Blackburn Rovers FC

Blackburn Rovers were founded in 1875 by a group of young men at the St Leger Hotel in Blackburn, Lancashire. At a time when football was just beginning to professionalise, they took the word “Rovers” to signal a club that was not tied to one pitch or set of facilities, but free to play wherever grounds could be found. Dozens of teams of that era used names like Rovers, Wanderers, or Ramblers for the same reason — they were literally roving football clubs, before permanent homes were built.

The town of Blackburn itself was one of the beating hearts of the Industrial Revolution. Once a quiet Lancashire settlement, by the 18th and 19th centuries it had exploded into a powerhouse of cotton weaving and textile mills. Its smoke-filled skyline, factory whistles, and rows of terraced houses made it a symbol of Victorian industry. But the town was also infamous for hardship: dangerous working conditions, slum housing, and strikes. Football emerged here, as in so many mill towns, as the game of working people. Factory teams and church clubs offered recreation and identity to communities who worked long hours in the looms.

The Rovers quickly rose to prominence. In the 1880s, they became one of the first clubs to challenge the dominance of southern amateur sides. They won the FA Cup five times between 1884 and 1891, cementing Blackburn as one of football’s original powerhouses. In 1888, they were also one of the founding members of the Football League, giving them a central role in shaping the professional game.

Let’s get to their badge then. Simple. Elegant. Steeped in local pride. The centrepiece is the red rose of Lancashire, one of England’s most historic symbols. It dates back to the Wars of the Roses in the 15th century, when the House of Lancaster, represented by the red rose, fought for control of the throne against the House of York, whose emblem was the white rose. Though centuries have passed, the red rose remains the emblem of Lancashire, carried proudly on civic coats of arms, county flags, and local institutions. When Blackburn line up, as they so often do, against Yorkshire’s heavy hitters such as Sheffield and Leeds – that centuries old civil war plays out on the pitch all over again.

Beneath the rose sits the club’s Latin motto: Arte et Labore — “By Skill and Hard Work.” It is the official motto of Blackburn’s borough, reflecting both the textile craft of its people and the relentless labour that defined their lives. The simple blue-and-white halved shirts that the Rovers still wear today are among the most classic in English football, unchanged for over a century.

The team’s modern high point came in the 1990s, when Jack Walker, a local steel magnate, invested his fortune in the club. Walker has grown up in Blackburn, starting life as an apprentice sheet metal worker at 13. He served in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and then took over the family sheet metal business. He turned it into one of the giants of British industry – selling it for a then record of £360m to British Steel in 1992. The company however continued with other operations such as ‘British European’ airways which became low-cost operator Flybe. Walker was a true Lancashire success story – and his achievements soon came to be reflected on the pitch.

Under manager Kenny Dalglish and powered by striker Alan Shearer, the Rovers won the Premier League title in 1995, an astonishing achievement for a club from a modest industrial town. That triumph remains one of English football’s most romantic stories.

Blackburn Rovers are cotton looms and red roses, Victorian factories and Jack Walker’s steel fortune, Alan Shearer’s goals and one of the most iconic Premier League teams in history – despite falling from grace in recent years. Their badge is not just a flower but a reminder of a county’s heritage and a town that bloomed in industry, laboured for its place, and still clings proudly to its footballing roots.