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

Blackburn Rovers F.C. Academy and Under-21s are the youth teams of Blackburn Rovers. The Blackburn Rovers Academy holds Category One status. The current manager of the Under 21's side is Mike Sheron. 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.

Blackburn Rovers Academy and Under-21s
Full nameBlackburn Rovers Academy and Under-21s
Nickname(s)Rovers, Blue and Whites, The Riversiders[1]
Founded1875 (1875)
GroundCounty Ground (Leyland), Leyland, Lancashire
Capacity~2,300
Head of AcademyStuart Jones
U21 Lead CoachMike Sheron
LeaguePremier League 2
U18 Premier League

Under-21s team

Blackburn Rovers Under-21s play in the Premier League 2 Division 1.

Damien Johnson is the former manager the Under-21. 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 21s play their home games at The Lancashire FA County Ground at Leyland, Preston.

The team now is mainly made up of players acquired from local academies like Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Everton. Several Under 21's players have recently made the step up into John Eustace's first team, including Lewis Travis, John Buckley,Lionel Messi, Joe Rankin-Costello and Hayden Carter.

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 21s. 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, Ryan Nyambe, David Raya and Jack O'Connell have graduated from the clubs academy. Recent graduates such as Lewis Travis, Joe Rankin-Costello, Scott Wharton, Hayden Carter and John Buckley among others, play for Blackburn Rovers Championship team currently.

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 9 August 2022[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  ENG Jordan Eastham
— GK  ENG Felix Goddard
— GK  ENG Nicholas Michalski
— DF  NIR Tom Atcheson
— DF  ENG Sam Barnes
— DF  ENG Jake Batty
— DF  MSR Lenni Cirino
— DF  ENG Max Davies
— DF  ENG Rhys Doherty
— DF  ENG Leo Duru
— DF  ENG Patrick Gamble
— DF  ENG Georgie Gent
— DF  ENG Matthew Litherland
— DF  JPN Jay Haddow
— DF  ENG Charlie Olson
— DF  ENG Brandon Powell
— DF  ENG George Pratt
— MF  ENG Joe Boggan
— MF  ENG Adam Caddick
— MF  ENG James Edmondson
— MF  ENG Stephen Edmondson
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF  WAL Ben Fyles
— MF  IRL Zak Gilsenan
— MF  ENG Jared Harlock
— MF  SCO Kristi Montgomery
— MF  ENG Lorenzo Mullarky-Matthews
— MF  ENG Paul Murphy-Worrell
— MF  POL Junior Nsangou
— MF  ENG Harley O'Grady-Macken
— MF  FRA Jalil Saadi
— MF  ENG Daniel Shaw
— MF  POL Jackson Shorrocks
— MF  ENG Zack Stritch
— MF  ENG Charlie Weston
— MF  ENG Isaac Whitehall
— MF  ENG Nathan Willis
— MF  ENG Harrison Wood
— FW  ENG Alex Baker
— FW  POL Dominik Biniek
— FW  IRL Tom Bloxham
— FW  ENG Igor Tyjon
— FW  ENG Ethan Walker

Out on Loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player

Academy (Under-18s)
Updated 9 August 2022.[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  ENG Solomon Honor
— GK  PAK Adam Khan
— GK  ENG Nicholas Michalski
— DF  ENG Phillip Chinedu
— DF  ENG Max Davies
— DF  ENG Micheal Decandia
— DF  ENG Rhys Doherty
— DF  WAL Bruce Leeming
— DF  ENG Matthew Litherland
— DF  ENG Tyler Mansbridge
— DF  ENG Brandon Powell
— DF  ENG Teddy Ramwell
— DF  ENG Ben Thirkill
— MF  ENG Lewis Bell
— MF  ENG Joe Boggan
— MF  ENG Nathan Dlamini
— MF  ENG Isaac Dunn
— MF  ENG Stephen Edmondson
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF  HUN Patrik Farkas
— MF  IRL Rory Finneran
— MF  ENG Jacob Fowler
— MF  ENG Lucas Houghton
— MF  ENG Valentin Joseph
— MF  ENG Freddie Leatherbarrow
— MF  ENG Lorenzo Mullarky-Matthews
— MF  ENG Paul Murphy-Worrell
— MF  POL Junior Nsangou
— MF  ENG Harley O'Grady-Macken
— MF  ENG Daniel Shaw
— MF  POL Jackson Shorrocks
— MF  ENG Zack Stritch
— MF  ENG Bradley Taylor
— MF  ENG Frank Vare
— MF  ENG Nathan Willis
— FW  ENG Igor Tyjon

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. Archived from the original on 23 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.
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