BLACKBURN Rovers’ head of the academy Phil Cannon admits it is “human nature” for ball boys to want their team to win – but insists all at Ewood Park are reminded of their responsibilities.
Rovers’ ball boys are taken from their academy ranks, aged between 16-18, and in the wake of Wednesday night’s Capital One Cup controversy are likely to be more in the spotlight over the next few weeks.
Chelsea’s Eden Hazard was sent off for kicking out at a Swansea ball boy who was smothering the ball towards the end of the semi final defeat.
Cannon said: “We use our scholars as ball boys, so they are between 16 and 18. Their job is to throw the ball back and nothing more really.
“We had an incident last season a little bit similar from one of our lads who was a Blackburn Rovers fan. He wanted Rovers to win and human nature kicked in.
“We reprimanded him after the game because it nearly caused a riot. But it is human nature. We just tell the lads to be sensible and to get the ball back, don’t mess about.”
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