Blackburn Rovers column: Fans need to speak as one to achieve change (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Blackburn Rovers column: Fans need to speak as one to achieve change

2:50pm Thursday 31st May 2012 in Blackburn Rovers blogs By Chris Flanagan , Sports reporter

ACTIONS speak louder than words, they say. Sadly, Venky’s have provided few words and even fewer actions since Blackburn Rovers’ relegation from the Premier League.

So it has been left to supporters to actually try to do something about the club’s current predicament in the last few days.

An open fans’ meeting was held by the Blackburn Rovers Supporters Investment Trust at King George’s Hall on Saturday, attracting an audience of around 500 supporters.

Yesterday, the Blackburn Rovers Action Group met Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore in Doncaster to outline their concerns about events at the club, and call for the league to do something.

Elsewhere, local corporate finance and capital raising company Seneca – led by Rovers fans Ian Battersby and Ian Currie – are putting plans together for a possible bid for the club.

All have worthy aims, all chasing a virtually identical cause.

They want Rovers to return to being a successful, stable club.

They want their Rovers back, after 18 months of misery under Venky’s.

We all hope that aim is achieved, even if it will not be easy.

There is a danger, though, of the cause becoming too fragmented to convince Venky’s to hand over control of the club to the people who deserve it most.

It is important for the town to stand as one and the fewer separate entities said to be acting on behalf of the fans right now, perhaps the clearer the cause will be. Then, supporters will not face the dilemma and potential confusion over which group, if any, to back.

Some on Rovers fan sites have compared the plethora of supporters’ organisations springing up to that sketch in the Life of Brian featuring the Judean People’s Front, the People’s Front of Judea and various other rival protest groups with practically identical ideologies.

That comparison is perhaps a little harsh, since each Rovers fans group seems to be on amicable terms with the others, but you can see their point.

The more that public support, resources and – perhaps most crucially – money can be pooled towards one organisation, the more chance of success it would seem.

The recently set up Blackburn United – a co-ordinating group drawn from leaders of trusts, groups, forums, fanzines and websites – seems to have that sort of idea in mind.

Time will now tell whether that organisation will simply work in the background, helping to facilitate dialogue between each group, or come to the fore in an attempt to bring all fans together.

This is a situation that most Rovers supporters have never found themselves in before, and finding the best solution is not always easy.

But hopefully the town can solve this problem together.

Blackburn Rovers has always been a club for the community.

The quicker the entire community can feel part of it again, the better for everyone.