour or two in the Museum and Art Gallery, which apparently has a fantastic Egyptology collection, but that had closed by the time I walked into the town centre.

I had a walk around trying to find something else cultural I might be able to while away my time with, but I'd left it a little bit late. Even the shutters were coming down on the 'Blackburn is Open" pop-up arts centre. Which was only slightly ironic.

"Blackburn is Open". No, it isn't.

The only pub I could find that didn't seem a bit ropey was the Wetherspoon's next to the cathedral, 'The Postal Order' - of usual standard for the pub chain which at least meant you could grab a decent beer or two.

So I popped in there for a quick pint and scoured the internet for other options that evening. My fears and those of other locals I'd already consulted were confirmed - there wasn't really anything to entertain a visitor for the evening in Blackburn.

Basically, I could either:
a) Spend £30 to see The Chatty Man himself Alan Carr, who was performing that evening in     Blackburn's King George's Hall;
b) Look at the statue of William Gladstone;
     or
c) Look at a shrub planted in a 'Welcome to Blackburn' plant pot.

The delights of Blackburn: Cathedral, Gladstone, Shrub & Alan Carr Concert.

I decided against 'a' on the grounds of being a fan of comedy, completed 'b' and 'c' in full and then went to get some grub.

Thankfully, on the food front Blackburn did not disappoint. The number one recommend I'd had was to try the Calypso Caribbean restaurant up in Eanam Wharf, just a 10 minute walk from the town centre past the Thwaites brewery.

After my meal, I managed to have a quick chat with the proprietor Dave Wilson, who was hanging around by the entrance greeting his customers and keeping an eye on things. Dave grew up on Moss Side in Manchester, surrounded by a West Indian community and learnt to cook Caribbean food from a friend's grandmother. He married a Blackburn lass and so decided - why the hell not open up a restaurant here? I'm glad he did - it was fantastic.

Calypso Caribbean Restaurant, Blackburn. Yeh Man!

Calypso was actually fully-booked that evening but the friendly girl at the bar said she'd fit me in if I was able to be in and gone by 8pm. As it was only 6pm I didn't think that would be a problem, so took my seat and ordered a can of Red Stripe whilst perusing the authentic menu.

I hadn't quite realised I'd be eating such a feast when I agreed to the 2 hour time limit though, and in the end I only just made it out in time! Not being a connoisseur of Caribbean food, I went for the Chef's Platter to get a good selection of everything. Or as the menu said - "a little bit of dis and a little bit of dat!"

Chef's Platter, Calypso Restaurant. Excellent!

It sure did have a bit of everything - curried goat, meat patty, jerk chicken, fried plantain, dumplings, rice & peas and more - what a great meal! I even washed it down with a crisp, refreshing 'Trinidad' cocktail (rum, peppermint and coconut water) and a mango and coconut cheesecake to finish.

I was stuffed to the rafters and just about managed to wobble out of the door just before my 8pm time limit was up.

Having asked in the restaurant where the best place for a few beers on a Saturday evening in Blackburn was, I was disappointingly told the Wetherspoon's I'd already been in was by far the best option. I tried another place instead nearby but realised they were right.

I had another couple of disappointing pints in ugly keg-beer only pubs in town before calling it a day, and wondering whether I should have gone to see The Chatty Man after all. Especially when I was almost roped into a needless scrap in the Wetherspoon's when one group of lads took exception to being told to stop swearing by another group and asked me for my opinion.

I told them I didn't give a fuck about swearing in pubs and made my exit.

Blackburn Street Scene, Town Centre.

So Blackburn's pub scene was sadly lacking. You can't have everything though, and I did have a great feed, saw a cracking game of football and had a comfortable bed for the night rather than a four-hour drive home to look forward to. And of course, I saw another town I would not have seen were it not for this blog. And I'm grateful for that.

Blackburn might not have much of a nightlife, but they've got a football club that won the Premiership title 20 years ago - I'm sure the locals will forego the gastropubs and CAMRA recognition for that legacy any day.

With thanks to Chris Heartfield (@pokermaniac2012)

Next up - OLDHAM ATHLETIC!