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Blackburn Rovers F.C. Under-23s and Academy

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Blackburn Rovers Academy and Under-23s
Full nameBlackburn Rovers Academy and Under-23s
Nickname(s)Rovers, Blue and Whites, The Riversiders[1]
Founded1875; 149 years ago (1875)
GroundCounty Ground (Leyland), Leyland, Lancashire
Capacity~2,300
Head of AcademyStuart Jones
U23 Lead CoachDamien Johnson
LeaguePremier League 2
U18 Premier League
Current season

Blackburn Rovers F.C. Academy and Under-23s are the youth teams of Blackburn Rovers. The Blackburn Rovers Academy holds Category One status. The current manager of the Under 23's side is Billy Barr, who was appointed following Damien Johnson's promotion to First Team Technical Football Director. Billy Barr has managed several youth sides at Blackburn, including most recently the Under 18's, and many of the players now playing under him at 23's level have played for him for many years. 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-23s team

Blackburn Rovers Under-23s play in the Premier League 2 Division 1.

Damien Johnson is the former manager the Under-23. 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 23s play their home games at The Lancashire FA County Ground at Leyland, Preston.

The team now is mainly consistent of players poached from local academies like Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Everton. Several Under 23's players have recently made the step up into Tony Mowbray's first team, including Lewis Travis, John Buckley, Joe Rankin-Costello and Joe Grayson (son of former Blackburn player - now Blackpool manager Simon Grayson).

The Academy

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 23s. 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 and Jack O'Connell. Recent graduates such as Lewis Travis, Ryan Nyambe and David Raya all play for or played for Blackburn Rovers first team in the Championship today.

History & Facilities

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

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

Development Squad

As of 22 January 2021[5]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK England ENG Jordan Eastham
— GK England ENG Joe Hilton (on loan at Ross County)
— GK Greece GRE Antonis Stergiakis
— DF Gibraltar GIB Louie Annesley
— DF England ENG Sam Barnes
— DF England ENG Hayden Carter (on loan at Burton Albion)
— DF England ENG Joe Grayson (on loan at Oxford United)
— DF England ENG Tyler Magloire (on loan at Motherwell)
— DF England ENG Dan Pike
— DF Northern Ireland NIR Lewis Thompson
— MF England ENG Luke Brennan
— MF England ENG Samuel Durrant
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF Northern Ireland NIR Brad Lyons (on loan at Morecambe)
— MF Scotland SCO Connor McBride
— MF Spain ESP Stefan Mols
— MF England ENG Joe Nolan
— MF Canada CAN Ben Paton
— MF Morocco MAR Jalil Saadi
— MF England ENG Tom White
— MF England ENG Isaac Whitehall
— FW England ENG Sam Burns
— FW England ENG Daniel Butterworth
— FW Wales WAL Jack Vale (on loan at Rochdale)

Academy (Under-18s)

Updated 21 September 2020.[6]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK England ENG Aidan Dowling
— GK England ENG Felix Goddard
— DF England ENG Lenni Cirino
— DF England ENG James Connolly
— DF Indonesia IDN Joe Ferguson
— DF England ENG Patrick Gamble
— DF England ENG Jake Garrett
— DF England ENG Georgie Gent
— DF Japan JPN Jay Haddow
— DF Scotland SCO Kristi Montgomery
— DF England ENG George Pratt
— DF England ENG Adam Wharton
No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF England ENG George Wyatt
— MF England ENG Jared Harlock
— MF England ENG Ben Pleavin
— MF England ENG Charlie Weston
— MF England ENG Harrison Wood
— FW England ENG Alex Baker
— FW Scotland SCO Evan Cunningham
— FW Wales WAL Ben Fyles
— FW Australia AUS Zak Gilsenan
— FW England ENG Harry Leonard
— FW England ENG Brandon Lonsdale

Noted graduates

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

Other notable academy graduates

References

  1. ^ "Nicknames". Club Nicknames. The-Football-Club.com. 2 August 2009. Archived from the original on 7 September 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2009.
  2. ^ "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.
  3. ^ "Venky's spent £23m to buy Blackburn". Deccan Chronicle. 21 November 2010. Archived from the original on 26 November 2010. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  4. ^ "Blackburn to set up Indian academy". Fifa.com. Football Association. 8 July 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  5. ^ "Development Squad". Blackburn Rovers Official Site. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  6. ^ "Under-18s". rovers.co.uk. Retrieved 10 August 2019.

External links

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