Blackburn vs Everton
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The birth of the Premier League also heralded Blackburn Rovers' return to the top flight for the first time in 26 years. They underlined their ambition by breaking the English transfer record to sign a 22-year-old Alan Shearer for £3.2m. Other expensive signings ensured they finished an impressive fourth.
Owner Jack Walker continued to splash his cash and in their second season, his team were runners-up to arch North Western rivals Manchester United in 1993/94. The positions were reversed the following season as Rovers pipped United to the title on the last day of the season.The team have failed to reach those heights since then and in 1999, Rovers became the first former Premier League champions to be relegated. The club bounced back in 2001 and progress under Graeme Souness and then Mark Hughes has seen them qualify for Europe four times in six years.
Hughes left the club for Manchester City in June 2008 after helping them to a seventh place finish. He was replaced by Paul Ince later that month. However Ince was sacked on 16th December 2008 after a poor start to the season which brought just three wins from 17 matches. Sam Allardyce took over as manager, charged with the task of hauling Rovers away from the drop zone. They finished 15th, seven points clear of relegation. That finish was significantly bettered in the 2009/10 season when the club secured 10th place.
Club Heritage
Blackburn Rovers were born at a hotel meeting on 5th November 1875, organised by Shrewsbury school old boys Arthur Constantine and John Lewis. The club's patronage by the wealthy middle classes helped it stay afloat and outlive many of the other clubs in the area. As one of the top clubs, they were approached in 1888 to become one of the 12 founding members of the Football League. They finished the inaugural season in fourth place and unbeaten at home.
Rovers moved into their permanent home at Ewood Park in September 1890 and marked their first season there with a fifth FA Cup win. But a downturn in fortunes saw them narrowly escape relegation on several occasions and the 1928 FA Cup victory was their last major trophy for 67 years. Rovers were relegated from the top flight for the first time in 1936, signaling the start of their long struggle to regain their status as a top team. Relegation in 1966 saw the beginning of their 26-year exile from the top flight and it was not until Walker and his millions came on board in 1991 that Blackburn returned to their glory days.
Everton have maintained their place in the Premier League since its inception in 1992. The Toffees claimed a famous 1-0 win over Manchester United in the 1995 FA Cup final courtesy of a goal from Paul Rideout. Everton have often been overshadowed by their Merseyside rivals Liverpool but they have a glorious history of their own.
A fourth place finish under manager David Moyes in the 2004/05 campaign, coupled with sixth and fifth place finishes respectively in the 2006/07 and 07/08 seasons, cemented the club's status in the upper echelons of English football. Another fifth-placed finish came in 2008/09 along with an FA Cup final appearance. In 2009/10, the side got off to a slow start in the Barclays Premier League, but rallied in the second half of the season to produce an eighth placed finish, narrowly missing out on a Europa League place after being pipped to seventh spot by Liverpool.
Club Heritage
In 1878, the club was founded as St. Domingo FC so that the people from the parish of St Domingo's Church could participate in a sport outside of the summer months, when they played cricket. The team began playing on Stanley Park with no dressing rooms, carrying their own goalposts out onto the pitch. When people outside of the parish wanted to participate, the club was renamed Everton a year later.
Players recruited from other clubs were allowed to wear the shirts of their former teams and this caused much confusion. The need for a unified kit led to the dieing of the many different shirts black in order to avoid purchasing a brand new strip. The first league title arrived in the 1890/91 season. Royal Blue was settled on for the 1901/02 campaign. The signing of Dixie Dean in 1925 prompted the Toffees' first sustained period of success. His 60 goals in 39 league matches in the championship-winning 1927/28 season is still a top flight record.
A subsequent relegation and immediate promotion two years later, was followed by another title triumph on their return to the top flight in 1931/32. A second FA Cup victory was achieved with a 3-0 win over Manchester City a season after and the era ended with a title win in the 1938/39 season.The appointment of Howard Kendall as manager in 1981 heralded the most successful period in Everton's history. The league title was claimed in the 1984/85 and 1986/87 seasons, while the FA Cup was won in 1984. The Toffees' only European trophy arrived in the form of a Cup Winners' Cup final defeat of Rapid Vienna in 1984/85.
Owner Jack Walker continued to splash his cash and in their second season, his team were runners-up to arch North Western rivals Manchester United in 1993/94. The positions were reversed the following season as Rovers pipped United to the title on the last day of the season.The team have failed to reach those heights since then and in 1999, Rovers became the first former Premier League champions to be relegated. The club bounced back in 2001 and progress under Graeme Souness and then Mark Hughes has seen them qualify for Europe four times in six years.
Hughes left the club for Manchester City in June 2008 after helping them to a seventh place finish. He was replaced by Paul Ince later that month. However Ince was sacked on 16th December 2008 after a poor start to the season which brought just three wins from 17 matches. Sam Allardyce took over as manager, charged with the task of hauling Rovers away from the drop zone. They finished 15th, seven points clear of relegation. That finish was significantly bettered in the 2009/10 season when the club secured 10th place.
Club Heritage
Blackburn Rovers were born at a hotel meeting on 5th November 1875, organised by Shrewsbury school old boys Arthur Constantine and John Lewis. The club's patronage by the wealthy middle classes helped it stay afloat and outlive many of the other clubs in the area. As one of the top clubs, they were approached in 1888 to become one of the 12 founding members of the Football League. They finished the inaugural season in fourth place and unbeaten at home.
Rovers moved into their permanent home at Ewood Park in September 1890 and marked their first season there with a fifth FA Cup win. But a downturn in fortunes saw them narrowly escape relegation on several occasions and the 1928 FA Cup victory was their last major trophy for 67 years. Rovers were relegated from the top flight for the first time in 1936, signaling the start of their long struggle to regain their status as a top team. Relegation in 1966 saw the beginning of their 26-year exile from the top flight and it was not until Walker and his millions came on board in 1991 that Blackburn returned to their glory days.
Everton have maintained their place in the Premier League since its inception in 1992. The Toffees claimed a famous 1-0 win over Manchester United in the 1995 FA Cup final courtesy of a goal from Paul Rideout. Everton have often been overshadowed by their Merseyside rivals Liverpool but they have a glorious history of their own.
A fourth place finish under manager David Moyes in the 2004/05 campaign, coupled with sixth and fifth place finishes respectively in the 2006/07 and 07/08 seasons, cemented the club's status in the upper echelons of English football. Another fifth-placed finish came in 2008/09 along with an FA Cup final appearance. In 2009/10, the side got off to a slow start in the Barclays Premier League, but rallied in the second half of the season to produce an eighth placed finish, narrowly missing out on a Europa League place after being pipped to seventh spot by Liverpool.
Club Heritage
In 1878, the club was founded as St. Domingo FC so that the people from the parish of St Domingo's Church could participate in a sport outside of the summer months, when they played cricket. The team began playing on Stanley Park with no dressing rooms, carrying their own goalposts out onto the pitch. When people outside of the parish wanted to participate, the club was renamed Everton a year later.
Players recruited from other clubs were allowed to wear the shirts of their former teams and this caused much confusion. The need for a unified kit led to the dieing of the many different shirts black in order to avoid purchasing a brand new strip. The first league title arrived in the 1890/91 season. Royal Blue was settled on for the 1901/02 campaign. The signing of Dixie Dean in 1925 prompted the Toffees' first sustained period of success. His 60 goals in 39 league matches in the championship-winning 1927/28 season is still a top flight record.
A subsequent relegation and immediate promotion two years later, was followed by another title triumph on their return to the top flight in 1931/32. A second FA Cup victory was achieved with a 3-0 win over Manchester City a season after and the era ended with a title win in the 1938/39 season.The appointment of Howard Kendall as manager in 1981 heralded the most successful period in Everton's history. The league title was claimed in the 1984/85 and 1986/87 seasons, while the FA Cup was won in 1984. The Toffees' only European trophy arrived in the form of a Cup Winners' Cup final defeat of Rapid Vienna in 1984/85.
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