THE result may not have been what they wanted but for the Blackburn Rovers fans who made the trip to Trelleborg for the club’s maiden European away day it proved to be a memorable experience.

Paul McCarrick, from Chorley, headed over to Sweden with his dad, Vinny, and his younger brother Lee.

MORE TOP STORIES:

All three were, and still are, season-ticket holders, and there was no way they were going to miss a match what Paul, now 43, proudly describes as a ‘landmark moment for Rovers’.

“The match itself was an up and down affair and I remember celebrating wildly when Alan Shearer put us 2-1 ahead in the last 10 minutes of the game, only for Trelleborgs to equalise a couple of minutes later to end our venture into European football,” said Paul, who was 23 at the time, and like Vinny, flying and venturing abroad for the first time.

“The trip back to the airport was a quiet solemn one and it wasn’t helped by the bus driver’s taste in dreary Swedish country and western, which prompted a few sarcastic comments from the Rovers fans.

“The mood lifted at the airport, though, when Kenny Dalglish and the first team arrived. The fans cheered the team and mixed freely with the players whilst we awaited our departure.

“We told them to hold their heads up and put it behind them as they duly did by going on to win the Premier League in that memorable season.

“A lot of fans may view it the Trelleborgs away game as a negative but for the fans who travelled it was still memorable and an historic moment.”

Mick Thexton, 54, of Preston, was also in Trelleborg and he agrees with Paul.

Mick, who comes from a family of Rovers supporters, and is a season-ticket holder along with his wife, said: “Two things really stand out for me.

“Firstly we came out of the game in a state of shock and disappointment and it was a quiet trip back to the airport.

“We arrived at about the same time as the players – and the atmosphere changed instantly.

“The players were welcomed and cheered as if they had won the cup, a stark contrast from today when each defeat brings calls for the manager to be sacked and half the teams’ contracts cancelled.

“I guess in those days most of the fans had seen the tough days and didn’t expect constant victories.

“Secondly this was probably our first high profile defeat. Pre-Jack Walker people from outside Burnley barely noticed our defeats let alone delighted in them.”

Another Rovers fan out at the match was Eliot Parker, from Oswaldwistle.

He said: “I loved it. The game was an experience and seeing the team after in the airport was magic.”