East Lancashire derby

The East Lancashire Derby is a football match between Blackburn Rovers F.C. and Burnley F.C.. There is a rivalry from a town standpoint as the two Lancashire towns are only a few miles apart. Accrington Stanley F.C. stands geographically in the middle, but is not taken seriously as a rival by either, which along with Preston North End F.C. and Blackpool F.C. are considered the Big Four of Lancashire.

A significant number of Rovers fans also consider Manchester United as arch rivals due to the fact that Rovers are Premier League mainstays these days. Although many of those Rovers fans consider Burnley rivals due to the historic rivalry they are no longer viewed as the only main rival due to the league/stature/wealth gap between the clubs.

Blackburn Rovers came out on top in the last match between the sides, beating Burnley 2-1 in the FA Cup 5th round replay at Ewood Park on 1st March 2005.

In the last meeting of the two sides, in a FA Cup 5th round replay on 1 March 2005, Blackburn came out on top beating Burnley 2-1 thanks to goals from Tugay Kerimoğlu and Morten Gamst Pedersen and Micah Hyde scoring Burnley's goal.

The East Lancashire Derby is one of the oldest derby matches in the game, featuring two former English football champions.

Both teams were founder members of the Football League, and both competed in the first ever season, the 1888/89 season. The first ever competitive league match between the two sides took place at Turf Moor on 3rd November 1888, and Blackburn won the game 7-1. Blackburn also won the return fixture at Ewood Park 4-2.

Blackburn is one of the elite few former First Division champions who have wrested the Premier League title away from Manchester United, while Burnley, at the other end of the spectrum, has yet to compete in the top flight since it has been rebranded as the Premiership.

Statistics

Total Matches

Over the years, the two clubs have played 91 competitive matches against one another.

• Blackburn have won 37 of them
• Burnley have won 39 of them
• There have been 15 draws

Highest Wins

Blackburn's biggest win over Burnley was also their first, winning 7-1 in 1888. Their highest scoring match over Burnley was a victory of 8-3 in the 1929/30 season.

Burnley's biggest win over Blackburn, and also their highest scoring match was a 6-0 win in the 1895/96 season.