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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.
| Full name | Blackburn Rovers Academy and Under-21s | |||
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| Nickname(s) | Rovers, Blue and Whites, The Riversiders[1] | |||
| Founded | 1875 | |||
| Ground | County Ground (Leyland), Leyland, Lancashire | |||
| Capacity | ~2,300 | |||
| Head of Academy | Stuart Jones | |||
| U21 Lead Coach | Mike Sheron | |||
| League | Premier League 2 U18 Premier League | |||
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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, Joe Rankin-Costello and Hayden Carter.
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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]
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Development Squad
- As of 29 November 2024[5]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on Loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Academy (Under-18s)
- Updated 29 November 2024.[6]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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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
James Beattie- Marlon Broomes
- John Buckley
- Ben Burgess
- Hayden Carter
- Neil Danns
- Matt Derbyshire
Jonathan Douglas- Damien Duff
- David Dunn
- Rory Finneran
Paul Gallagher- Jake Garrett
- Grant Hanley
Adam Henley- Keith Hill
Junior Hoilett- Damien Johnson
Jemal Johnson- Phil Jones
- Jake Kean
- Darragh Lenihan
- Harry Leonard
- Jason Lowe
- Jay McEveley
- Tyler Magloire
- Connor Mahoney
- Josh Morris
Ryan Nyambe
Martin Olsson- John O'Sullivan
Sergio Peter- Ashley Phillips
- Joe Rankin-Costello
David Raya- Martin Taylor
- James Thomas
- Willem Tomlinson
- Lewis Travis
- Keith Treacy
- Adam Wharton
- Scott Wharton
- Jason Wilcox
Other notable academy graduates
- Michael Aspin
- Jason Banton
- Keith Barker
Flavien Enzo Boyomo
Alex Bruce- Joel Byrom
- James Connolly
- Shaun Corcoran
- Jamie Clarke
- Neil Danns
Raffaele De Vita- Ciaran Donnelly
- Aaron Doran
- Jack Doyle
- Darren Dunning
- Ryan Edwards
- Frank Fielding
- Andy Fisher
- Joe Garner
- Joe Grayson
- Gavin Gunning
- Gary Hamilton
- Lewis Hardcastle
- Andy Haworth
- Callum Hendry
- Tom Hitchcock
- Bryan Hodge
- Alan Judge
- Sam Lavelle
Jamie Maclaren- Lewis Mansell
- Alex Marrow
- Marcus Marshall
- Eddie Nolan
- John Nutter
- Jack O'Connell
- Anthony O'Connor
- Josh O'Keefe
Osayamen Osawe- Ben Paton
- Matty Pearson
- Kevin Pezzoni
- Dan Pike
- Anthony Pilkington
- Matthew Platt
- Marc Richards
- Leam Richardson
- Ryan Robinson
- Gareth Stewart
- Gary Tallon
- Andy Taylor
- Michael Taylor
- Lewis Thompson
- Peter Thorne
- Matthew Urwin
- Jonathan Walters
- Jerome Watt
- Anthony Williams
- Ben Williams
- Dean Winnard
- Callum Wright
- Chanka Zimba
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