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

Blackburn Rovers Academy and Under-23s

Full name	Blackburn Rovers Academy and Under-23s
Nickname(s)	Rovers, Blue and Whites, The Riversiders[1]
Founded	1875; 146 years ago (1875)
Ground	County Ground (Leyland), Leyland, Lancashire
Capacity	~2,300
Head of Academy	Stuart Jones
U23 Lead Coach	Damien Johnson
League	Premier League 2 U18 Premier League
Home colours Away colours

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 14 May 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  ENG Aidan Dowling — GK  ENG Jordan Eastham — GK  ENG Joe Hilton — GK  GRE Antonis Stergiakis — DF  GIB Louie Annesley (captain) — DF  ENG Sam Barnes — DF  ENG Lenni Cirino — DF  ENG Ashley Phillips — DF  ENG Dan Pike — MF  ENG Luke Brennan

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ENG Samuel Durrant — MF  ENG Jake Garrett — MF  ENG Jared Harlock — MF  ENG Joe Nolan — MF  MAR Jalil Saadi — MF  ENG Isaac Whitehall — FW  ENG Alex Baker — FW  ENG Sam Burns — FW  SCO Connor McBride — FW  WAL Jack Vale

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  IRL Will Blease — GK  ENG Felix Goddard — DF  ENG Jake Batty — DF  ENG Leo Duru — DF  IDN Joe Ferguson — DF  ENG Patrick Gamble — DF  ENG Georgie Gent — DF  JPN Jay Haddow — DF  ENG Charlie Olson — DF  ENG Ashley Phillips — DF  ENG George Pratt — MF  POL Dominik Biniek

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ENG Adam Caddick — MF  WAL Ben Fyles — MF  SCO Kristi Montgomery — MF  ENG Harley O'Grady-Macken — MF  ENG Charlie Weston — MF  ENG Adam Wharton — MF  ENG Harrison Wood — FW  ENG George Chmeil — FW  SCO Evan Cunningham — FW  AUS Zak Gilsenan — FW  ENG Harry Leonard — FW  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[]

External links[]

• Blackburn Rovers FC Official Website