TWENTY years ago, the European Court of Justice delivered a verdict that reverberated through football.

Blackburn Rovers’ hopes of success could now depend on history repeating itself.

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Rovers were the champions of England in 1995 when news filtered through from a court in Luxembourg that Jean-Marc Bosman had won his case against the Belgian Football Federation, UEFA and FC Liege.

Bosman had been prevented from joining Dunkerque in 1990, at the end of his contract with Liege, because a fee could not be agreed between the clubs. As he was no longer a first-team player at Liege, his wages were also reduced.

Bosman sued for restraint of trade and famously won.

Regulations were changed, allowing out of contract players to move to another club in the EU without a transfer fee being paid.

Restrictions on the number of foreign EU players in the Premier League and other leagues were also banned.

Whether those rulings had any impact on Rovers at the time, it is hard to say.

Rovers had enjoyed success with a largely British-based team, before overseas players started to flood into the Premier League in greater numbers.

In truth, their reversal in fortunes started with Kenny Dalglish’s decision to step down as manager.

But now the European Court of Justice could have a greater impact on Rovers’ fortunes.

They now look set to rule on a case involving agent Daniel Striani and the supporters of Manchester City and Paris St-Germain.

Helped by lawyer Jean-Louis Dupont, the man who represented Bosman in 1995, they are challenging new UEFA FFP rules that were due to see clubs’ permitted losses cut from around £32m to £21m from July 1.

Clubs falling foul of the regulations could be banned from European competition.

Interestingly, on Tuesday, the Court of First Instance imposed an interim order blocking UEFA from implementing the new rules for the time being.

It was perhaps the first sign that a legal challenge to FFP could make some sort of tangible difference. UEFA are appealing and are considering amending their new regulations, but the case is currently set to go to the European Court of Justice.

Because this challenge is against UEFA, it is not yet clear whether the Football League’s own FFP rules would be affected in any way if it succeeded.

But a verdict against UEFA would set an intriguing precedent, at a time when QPR are also due to challenge the Football League over their huge fine for breaching FFP.

Rovers must hope that these legal cases bring FFP tumbling down, because the regulations are currently seriously hampering their hopes of pushing for the Premier League.

Under a transfer embargo for failing FFP, they are at a serious risk of losing the likes of Rudy Gestede, Jordan Rhodes and Tom Cairney.

All three would boost Rovers’ chances of promotion, but the club would have to seriously consider offers that came their way. No longer can they say that players are not for sale at any price.

Gaining promotion without an embargo is tough, reaching the Premier League under such restrictions would be near impossible.

The European Court of Justice provides Rovers fans with a little more hope right now. Should the legal challenge against FFP succeed, things could get very interesting.